Cooking in a Small City Kitchen

Some things we take for granted. I’m lucky to have a decent kitchen setup with enough space for storage and food preparation, close to the sink and the stove. Plus, we have an assortment of great appliances and tools including large and small food processors, standing mixer, blender, and other tools that make preparation easier and more efficient. But what do you do when you don’t have the space and the tools?

Picture this alternative (shown here). Minimal counter space, a small stove, and little room for storage. That’s the predicament faced by my son and his partner Christina. This photo shows the location in their two-and-a-half-room Boston apartment where they – actually Christina, mostly – prepares their meals. What’s not shown is a butcher-block table on wheels that they use to supplement work area, and also a closet-sized pantry where they store essential food as well as pots and pans.

One-pot meals and cleaning as you go

Ben credits Christina with doing a great job in creating good meals within this cramped space. “It’s about efficiency,” says Christina. “This space is an advertisement for the Instant Pot.” The cramped quarters mean that one-pot meals are usually on the menu. The minimal space also means cleaning as your go. Even a taco night can be a little messy. And since they work from home, that increases the challenges in these small quarters. For the past year, they’ve understandably been cooking at home a lot more, but they still take advantage of takeout restaurants, given their location.

But when they eat in, they eat well. First off, Christina makes use of the nearby farmers’ markets and a close-by Trader Joe’s, picking whatever is seasonal is most fresh. In the winter, that means the makings of meals for soups, scrambles, stir-fries, or chicken one-pot dishes. In the summer, meals are usually salads or grain bowls with a protein such as chicken, beans, or tofu. Sometimes, they get creative with charcuterie platter from the local store. In the summer, they tend to use their outdoor grill for cooking since the apartment is hot without air conditioning. That’s also where the Instant Pot comes in handy, since it doesn’t heat up the room like the stove or oven.

Taking advantage of city markets

In a given week, she shops about three times: on Mondays at the Central Square Farmer’s Market in Cambridge; Fridays after work at the Charles River Farmer’s Market in Harvard Square for its assortment of fruits and vegetables. They supplement those purchases with necessities at Trader Joe’s which is about a five-minute walk from their apartment. Oh, and by the way, Christina usually does her marketing by bicycle, which makes me think about her counterparts with tiny kitchens in Paris.

The typical result is usually a creative series of menus. Here’s a sample: Monday: a spring mix salad with tuna, pickled red onions, kalamata olives, cucumbers and carrots. Tuesday: spicy grilled pepper jack cheese sandwiches with a side salad or soup. Wednesday: oven-roasted chicken Schwarma with brown rice and pita bread. Thursday: caramelized shallot pasta with Instant Pot­–cooked boneless chicken breast. Friday: roasted vegetables from the Farmer’s Market with quinoa and tahini dressing. Saturday is usually a takeout night from a local restaurant. Sunday is a late brunch – usually a scramble with vegetables and a side of chicken sausage, with maybe leftovers for dinner. Not bad within these confines.

When we spoke, she was planning shallot pasta. Ben, though he doesn’t cook often, has been useful in the prep area, especially in chopping vegetables, she says. Christina, meanwhile, is looking for more one-pot approaches to meals, including bean dishes. She’s also learning about sheet pan meals, and may find a few recipes there that appeal. Whatever they find, it will still require efficiency.

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