Don't Be A Slave To Cooking Recipes
Cooking recipes are meant to be suggestions on how to prepare a meal - they are not meant to be Gospel. When you are first learning how to cook, following cooking recipes very closely can help you in learning what (and what not) to do. Just like any other art form or technical skill, the more you cook, the more you will learn cooking. As time goes on, you will want to eat something different than your tried and true cooking recipes.
Flexibility By Necessity
Sometimes, you just can't afford all of the ingredients that cooking recipes call for. You also might not be able to get to the store, or perhaps you realize you've run out right in the middle of preparing a dish. The more you cook, the more you realize that you can improvise with cooking recipes.
As long as the ingredient isn't crucial to the dish, you can subtract it, substitute something else for it or add other ingredients. If you are making meatloaf, for example, it's crucial that you have ground (or minced) meat. But you can improvise on the spices you add, any grated vegetables or what kind of binding agent you use to keep the loaf relatively loaf-shaped. You might wind up with a better meatloaf than you expected.
"By The Way, I'm A Vegetarian"
There is a great interest in eating a vegetarian (no meat) or a vegan (no animal products at all) diet. This is great for the person who made the decision, but can play havoc on any guests in charge of feeding them. And if you are the vegetarian involved, you will probably wonder if you need to buy all new cooking recipes. There are simple substitutions that can be made in meat-based recipes.
Extra-firm tofu and tempeh make great substitutions for cooking recipes like stir-frys and tomato-based pasta sauces. Soft tofu can be used as a substitute for cream cheese in cheesecakes for vegans. Soy milks and rice milk can be used as a tasty substitute for animal milk. A multitude of beans without any meat is great for soups and chili cooking recipes.
There are also meatless substitutes made for meat-based cooking recipes which are low-fat and delicious. These meatless products are usually made with ground nuts, beans, soy products and vegetables. You can find meatless sausages, burgers, ground "meat" and even meatless chicken nuggets. Just use in the same way you would use meat in your regular cooking recipes.
