I used buckwheat and brown rice and fresh veggies and various fresh herbs and flavorings for each dish. When a recipe calls for saut ed onions, I usually saut red onions and yellow onions, shallots, garlic and leeks and minced parsley. Add minced mint to one dish and minced basil or thyme to another and you change the character of that dish. Add a tablespoon of miso or lemon juice or naturally fermented soy sauce or homemade marinara sauce and each dish takes on a different personality. Add shitake or other mushrooms and you create classics.
Every dish begins at the produce store.
Call me silly, just one of my little quirks. When I am ready to cook I then decide what the dish will look and taste like. Simply a decision saved for the last minute. I love to combine different tastes and colors, believing that the presentation is a great part of the culinary delight. Be bold and daring.