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Monday, February 27, 2017

Flavour Profile Menu


There are still those who think that eating clean means no flavour, eating foods you dislike and having to deal with complicated recipes and cooking tools.  WRONG

Not only is that incorrect but you can eat with flavour, clean and lean, improve your health habits, improve your nutrient intake, enjoy food and making your meals by simply applying your favourite flavour profiles.

You know what flavours you tend to go for and by keeping some staple herbs, spices and seasonings around you can make fast healthy dishes easily.  You may find yourself wanting to eat at home more often just because of how good it tastes, you know what's in there and once you make a few dishes that you love you won't find anyone who can make it just like you want it.

If you are a creature of habit you can stick with your flavour preferences but if you enjoy trying new flavours and changing it up you can easily do so by trying other flavour profiles or working with fusions.  Many chefs are working fusion cooking by combining flavour profiles to find new twists to taste.

Here is an example of some basic food items that are affordable, easy to prepare and very familiar. These food items are chosen due to their bang for nutrients, health impact, promoting fat loss and lean muscle gain goals.

All the seasoning items listed are clean and lean.  Just the list alone tells you there is a lot of choice for eating clean while liking how it tastes but the list is a short general example of the most common, easier to access items.  The combinations become endless!

Onion family can fall under many of the categories depending how they are prepared.  Edible flowers can be added to dishes giving it a floral twist for those with a unique palette.

You can apply these flavour profiles to your mains and sides, you can also apply one profile to your main while your side has another.  Many of these do compliment each other, the blend and combinations you choose is what will lead you to discover your flavour profile preference range.

The hidden gold is that by eating closer to nature you are fighting so many of today's health issues. The food items and seasoning items all have healing and health positive properties.

Take this outline, and add your flavorings to the make up the dish!

Protein
Sides
Meal 1
Eggs / Whites or Tofu/vegan alternative
Fruit
Meal 2
Greens and Fruit in a smoothie or salad
Nuts and seeds
Meal 3
3-5 oz of lean protein or vegan alternative/legumes
Dark greens
Meal 4
1-2 cup grain of choice or a blend (quinoa, rice, amaranth, barley etc)
Top with a fruit and veggie chopped salsa
Meal 5
Same as meal 3
Same as meal 3 but add some other colors like orange, red and purple veggies.
Meal 6
2-3 oz protein (greek yogurt or eggs included)
Nut butter on rice cakes

Eat a meal every 2-3 hours, try to get in 2-4 liters of water per day.  Use the flavorings you like to flavor all the above food items to turn them into dishes you like.  Try new combos so that you have a few food profile favorites for the same food item to give you variety.  This will help you establish your herb and spice base station in your kitchen while getting you familiar with all their applications.

Here's a handy chart I created and a few more posts below that, which come from Cooksmarts.com.

Spicy
Sweet
Salty
Sour
Bitter
Fresh Whole Hot Peppers in Various variety

Cheyenne, black, pink, white table pepper and peppercorns

Mustard Seed, powder and Dijon mustard

Arugula

Chilies and Chili powders

Hot Sauces and Piri Piri

Raw Radishes

Wasabi and horseradish

Harissa

Watercress

Raw Garlic

Smoke flavorings and hickory, paprika

Ginger
Cinnamon

Stevia

Fruits (Dried, Fresh, Frozen)

Caraway seed

Vanilla Bean

Honey, Agave, Syrups like maple and other natural saps

Balsamic and apple cider vinegar

Yellow and Orange vegetables like yams, squash, carrots, corn.

Snap Peas

Fennel

Parsnips

Sweet wines

Saffron

Coriander

Basil

Some nuts and nut oils

Ginger, cilantro

Curry, cumin, mint, cardamom, thyme, hibiscus, tamarind, Chinese all spice

Olive oil
Pink and Sea Salts

Parmesan used sparingly

Pickled Vegetables

Anchovies

Various Miso

Seaweed and Sea Vegetables

Fish, Soy, Worcestershire sauces

Tomatoes

Mushrooms

Smoke flavors and hickory

Umami

Some nuts and nut oils

Curry, rosemary

Capers

Tamarind

All Spice, Chinese 5 spice
Citrus and their juices (lemon, lime, grapefruit)

Vinegars of the many varieties

Yogurt and sour cream

Pickles vegetables

Tomato’s and tomato paste

Lemongrass

Ginger

Curry, cumin

Dill

Hibiscus

Citric Acids and Umami

Bitter greens such as dandelion, radicchio, endive

Grapefruit

Cacao

Coffee

Beer

Dry wines

Citrus peels

Paprika

Some Nut oils

Curry, cumin, oregano

Olives and oil

Gourds

Escarole and chicory

Tea

Rapinni

Tumeric

Dark Chocolate





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