Cooking is Fun & Menu Plan Monday (March 11-March 17)

March 11, 2013

I love to cook. I find it fun and a great way to explore my creative side in a forgiving environment – one in which there’s no judgment (for the most part!). I consider recipes a form of art. There are millions of recipes available, some of which are very similar to others – I mean, there’s only so many ways to make pancakes or a Greek salad! Part of the fun of cooking is experimenting and changing up recipes to make them your own. That’s why I rarely follow a recipe to the T and end up developing my own recipes most of the time. It’s a process of trial and error, learning what works and what doesn’t.

Last week’s menu was filled with new recipes that required a jolt of creativity and on-the-spot experimenting. With it came some winning dishes and some that didn’t turn out quite as planned. Cuban night was a great success and will definitely be a repeat. I can’t take full credit for it because I almost totally followed a recipe from Saveur. The Tofu Mushroom ‘Quiche’ on the other hand didn’t come out as pretty as it looked in Martha Shulman’s picture. It was definitely full of delicious umami flavors, but the texture just wasn’t right. Turns out I really needed the yeast extract, but unfortunately I couldn’t find it at the supermarket. You win some and lose some! The other umami meal of the week, chicken udon soup, was a hit – a filling, Nutritioulicious meal! This week will be a combination of tried and true recipes and some more experimenting. We’ll see how it goes!

Do you find cooking fun? What’s your favorite thing about cooking?