Good morning. If you’ve ever wanted all of our meal ‘frameworks’ in one place, consider supporting our App on Kickstarter —this will be one of the core features!

And thanks for all the incredible backing so far. Over the next few weeks, we’ll clarify some questions we’ve gotten about specific app features.

This week, we talk about Grocery Templates in the Q/A section below.

RECIPE BREAKDOWN 🤯

Pasta salad framework

Step 1: Understand the base recipe

Pasta base
Vegetable additions
Dressing
Extra flavorings or additions

As an example, here’s how a classic deli-style macaroni salad comes together: crunchy aromatics, cooked pasta, and flavorful dressing.

This dressing is mostly mayo + mustard, lemon, sugar, and spices. Diced pickles add a sour tang.

Step 2: Modify the ratios

Because pasta salad is mostly carbs and mayo, it’s traditionally a side dish. But you can introduce some protein to make it a more filling, balanced meal. Just swap some of the pasta for a cooked meat or protein of choice.

Step 3: Make the flavors your own

You can also make the vegetables more prominent, not just background flavorings with additions or extra quantity.

Use whatever veggies, aromatics, or dressing components you have around to fit the framework!

Modify the flavorings or make any condiments or dressings even higher protein/lower cal (like non-fat Greek yogurt or light sour cream instead of mayo).

TIPS & TRICKS

OVERCOOK your pasta by a few minutes. When it cools down, the gelatinized starches will firm up significantly. Al dente pasta becomes too chewy when served in a cold pasta salad.
Match the size of your chopped items to the shape of your pasta.
As covered a few weeks ago, pasta salad is the perfect way to clean out the fridge. Toss in veggies, herbs, jarred items, dressing, etc.

RECIPE RECOMMENDATIONS ✅

Our best pasta salads

If you’re wanting more pasta salad inspiration, check out our collection here:

Cook the Collection

READER Q&A 🧠

How to simplify grocery shopping

Grocery templates are one of the features we are most excited for!

“How do grocery templates work on the Cook Well app?” - Phillip C.

Grocery templates simplify the shopping experience by providing a premade grocery list with suggested recipes and frameworks to help you cook through those ingredients and minimize waste.

Instead of finding recipes and then tediously compiling a list, templates allow you to head straight to the store first.

Of course, you can edit and customize them to fit your needs, use them for general inspiration, or just make a normal list in our grocery hub.

Our grocery templates will be spread across our three core categories:

Inspiration: Lists that inspire you to try new dishes, cuisine, or cooking style
Technique: Lists that help you dive into a specific technique to level up your cooking
Lifestyle (shown above): Lists that help you shop to your specific lifestyle or constraints

To learn more about grocery templates and our vision for a grocery hub, check out all of the details on our kickstarter page:

Cook Well App

A few examples of lifestyle focused grocery templates. There will be many more to discover on the Cook Well app.

FOOD TRENDS 🚀

More mocktails on menus

Why am I seeing mocktails everywhere?

Similar to the non-alcoholic beer discussion a few newsletters back, non-alcoholic cocktails are also on the rise. The growing demand for non-alcoholic beverages has brought mocktails to popularity not just at home but to bar and restaurant menus everywhere.

Why? Mocktails are:

A fun culinary challenge: For bartenders and home cooks, mocktails are a way to experiment pairing flavors and balancing new ingredients.
Inclusive: Often cheaper than alcoholic drinks, and allow for people to enjoy a restaurant or bar atmosphere without consuming alcohol.
A sweet treat or nightcap alternative: Scratches the itch of something sweet or interesting after dinner without impacting sleep quality.

With evolving drinking practices & mocktails continuing to grow in popularity, we’d expect them to become a new standard on menus within the next decade