What you want to do is look at the cost to create (Energy) to Currant/Energy provided.
For example, Meat will cost towards the beginning something like 6 Energy to harvest and 10 provided, so very basic starting off you already have a 6/10 that you can usually get a load of easily if you travel around a bit getting pigs, the higher you go with AK the better those odds are. At AK6 it costs me 2 Energy to get 30 Energy out. Chances are any recipe I use the Meat in will just dilute those odds, so I eat the meat outright, the EnergyConsumed:EnergyProvided ratio is just too dang good, however if I wanted to sell items people seem to prefer items that give a lot of energy, so I would look for something that isn't too bad to produce Energy wise but gives a fair amount of Energy back. A good example is Awesome Stew.
As of recently however a lot of people flock to certain recipes (like Awesome Stew) and lower the price on the Auction House so much that it is no longer worth it to make and sell those recipes, so check it out yourself and make sure your market isn't oversaturated.
I actually just kinda... Collect food :P I love the way it looks, don't need to eat it (meat, eggs and emblems are enough to keep my energy up) and so like keeping a huge stack of food, and a huge stack of drink in my house.
This game encourages my my inner hoarder, because I don't let myself hoard things in the non-game world. And of course I find other ways to make currants so that I won't have to sell my lovely food.
I have noticed though that some auctions price things under the selling price of a vendor, I think the lower prices are just to get things sold. A good thing to do is probably check the wiki to see how much something is there before deciding what you want to start gathering up/making and selling.
I cook Awesome Stew for myself, right now I don't find rewarding to action meals or animal products, because the prices are below vendor price, so I prefer to donate to shrines some meals I prepared for quests or achievements and the meat and milk I get with RK.
I action over vendor price stacks of harvest (bubbles, vapor, etc.) and when items are required for street projects people are more willing to pay high prices.