I have an even dozen cookbooks and health related books that contain recipes for delicious meals that the writers claim are easy to make in a short time. However, when one looks at the ingredients list, you find stuff used in the recipe that even the most exhaustive pantry would not contain. I always wonder, "If I leave this out, will it change the taste very much? Will it ruin the dish? Is it rteally necessary, or is it just something thrown in to get you to buy a product that the author promotes on his/her web site?"
As a result, I have passed over the majority of the recipes I have even if the flavor profiles appeal to me. If I like a particular combination, I may try my own spin on it using most of the ingredients and proportions in the recipe. I believe a recipe is not a scientific formula and should contain only what it really needs. Most people's palates are not so sophisticated that they need a bunch of exotic ingredients that cannot be reasonably found on the shelves of most grocery stores. If yours is, go for it!
Not everyone lives within a few miles of a health food store or farmers market though those things are beginning to proliferate. I am seriously considering a cookbook of my own based on what I have just said. If a book tells me to incorporate an ingredient for a specific purpose like boosting its fiber content, can't I use some leftover quinoa instead of the more exotic (and expensive) fiber powder. Doesn't that do the same thing? Does it affect the taste? Maybe it does, but is it enough to ruin the recipe? Not if the other ingrdients have strong flavor profiles.
The way I see it, the problem is that people do not have the cooking skills that were required a few generations back. Fast food and packaged junk have become a way of death promoting easy-way-out living. Since I know how to cook, I can freely make substitutions without drastically changing the taste of whatever I am cooking. Americans need to get back to basics and learn how to cook.
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