[Cleaning out some accumulated mails, this seemed worth saving…]
With this stuff you can make some tasty non-grilled dishes very easily. For example, stir-fry, use fresh garlic, boneless chicken or beef (cut into small pieces), broccoli or spinach, mushrooms, salt, pepper, 5 Spice, oyster sauce, soy sauce, Rice wine vinegar and in less than 15 minutes of cooking you’re done. The only prep work is chopping and cutting the garlic, meat, green, and mushrooms–do it before you start cooking and then just throw stuff in and stir.
Big tip: when cooking something in a pan–meat, veggies, eggs–warm the pan first, then warm the oil or butter, then add your ingredients. Makes a big difference in taste. Only exception among the basics is bacon, no need to preheat for that.
These stay good forever:
- Sea salt or kosher salt (NOT Morton’s)
- Whole peppercorns (for your pepper mill)
Buy the smallest size of these you can find:
- Ground Cilantro
- Basil Leaves
- Oregano Leaves
- Arrowroot (a white powder, this is an excellent substitute for flour for you, used as a thickening agent for the sauce)
- Minced onions (handy for when you don’t have fresh yellow onions on hand)
- 5 Spice (gives an interesting Asian flavor)
A couple of liquids as well:
- Sesame oil
- Rice wine vinegar
- Oyster or plum sauce
I’m not sure how tomatoes fit in with Atkins, but I wouldn’t be too concerned with that, keep a few cans of peeled tomatoes in the cabinet, they are good for a long time and can be used almost anytime. Mushrooms and greens are best fresh. Try using shallots sometime in place of onions. Try letting the onions cook a long time, like 15 minutes, in just some olive oil, no garlic or anything else, then add in whatever else your cooking, and you will get some really sweet onions.
BillSaysThis 