Recipe Database App Wish

I have a dream. My dream is for a recipe database or app that lets you input ingredients, then spits out recipes based on those selections.

“Dummy! That’s what Google is for!” you exclaim.

Ah, but I want a bit more than that. I want it to give me recipes that only include those ingredients. Too many times I’ve gone to Google and typed in, “chicken breast, can of tomatos, celery” and gotten recipes that indeed use those ingredients…plus foie gras or something similarly not-in-my-cupboard. I want a database that helps me creatively use the items that are hanging in the pantry. I’m ok if it says, “By the way, if you happen to have green beans, you could make this!” but I want it to begin at the basics.

I could see some add-ons to this wish list such as you tell it the types of sundries that are always in your house. For example, the day we don’t have spaghetti around is the day we’re eating the neighbors. Similarly with a wide range of herbs and spices, flour, sugar, corn starch, etc.

I think this would be really useful to new cooks who need the assistance to get going and are uncomfortable just making shit up. I am very comfortable just making shit up, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t something especially appealing that could be made with those ingredients that I’ve never considered.

So, somebody get on this. I’d pay for it.