I’d like to think of myself as a free spirit. Someone open-minded, someone who is creative. Who doesn’t, actually? No one wants to be seen as a stick in the mud or as a no-fun killjoy who is wound too tight.

But, I did recently admit to being pretty precise and retentive in one area, my curries. My refined and polished curry process, remember, results in almost embarrassingly organized photos like this:

For curries, it totally makes sense. I swear! Otherwise I lose track of the complex instructions and dinner is ruined.

Then I was cooking the other day, something easy and weeknight-friendly, nothing complicated. It was a healthy Arroz con Pollo made with brown rice.

And I realized.

I do this all the time. All. The. Time.

I use bowls and plates to divide my ingredients by steps. I create staging areas conducive to each individual recipe. I pour through recipes obsessively to make sure I’m not missing anything — ingredients or instructions — often before I start cooking or turn on the stove.

I sear chicken, then as my rice boils, I’m already ready with the corn and peas that finish off the meal.

I think I have become that person, that analytical, wound-tight, not-flying-by-the-seat-of-her-anything killjoy.

I’m exaggerating, obviously. I’ve always been a creative person and a free spirit. Nonetheless, if you told my teenage self — or my mother — that I would be this neat, clean, organized and well planned when I was my age now, I wouldn’t have believed you. I’m just more rigid and analytical than I’d like to admit, I guess. At least in the kitchen.

If I make you dinner, will you forgive me?

Recipe note: It was pretty tasty. Because the recipe used brown rice, the cook time start to finish is about an hour, so you need to plan ahead in terms of time. Otherwise, it’s a simple, weeknight-friendly meal whose leftovers were still tasty the next day. I probably won’t crave it like some meals, but it will show up again in the dinner rotation.

Related Recipes

• Arroz con Pollo