I recently received a story pitch from talker.news about Americans' cooking and eating habits.
The pitch was for a story based on the results of a survey conducted by One Poll and commissioned by the National Lamb Board. According to the release, "the average American tries at least six new recipes a month."
Note the word "tries," not makes. I think that's probably an important distinction to point out here, since most of us are more likely to try something new in a restaurant or if the food is prepared for us rather than by us.
But it got me thinking. How many new recipes do I try/make in any given month.
Definitely more than six, but that's to be expected given my job is literally cooking and telling you, dear readers, about the delicious new dishes I come across in books, magazines, on the internet, from other cooks and the ones I create in my own kitchen.
Depending on what I'm working on, I might make 10 new recipes in a week. For the plantain story I wrote May 31, I tried probably 20 new-to-me recipes over the course of a month, but only a few of those made the final cut for the story. Meanwhile, I was still cooking things for Front Burner, not to mention all the meals that I make that I don't write about (nobody needs to know how many times a month I eat some combination of seasoned ground beef, sweet red peppers, tomatoes, jalapeno, avocados, cilantro and salsa verde).
And there are some weeks, like this one, where I don't make anything new. Whether it's lack of time or seeking comfort in the familiar, I often stick with tried-and-true favorites. (Or I let my husband do the cooking.)
How many new recipes do you try a month? Where do you find those recipes? I hope you find some of them here in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
This is one of the tried-and-true recipes I revisited this week. Even though it isn't new to me, it may be new to you. It leans more savory than most chicken salads by skipping the grapes and/or dried cranberries.
It is good made with tuna (minus the bacon) too.
Chicken Salad Stuffed Tomatoes
- 1 cup chopped or shredded cooked chicken (canned chicken breast will work, too)
- 2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
- ¼ to ½ cup mayonnaise, or to taste
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 3-inch piece celery, finely chopped
- 1 green onion, chopped OR ¼ cup snipped fresh chives
- Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 large ripe tomatoes, cored and peeled if desired
- ¼ cup nuts such as chopped pecans, pistachios or slivered almonds (I really like this with pistachios)
In a medium bowl, combine chicken, bacon, mayonnaise, lemon juice, celery, green onion, salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled.
Using a sharp knife, make two cuts, as if to quarter the tomato, but do not cut all the way through; gently open tomato quarters, making room for the stuffing.
Spoon chicken salad into each tomato. Garnish with nuts.
Makes 2 servings.