Photo by Craig Robertson
Ryan Riley is the co-founder of Life Kitchen, an enterprise that gives free cooking lessons for those whose tastebuds have been damaged by chemotherapy, and the co-author of Life Kitchen: Recipes to Revive the Joy of Taste and Flavour. This book is a venture of his own, but very much built along the same lines. The ‘small pleasures’ refers both to the importance of finding moments of pleasure through cooking and eating and the fact that the recipes therein are for small quantities, with an emphasis of those who eat alone, and perhaps all too easily shrink from the effort of bringing joy just for themselves. It’s a rousing call to repair the self and find that joy again through recipes Riley has written, as he says in his introduction, “for when we feel run down, lethargic or blue… Together, they create a manifesto for feeling good again; whether you’re recovering from illness, running on empty, or feeling low, each recipe is here to nourish and heal, to restore body, mind and soul and, should you need it, to revive your love of cooking and eating.”
I’ve chosen a recipe to share with you that exemplifies that aim, his Miso Minestrone for 1.
