ERE Cooking! What makes one dish fundamentally different from another?

[TopHatFox]

I've been trying out some of the recipes Jacob wrote about 7 years ago, hee hee.

Thus far, I've made some chili from scratch! I used lentils instead of beans. Lazy! (want to buy pressure cooker).

I've also made some smoothies using some bananas, kale, and whatever seeds I have lying around. Oh, and some $2 soy milk. Bite me. (:

I also made refried beans--so good w/ crushed tomatoes!!

Stir fries are good too, and simple.

Salads are a kick--simply cut up ingredients, input oil/vinegar/spices, and maybe slather hummus or mustard all over it. Perfect.

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What are some of your favorite ERE inspired cooking methods or dishes? I am definitely not interested in recipes, more of something like:

STIRFRIES: a type of dish where ingredients are sauteed on a pan, often from hardest to softest and using a non-stick or cast iron pan.
SMOOTHIES: a type of drinkable goop created by placing ingredients, usually fruits & veggies, in a shredding contraption. Good w/ flax seeds, et al.
SALADS: a type of raw food prepared by chopping and sifting food together and then slathering it w/ oil, vinegar, and herbs.
PILLAFS: a type of dish were rice acts as a base, such as rice and beans w/ steamed veggies
BREAD: a type of food created using flour and water, often including yeast, oil, spices, seeds, and other additions.
CAKES:
MUFFINS:
COOKIES:
FERMENTED FOOD:
etc.

Feel free to add to the list! I'm trying to understand what makes one type of dish fundamentally different from another: is it the preparation style? the specific ingredients? the contraption used to create it? or something else?

[Ego]

Ratatouille using whatever vegetables happen to be in the refrigerator (or the dumpster ).

[BRUTE]

brute's strategy is to find one single dish (or slight variations of it) that work for his current diet, budget, location, local store situation, kitchen situation, etc. and cook that every single day. due to this, there is a certain need for variety in this single meals. if brute doesn't add green, leafy vegetables, for instance, he'll get weird deficiency symptoms after about a month. this has happened before.

these meals are typically in the stew/pilaf/stir-fry category.

historically*:

*GV stands for green vegetable. brute doesn't care for the taste and just buys random dark, leafy, green vegetables like kale or broccoli and chops them up

() means optional

- scrambled eggs, bacon, extra butter, GV
- rice + beans pilaf with onion, chicken, butter, coconut oil, GV
- pork loin stir-fry with butter, (cream, mushrooms), GV, onion, (egg) - this is the current one

[JamesR]

You've been on the forum for this long, and you still do not have a pressure cooker??? You should rip up your ERE card

What makes a dish fundamentally different from another is:
change an ingredient OR change the amounts OR change cooking method

Think about all the different things you can cook with just flour, eggs, water, and fat (pancakes, muffins, bread, etc)

[Gilberto de Piento]

BRUTE runs on human food?

[IlliniDave]

Just about any edible thing you can think of can be worked into a soup. Some type of broth + food.

Just about any edible and reasonably solid thing you can think of can be wrapped in a tortilla/burrito shell.

Both have the advantage that you can put all your macro-nutrients into one "dish". Saves time, saves work.

To eat stuff you don't really like add lots of bacon and/or chili peppers. Bacon does generally require separate cooking.

[BRUTE]

BRUTE runs on human food?

brute never runs if he can avoid it.