As interesting as the "grab it and throw it in a pot" method is, (considering what comes out)-- it still doesnt hold a candle to my own imaginings of what those dwarves could be making with these new ingredients.
There is now enough raw culinary material to make truly gourmet food products. Seriously.
Try this on for size:
Stuffed eggplant, (with cheese-stuffed mushrooms, diced ham and barley) braised in red wine sauce on rice pilaf; with a vinaigrette side salad of crumbled feta-like cheese, red and green spinach leaves, slivered cabbage, crumbled boiled egg, shaved carrot and iceberg lettuce; next to a hearty chicken and vegetable soup made with diced chicken, carrots, onion, celery and potatoes; followed up with a scrumptious mixed berry (Blackberry, Raspberry, Blueberry) tart (Made with wheat flour, dwarven sugar, and cow tallow, along with said berries).
Aside from missing an obvious meat entrée, that's a 4 course meal, and with ingredients now found in-game. (well, vinegar isnt in yet, but that's an easy fix.)
It wouldnt be that hard to implement more sensible meal preparation. Since we are preparing meals, break it down into entrées, then assemble those entrées into meals.
The cooking mod I have turning around in my head would go something like this:
Your typical entrée types are--
Meat (Usually as the main course)
Vegetable
Salad
Soup
"Filler"
Desert
"Fillers" are things like: Bread, breadsticks, biscuits (US definition), dinner rolls, pasta, steamed rice (such as pilaf bedding), etc.
So, a revised cooking system, IMO, would look like this:
Make Entrée
----Meat
-------Simple
-------Hearty
-------Lavish
----Meat (fish)
--------Simple
--------Hearty
--------Lavish
----Vegetable
--------Simple
--------Hearty
--------Lavish
----Salad
--------Simple
--------Hearty
--------Lavish
----Soup
--------Simple
---------Hearty
---------Lavish
----Filler
---------Simple
---------Hearty
---------Lavish
-----Desert
---------Simple
---------Hearty
---------Lavish
Make Meal
-----Two Course
-----Three Course
-----Four course
-----Feast
Dwarves should be able to eat individual entrées, and also prepared meals, in addition to basic food items.
This kind of system would eliminate the "Everything's a roast" issue, while retaining some of the "WTF?" in dwarven cooking. I believe it would overall make more presentable/palatable sounding foods however. There would need to be some restrictions to prevent an "All egg entree", or a "Feast made from all desert items", just to keep things sane.
Mostly, I look at the ingredients that dwarves have access to now, and see this huge canvas of culinary potential, and am disappointed that it isnt being painted.