Good Morning, my friends. I hope everyone had a great week last week. The post this week will talk about my personal “Trinity” of cooking. I have used this simple cooking idea as the basis for almost all of my “scratch” cooking ideas since I discovered it. It totally leveled up my cooking game, both in taste and nutrition. The post will also include my workout schedule for the upcoming week. So, to kick off the new week on the positive, this is The Workout of the Week. This is The Level Up Your Cooking Game Workout.
The “Trinity” of Cooking
Dude, what the heck is this “Trinity” of cooking you’re going on about?
The French call it Mirepoix. In Italian cooking, it’s Batutto or Soffritto. The Spanish and Mexican variation is Sofrito. In Brazilian and Portuguese cooking, it’s Refogado.
Each cooking style may use variations of ingredients, but almost all cooking styles start with some sort of combination of aromatic vegatables that are sauteed with fat or cooking oil. The classic Mirepoix from French cooking is usually my base. The French Mirepoix consists of diced onions, celery, and carrots.
Yes, the “Trinity” of Cooking is just onions, celery, and carrots. Those ingredients are diced into small pieces. Then sauteed in a pan with some oil and butter. Salt and pepper are added. Aaaand that’s it!
These three ingredients, sauteed in some oil and/or butter, can be added to almost anything and they are going to make the food better.
The idea of using aromatics that have been sauteed as the base for food has been used in human cooking for untold generations and most cultures have some variations of this as the base for countless dishes.
Variations and Versatility
Variations
Many styles of cooking use different variations of the “Trinity” as the base or starter. Ingredients can be subbed out or added in. The onion seems to be the strongest of the trio and makes its way into most variations, but is not a necessity. Three ingredients are not necessary either.
Tomato, garlic, ginger, hot peppers, bell peppers, leeks, and all kinds of other veggies and herbs can be used. I personally like to add garlic, thyme, and rosemary to most of my mixes.
Versatility
The versatility of aromatic herbs and veggies combined as the base of a dish is almost endless!
It can be used as a starter for soup broths. My veggie broth, beef broth, and chicken broth all start with the classic Mirepoix mix.
When making chili or shredded beef tacos, I use onion, bell pepper, hot pepper, garlic, tomato, and celery.
My beef stew always starts with the classic Mirepoix with garlic, rosemary, and maybe some fennel.
Most of my pasta dishes start with onion, carrots, tomato, parsley, garlic, and sometimes bell peppers. Any tomato sauce base with onions, carrots, and celery, or peppers, with garlic and some herbs, is going to be lights out!
Almost any protein from chicken breast to beef shank will turn out really good if you cook it with some sort of mirepoix-ish base. I even used the classic Mirepoix mix yesterday to make a batch of Crack Chicken – soooo good!
Want to make a delicious hot-dish or casserole? Try using a Mirepoix as the base.
You can use this in almost any dish to level up your cooking game!
Level Up
Using the “Trinity” or a variation of it as the base of your dish when cooking will instantly level up your food.
Taste – Leveled Up, Gain 1000 XP
If cooking was a video game, learning to sautee aromatics and using them as the base of your food would be an instant level-up and a huge XP gain! This technique has been used to make human food taste better for longer than recorded history! Adding the technique to your cooking game will instantly improve the taste of almost any dish. You get bonus XP for taste improvement.
When combined and cooked in a dish, these ingredients are not distinguishable from the others, but rather blend and meld into the dish to create amazing, nutritious foods. In most dishes where I use this, you don’t taste the onion, the carrots, or celery; you taste a flavorful delicious dish.
Nutrition – Leveled Up, Gain 1000 XP
If you’re looking to add better nutrition to your diet, adding veggies and herbs is a great way to do it. The classic Mirepoix is packed with nutrients and vitamins that are great for the human diet. Level up your nutrition by adding this as the base to your cooking.
- Carrots contain vitamin A carotenes, vitamin K, biotin, fiber, vitamin C, vitamin B6, potassium, and thiamine. Carrots are good for vision, are a source of antioxidants, and protect against cancer and cardiovascular disease.
- Celery contains vitamin C, fiber, potassium, folic acid, vitamins B1 and B6, quercetin, and coumarins. Celery has compounds that are anti-inflammatory, help prevent cancer, help regulate blood sugar, are good for vascular health, and may even be used to treat migraines.
- Onions contain vitamins C, B6, B1, and K, biotin, chromium, fiber, and folic acid. Onions are known to be anti-inflammatory, increase blood lipid levels, lower blood sugar, improve immunity, and prevent blood clot formation. The inulin in onions is said to be good for gut health.
*Thanks to article from Chroniclesinhealth.com for the stats and health deets.
Life Hack – Level Up – 500 XP
A quick life hack for cooking with the “trinity” is to chop up all veggies, portion them out, and freeze them ahead of cooking. The veggies all hold up well when freezing. You can pull them right out of the freezer and go straight into the pot. This will cut your food prep time and give you more time for other things! Life Hack! Level Up! 500 bonus XP gained for time well spent in prep.
The pre-chopped veggie mix can also be a great salad topper. Especially a bell pepper, red onion, carrot mix! *Bonus Hack, +250 Bonus XP.
On To The Workout
The Motivation
The Schedule
Daily Warm-Up
I will be continuing to do the daily warm-up routine that I have posted about in the last few weeks. I am tracking myself and have (HAD) a goal of 100 days straight of doing the routine. Sadly, I am going to have to slightly modify my goal. I skipped yesterday. I don’t even know why. It just slipped my mind Saturday morning. Then I thought about doing it, and just didn’t. SMH at myself…
So, the goal is 100 days of doing the warm-up (instead of 100 days consecutively). As of writing this (Sunday 1/29/23), I have 13 days. 87 days left to reach the goal.
I am also adding 15 minutes of meditation daily to the end of my exercises this week.
Mon, Wed, Fri
This week, on Mon, Wed, and Fri, I will be riding along with this video below from The Global Cycling Network. This is a fun workout and I have found that riding along with videos like this, and all the workouts from Global Cycling Network, help me get a better workout than if I just rode the bike myself without a real routine.
On these same days, I am also doing a Yoga With Adriene video. I am working my way through the 2023 version of 30 Days of Yoga from Yoga With Adriene. This week I’m on the Day 4 video below:
Tue, Thu, Sat
On Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday I will be doing the 3-Cycle Tabata routine I did last week – heavy bag, RBFBTs, and Shadow Boxing. Let’s get it!
Walk, Ruck, or Hike
Most days after work I will be getting out for a hike, walk, or ruck, either through the South Loop neighborhood or on the trails. If the weather is bad, I will be getting down to the gym and using the treadmill instead. #7kstepsaday
Ok, Wrap It Up, Dude!
There you have it, my friend. Thank you so much for reading! Thanks to Fearless Motivation, Global Cycling Network, and Yoga With Adriene the videos. Thanks to Chroniclesinhealth.com for the nutritional deets. If you are looking for a way to make your food taste better and to add nutrition to your diet, or if you just want to Level Up your cooking, try the “Trinity” or some variation of it in your next dish. Until next time, be happy and healthy. Be the hero or heroine in your story.
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