The Recipe Substitution Chain and Being Experimental

Recipe substitution happens all the time if you think about it. Don’t have white rice for a recipe? Maybe you could use the brown rice in the pantry. No vanilla? You could try leaving it out of the recipe. Only skim milk in the house and need to make a cream sauce calling for whole milk? Try the skim. The rationale here is to think about what you have on hand first before dashing to the store for “a few things”.

Recipes can usually handle substitutions or minor omissions of an ingredient (like vanilla) fairly well unless it is a key ingredient. But, even a key ingredient (like cheese or meat) can be lessened with a good outcome. Don’t be afraid to try a substitution here and there, such as garlic powder for real garlic, celery for cucumber, or pasta for rice. As long as the ingredients are of a similar texture or taste, it will probably work.

One thing I do several times a month is called “Dinner Challenge”. This usually happens when we start running out of food. I take an inventory of all the food available and try to come up with a new recipe. I did this one night and came up with Refried Soup, which is now a regular part of my soup-making endeavors. All I had one night was 4 cups of homemade refried beans, frozen chicken broth, ½ cup of cheese, a half bag of tortilla chips, and 2 apples. I put it all in a pot (except the apples!) and heated it up, topped it with the cheese and tortilla, and then grabbed a New Mexico pepper from my garden (no other stuff was ready). It was a hit. I figured cheese and beans go together and chips would give it a little crunch. Served with apples and glasses of milk, this was a healthful vegetarian meal.

Try to challenge yourself to make something when it appears you have nothing. You are smarter than your pantry! Stretch yourself a bit first and you could save a last-minute dash to the store for a frozen pizza. Let me know how it turns out!