Awesome comparison to learning programming.
Parsnip 5 years from now may have a recipes with a slider you can drag with "completely from scratch" on one end and "as fast as possible" on the other, which helps even beginners manage the trade-off between time and simplicity the same way that a much more experienced cook can do in their head.
This kind of magic is how we think we can help make cooking the easiest way to eat.
As a fan of programming and Star Trek analogies are sort of a required art form. And I really think it's true about cooking that a lot of cooking is insanely easy - but you need to overcome your fear of the unknown. The first time I cooked prawns I was deathly afraid I would poison people, but now that I know what I'm doing it's pretty trivial (even if I don't exercise that skill often).
Knowing how to make homemade cheese and applying that skill economically when it'll make a significant difference in the final product is useful... that ends up going with a home made puttanesca sauce instead of some canned pasta sauce... but those two end up covering some store bought noodles because I have priorities about my time.
Much like a lot of we programming folks learned the basics in university (assembly programming, building basic data structures in C++) comprehending the basics can let you make a judgement call on when it's appropriate to put in the extra effort. Someone who has never cooked a load of break may find that task daunting and insurmountable... but someone who regularly cooks fresh rolls for their daily grain and just keeps a weeks worth of dough in a tin in the fridge can whip up fresh rolls for dinner in a matter of minutes.