(This was too long for LJ, so I had to break up my original comment into two.) Continued...
I think soup can be a meal in itself, especially if it's thick and proteinaceous, but it's ultimately a matter of taste. There's sort of a gray area between the wet and the dry, too - depending on how you cook things like lentils, beans or curry, it can come out to be more like soup or more like stir-fry. So perhaps adding less water might be best, and that way it's not "just" soup - or adding something like pumpkin or mashed potatoes (depending on the dish) that makes it thicker, and thus more substantial-seeming. That's something you can play around with and try to see what works and what doesn't.
As for substitutions, it really depends on what the recipe is, and what you're trying to achieve. In general, my rule of substitutions follows my own taste and basic equivalency. The questions I ask myself are "What am I okay with?" and "Do I want the end product to resemble the one in the book?" That is to say: if I'm making spaghetti sauce, and it calls for oregano, but I do have basil, I can use basil instead. Basil isn't a substitute for oregano per se, but it is still "Italian" and won't cause the sauce to taste unacceptably different from what I think tomato sauce should taste like. If your recipe is Indian, and it calls for a bunch of Indian spices, you don't have to put them in, but it won't taste "Indian" anymore - if that's okay, then go for it, and if not, wait to make it later.
If you understand the basic chemical principles behind cooking, it becomes a lot easier know when to substitute, and to predict what the effect is likely to be. If you don't have eggs and you want to bake something sweet, that's fine, just put in something that holds the thing together and provides sufficient "rise" (this can be something like baking powder and vinegar, a store-bought "fake egg" mix) or skip the "rise" and just use applesauce or bananas if you want an apple-y or banana-y taste. Honey can be easily substituted for sugar, and fresh herbs for dry and vice versa. I've used amaretto extract in place of vanilla when I really wanted to make cookies; if I hadn't had any flavoring, I would have still put in that much water just to keep the moisture levels right.
A quick reply. First, Thank you!!! For this(ie above), for the recipes you emailed(I bookmarked the website and can't wait to start making some of the recipes!) and for your general good sense about cooking. :)
The irony of my post is that at school when I lived off campus, and the summers that I spent studying abroad, so basically anytime that I've lived independent of my parents, this has been a non-issue, I know in theory how to make one meal last the whole week in variations, it just seems to be an issue here when trying to please everyone. It's so complicated. I need to write you a letter, so I'll tell you about all the ridiculous complications there. :)
I agree, cooking for other people can be stressful and confusing... maybe if you make a plan in advance, and circulate it for comments (ie, post it on the fridge), things would go better? That way, they can't complain that you didn't inform them, and it's their own fault if they don't let you know their opinions. The policy that seems to have emerged with my family is that if somebody makes a meal and you don't like it, you eat a little of it and then go make your own food. It's not a perfect plan by any means, but at least everyone ends up being reasonably satisfied.
My problem when cooking for other people is that I have very little idea of what constitutes reasonable portion sizes, so I never know how much to make. This is especially true because I have no idea how much I'm going to eat at any given situation, since so much of it depends on external variables like activity levels and whatnot.
I think soup can be a meal in itself, especially if it's thick and proteinaceous, but it's ultimately a matter of taste. There's sort of a gray area between the wet and the dry, too - depending on how you cook things like lentils, beans or curry, it can come out to be more like soup or more like stir-fry. So perhaps adding less water might be best, and that way it's not "just" soup - or adding something like pumpkin or mashed potatoes (depending on the dish) that makes it thicker, and thus more substantial-seeming. That's something you can play around with and try to see what works and what doesn't.
As for substitutions, it really depends on what the recipe is, and what you're trying to achieve. In general, my rule of substitutions follows my own taste and basic equivalency. The questions I ask myself are "What am I okay with?" and "Do I want the end product to resemble the one in the book?" That is to say: if I'm making spaghetti sauce, and it calls for oregano, but I do have basil, I can use basil instead. Basil isn't a substitute for oregano per se, but it is still "Italian" and won't cause the sauce to taste unacceptably different from what I think tomato sauce should taste like. If your recipe is Indian, and it calls for a bunch of Indian spices, you don't have to put them in, but it won't taste "Indian" anymore - if that's okay, then go for it, and if not, wait to make it later.
If you understand the basic chemical principles behind cooking, it becomes a lot easier know when to substitute, and to predict what the effect is likely to be. If you don't have eggs and you want to bake something sweet, that's fine, just put in something that holds the thing together and provides sufficient "rise" (this can be something like baking powder and vinegar, a store-bought "fake egg" mix) or skip the "rise" and just use applesauce or bananas if you want an apple-y or banana-y taste. Honey can be easily substituted for sugar, and fresh herbs for dry and vice versa. I've used amaretto extract in place of vanilla when I really wanted to make cookies; if I hadn't had any flavoring, I would have still put in that much water just to keep the moisture levels right.
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The irony of my post is that at school when I lived off campus, and the summers that I spent studying abroad, so basically anytime that I've lived independent of my parents, this has been a non-issue, I know in theory how to make one meal last the whole week in variations, it just seems to be an issue here when trying to please everyone. It's so complicated. I need to write you a letter, so I'll tell you about all the ridiculous complications there. :)
Reply
My problem when cooking for other people is that I have very little idea of what constitutes reasonable portion sizes, so I never know how much to make. This is especially true because I have no idea how much I'm going to eat at any given situation, since so much of it depends on external variables like activity levels and whatnot.
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