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Strategies For Recipe Creation

Rules Of Thumb

One simple strategy is to choose at least one ingredient from particular food categories, starting with an average amount usually used as a rule of thumb. This approach is not unique: e.g. Janic Stanger recommends using equal amounts of vegetables, fruits, legumes (and/or potatoes) and whole grains to round out a diet in "The Perfect Formula Diet." However, for recipes for a main coarse, side dish or dessert, having a slightly more refined set of food categories can be useful.

Macro nutrients which most effect flavor include the lipids (fats/oils) which effect richness yet mask other flavors, carbohydrates (sugars, starch) which effect sweetness and particular protein constituents, which effect umaminess. Other micronutrients effect sourness and bitterness and modulate the other flavor components. For example, calcium can increase perception of sweetnesss. Soduim content effects saltiness, though other constituents can mask and enhance saltiness.

Aromatics, allelochemicals and other phytochemicals with culinary significance tend to be most prominant in the herbs and spices. Leaves (herbs) and spices (seeds, roots, bark, leaves {including modified such as flowers}) often have protective chemicals to ward off insects, microbes, other plants, fungus and other animals. A subset of these are significant for flavor. Some of the antimicrobial (antibacterial, antiviral, etc.) activity is the reason for medicinal and/or potential toxic overdose potential for some of these. See Natural Plant Science for more information.

Different parts of a plant have different functions and tend to have different amounts of macro and micro nutrients. Then, depending on the plant, there are subcategories that can be made based on typical macro-nutrient content. A useful strategy is to roughly categorize plant parts into

And further categorization based on relative nutritional averages for particular plants:

Main Dishes

Ingrediens are listed in approximate order highest to lowest typical quantity:

Side Dishes

Ingrediens are listed in approximate order highest to lowest typical quantity:

Dessert Dishes

Ingrediens are listed in approximate order highest to lowest typical quantity:

Ingredients

The following cover most commonly available "whole" plant foods that can be used as ingredients.

	seeds: 

 seed_grain:

rice
amaranth
kamut
quinoa
millet
Oats
Sorghum
Teff
rye
Spelt
barley
buckwheat
wheat
wheatgerm
corn

 seed_legume:

adzuki beans
peanuts
lentils
garbonzo beans (chic peas)
fava beans (broad beans)
navey beans
black (turtle) beans
pinto beans
lima beans
small red beans
kidney beans
white beans
soybeans 
peas
Black-eyed pea
Mung bean


  seed_oil:

wheatgerm
sesame seed
sunflower seed
poppy seed (spice)
celery seed (spice)
chia seed (spice)
fenugreek seed (spice)
pumpkin seed
hemp seed
almonds
hazelnuts
peanuts
wallnuts
peacons
cashews
Pine nuts


	root 

  root_starch: 

carrot
beet 
rutabaga 
turnip 
burdock 
Celeriac 
Daikon 
Yam
Parsnip 
parsley root
Radish - 
sweet potato
sunchoke
potato


  root_spice:

radish
horse radish
ginger
turmeric
ginseng 
Shallot
garlic
onion
spring onion


	leaf 

  leaf_bulk:

chard
beet greens
collard greens
Turnip greens
kale
spinach
parsley
basil
cilantro
lettuce
Dandelion
Endive
Escarole
Fenugreek
Kohlrabi greens
broccholi
Cabbage
cauliflower
Leek
spring onion
Mustard greens
watercress
radicchio 
spirulina
spearmint
peppermint
Oregano


  leaf_fine:

parsley
basil
Oregano
cilantro
spring onion
Rosemary
Thyme
marjoram (spice)
savory (spice)
spearmint
peppermint


	fruit 

  fruit_veg

peppers
tomoatoes
Tomatillo
zucchini
yellow Squash 
winter squash
Avocado
Cucumber 
Eggplant


  fruit_sweet

grapes
grapefruit
apples
pears
peaches
oranges
raspberry
blueberry
strawberry
mango
banana
kiwi
lemon
lime
Fig
dates
apricot
melon


Additional Ingredients

Thousands of edible plants via browsing or searching Plants For A Future, pfaf.org: "There are over 20,000 species of edible plants in the world yet fewer than 20 species now provide 90% of our food. However, there are hundreds of less well known edible plants from all around the world which are both delicious and nutritious."

Natural Plant Food Science Useful For Creating Recipes: For Culinary Arts and Health

Natural Plant Science pertinent to understanding natural ingredients for cooking, including nutrition, flavor (taste, aroma, texture, etc.), allergies, medicinal qualities and more.

Food Prices

Refining The Recipe

Use this online application to optimize estimated flavor, nutrition and related results:


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