This is a hard confession for a food blogger to make, but…I’ve been in a terrible food rut this week. I haven’t been able to decide what to make for dinner, and I’ve just been snacking for lunch unless I’ve had leftovers. I don’t even have any cookies in the apartment! I always have cookies in the apartment, but I can’t decide what to make next.
So this has me thinking about food inspiration. Aside from food blogs, I get most of my inspiration from cooking shows like Top Chef and some of the Cooking Channel’s new programs. I have a few go-to cookbooks – Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is one – that I’ll flip through for ideas. I’ll also click through magazine websites like Saveur, Cooking Light, and Gourmet‘s archives to find recipes I want to try.
Have you ever been in a food rut? Where do you get your food inspiration? What books, magazines, TV shows, blogs, etc. do you recommend?
Jen, we all hit the rut sooner or later. Lately, I’ve been grooving on some of Anne Burrell’s recipes over at FN. Her stewed lentils are fabulous and round out a lunch salad very nicely.
We love being in a rut. It means pasta, aglio e olio or simple red sauce, followed up with brownies. Routine. They clean the slate, leaving room for inspiration to mosey in at its leisure.
I like travel books – they get you thinking about flavours, textures and colours. Not surprisingly, books about Italy always stir up some ideas!
@Wendi: Don’t even get me started on my salad rut. I’m always looking for new ideas to make salad more exciting. I’ll check out the lentil recipe!
@Tracy: Thanks for making me feel better about my lack of food inventiveness at the moment. I hope inspiration moseys in soon though!
@offmotorway: That’s so true! Travel books can be great inspiration. I’m reading a book for class now – Revenge of the Saguaro by Tom Miller – and now I’m thinking that they mention homemade tortillas. I might have just found a bit of inspiration. Thanks!
i just like going to the greenmarket and seeing what’s available
I’m currently in a food rut, but it’s mostly out of laziness and not meal planning. I hope that this weekend I will look through all the recipes I’ve saved and create a list of NEW things I want to eat.
My food rut means a LOT of pasta with red sauce and a LOT of tofu and vegetables, so lucky it’s nothing unhealthy
When I’m in a rut, the following food bloggers always provide inspiration:
SmittenKitchen.com
101Cookbooks.com
ChristiesCorner.com
RevelAndFeast.com
FoodAndStyle.com
@hg: I definitely need to branch out at the market. I go to the same lettuce guy, the same cheese people, the same bean family. Thanks for reminding me to look around and see what’s new.
@Nakiya: I eat a lot of tofu and vegetables too! It’s a great food rut go-to meal. I hope you find some good recipes to try this weekend!
@Lorraine: Thanks so much for stopping by! I haven’t visited all of the blogs you mentioned, but now I’m looking forward to checking them out.
I often get in ruts. My first course of action is to think, “What would I order at a restaurant?” My go-to cookbook is Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything.”
@Madame Yum Yum: Thanks for the cookbook suggestion! That’s also a good idea to think about restaurants and what they’re serving. It’s also a good excuse to eat out more! (Because you have to try what you’re going to make, right?
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[...] felt inspired to make them, and if you read Friday’s post, you know I’ve been looking for some of inspiration. I had to jump on [...]
Ditto the greenmarket idea. I find that a trip to the local vegetable stalls and a chat with the growers usually gets me a new recipe. Often, it’s a recipe for something I already know fairly well (i.e. green beans) but with a different twist.
@Joan: Great idea to talk to the farmers who are selling the food. I usually just buy my veggies and fruits without asking for recipes, but maybe I’ll try that now.