Good Food Takes Time, But Not Necessarily Active Time

People say they do not have time to cook. But many of the best dishes require hours of total time and only minutes of actual work. A roast chicken: 5 minutes to season, 60 minutes in the oven. Slow-cooked pulled pork: 10 minutes to prep, 8 hours in the slow cooker. Overnight oats: 2 minutes to assemble, done by morning.

The trick is to stop thinking of cooking time as time you are standing at the stove. Braising, roasting, marinating, fermenting, slow-cooking — the oven, the fridge, and the clock do the work for you. Start a braise before you watch a movie. Marinate chicken in the morning. Time is an ingredient, not a cost.