by Plumerias » Fri Oct 16, 2020 6:31 pm
Hello, and welcome!
I'll give it a go.
My question is what are the best seasonings, sauces, spices, spreads or dips etc. I don't think I could handle starches in large quantities by themselves like beans, rice, and potatoes. Traditional butter is out, not sure of soy sauce or duck sauce examples.
The best seasonings, etc, are the ones you like best. That's a very personal matter. And you'll be surprised how good simple can taste once you are accustomed to "cleaner" foods. Soy sauce tends to be rather high in sodium, our use is rather minimal. Don't know what duck sauce is, but if it contains duck.......
I did find about nutritional yeast, that it has a cheesy flavor but saw it can cause side effects if started too much too soon. I saw that on a Youtube video.
Many here use nutritional yeast as they enjoy the cheesy flavor. As I have always hated cheese, there's none of that here.
Does anyone know a long list of seasonings, sauces, or spices on website, or book, or learned over time that would help.
There have been numerous conversations here over the years about this. Take some time and use the search function to explore here. If you enjoy Indian cuisine, any of Madhur Jaffrey's cookbooks (try her World Vegetarian) will have a great deal of information about spices. But again, that's personal preference. There are lots in our kitchen. We also make generous use of fresh herbs. Many recipes also use citrus juices for example.
I know recipes on McDougall's book and website are fine, but what about the basics and not complicated recipes, like not having time prepare. I know processed diners are out, so if I was in a hurry or not feel like cooking at the time what could I have.
There is a saying here that goes something like "Failing to plan is planning to fail". So, learn how to plan. Many set aside a period of time to batch cook. Maybe a large batch of rice or potatoes once a week, perhaps some portioned for the freezer. We always make extra rice. Keep a good selection of canned goods, frozen veggies, and the like. Then all you have to do is combine whatever together, warm it up, and you're all set. It doesn't have to be complicated. That's what leftovers are for!
The problem is that I have tried the way of imitation meat. I used to eat spicy bean burgers, Morningstar Farms. I don't really want to go the way of tofu and the like anymore.
Good, because analog foods aren't really foods, IMHO. Morningstar Farms is to real food as Velveeta is to real cheese. We only eat tofu on the very rare trip to an Asian restaurant. I think the last time was two and a half years ago while we were travelling.
Also any help with Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, like what to eat, or when to eat certain starches or plant based foods, and so on.
There are no hard and fast rules. You just need to experiment with what works for you and yours. It will take time, and may not stay the same over time.
I also have an air fryer, what could I use in that.
I don't have one of those, but many here do. Again, try the search function.
When you say seasoning packs, is there a specific brand or blend you like.
You might look at the Mrs. Dash's options in the spices area of your grocery store. They're inexpensive and widely available. The one with the yellow lid/label is an all purpose salt free one, which can be used where a soup recipe calls for that, for example. We do use a few blends, like chili powder (Frontier's Fiesta chili powder), garam masala (purchased at an Indian grocery), curry powder (curry varies from culture to culture).
Pre-covid, I would advise people to see if their local health/natural foods stores had a section with bulk spice and dried herbs jars. You can just get a little bit of whatever smells good and try that, very inexpensively. At present I'm not comfortable making that recommendation, but that's up to you. We buy a lot of our spices in larger bags at Indian grocery stores, as it's very cost effective. Common things like dried oregano can be purchase in larger jars at ordinary grocery stores, for example. As vegankit suggested, look at the Penzey's Spices website for some learning, some ideas. I don't think their stores are open at present, although they are doing online sales. I know this because we need some baking extracts, and DH looked this morning.
Before discovering this diet, I did do things like put sliced potatoes in the oven with spices. I don't have any problems with potatoes and recipes, baked potatoes, sliced, mashed, etc. I need more suggestions for beans like dried or even canned. A lot of baked beans have maple syrup. brown sugar, with bacon, or like pork and beans. This seems to limited to beans to something like Bush vegetarian beans. Any other brands that exist that work?
Also I don't have much experience with dried beans types and seasonings. As far as rice goes I was hoping to expand the lists of seasonings beyond say soy sauce. A lot of rice meals from store is seasoned with chicken or cheese or butter. I know how to cook dried rice, but what seasonings can go with it like other than chicken boullion, I would like to expand that list.
We do use Bush's vegetarian baked beans, mostly in the warmer weather when we're making picnic food type meals.
If you have spices you enjoy with potatoes, you have that one covered already.
Please clarify more suggestions for beans. We buy salt free canned beans, mostly Whole Foods Market's 365 brand, which cost as little as $.79 when on sale. You can also find no salt added in many a grocery store's own line, like Kroger. We cook dried beans with only water. When you have basics, your combinations are infinite. Refer to above with respect to batch cooking. Many cook a particular bean each week and then plan meals around that variety. Home cooked beans freeze well.
I never season my rice when cooking it. With the exception of wanting some plain when not feeling well, all my rice ends up as part of an ensemble meal, and needs no other seasoning. Any seasonings/tastes you want can go with rice.
Here's an example for both beans and rice. (And by the way, don't forget lentils when thinking about the beans.) It's cooling off, so it's soups, stews, and chili season! If you make chili, your beans are seasoned within that chili. Serve it over hot brown rice, and your rice is also seasoned. No need to make it feel complicated.
Please remember that a meal can be as simple as a microwaved potato.
Okay, that's all I've got at present.