My sister told me the most interesting thing this week. She said that she prefers to prepare vegetables (like broccoli, for example) in the morning, when she has more energy, instead of leaving it to late afternoon, when she, along with the rest of her family, is hungry and running on fumes, as an old friend used to put it. She already buys her broccoli in bags of florets, so that part is done. Then she tosses a few handfuls into a steamer set in a pan containing a few inches of water, sprays them with olive oil, shakes on some salt and pepper plus Trader Joe umami seasoning (mushroom powder, onion powder, spices), and keeps layering until the bag is empty or the pot is full. Then she turns on the water to boil, and pretty soon the broccoli is bright green and ready to refrigerate, to be eaten later that day or the next. Single mom, super efficient. Say no more.

This story got me thinking about something else. Timing. It used to be customary for families to eat their largest meal at midday. In fact, that is still true in many parts of the world. When lunch was the largest meal, a small meal would suffice for dinner. Sometime around the start of the industrial age, however, when large numbers of folks began to work comparatively far from their homes, leaving early in the morning and being gone all day, the largest meal of the day turned into an evening meal, which was when the primary breadwinner finally arrived home and everyone gathered together once again after a long day apart. 

I’ve read about how your metabolism works better if you eat your largest meal earlier in the day. Something like this: “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.” Some approaches to intermittent fasting work like this, too.

What I’m wondering is if it suits our energy and metabolism not just to eat earlier in the day, but to cook earlier in the day as well. Early in the day I have plenty of energy. It’s absolutely amazing what I get accomplished before noon most days. Afternoons, though? Not so much. I might prop it up with black tea, dark chocolate, dried fruit, or who knows what leftover from lunch, but it’s definitely not smooth sailing. I make it work, the time speeds by, and before you know it I’m pulling out of the parking garage at work, finally headed for home.

And then it’s time to start dinner? Are you kidding? How much easier it’s going to be to pull out the broccoli, roll it in rice paper, and drizzle on some peanut butter sauce (peanut butter, tamari, sriracha). Or melt a slice of cheddar over it. Or eat it cold, mixed with some cubes of tofu and drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper, and garlic. Or even toss it all over a frozen pizza before serving it to your kids.

How can you accomplish this if you work all day? Well, you can’t. But it doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing. You could try eating a larger breakfast and/or lunch. Not a feast, unless you want. Just an extra few bites if that’s what suits you. Maybe, after dinner, when you’re no longer hungry and exhausted, you might want to prep something (like broccoli) for the following day. I know some people who do a lot of prepping on the weekends to get them through the coming workweek. I am not one of them.

A simple dinner is going to be plenty if you nourished yourself thoroughly earlier that day. Think about how thoroughly satisfied you feel after sharing a fancy brunch with out-of-town friends, and how a bowl of soup becomes more than enough for dinner later that day. Just a thought. Perhaps it’s worth experimenting.