I love to play Chopped at home. Chopped is a Food Network Show where chefs are presented with baskets filled with unusual ingredients that they have to combine into delicious appetizers, dinners, and desserts.
When I shop, I primarily purchase ingredients versus prepared foods. I also freeze my own prepared meals from the leftovers from recipes. Over time, there can be an excess of ingredients and frozen meals, so that is when I play Chopped.
Here's how to play Chopped at home.
Choose a main ingredient or two from your fridge or freezer. Maybe it is chicken and rice or spinach and quinoa. You can add ingredients once you decide what you will make, but these will make the foundation of your dish.
If you also collect sauces and spices, like I do, you could add that to the main ingredient mix. Maybe you have leftover Garam masala, barbeque, or hot sauce. These can help the direction of the dish.
Now start thinking about combinations with your ingredients, or go to the internet and do a search. Depending on your palate, push past the usual. For example, if you have chicken and rice instead of a basic chicken and rice soup or casserole, what if you stepped slightly outside your comfort zone? It is easy to find sites with dishes like this: 27 Practically Perfect Chicken and Rice Dinners.
Choose dishes that use what you have at home if you can. If you must go to the store, make it for just an ingredient or two.
If you improvise with some of the ingredients, make notes of what you did so that if it comes out good, you can repeat it.
When my nephews were young, we would play Chopped while on vacation. It helped them get creative with their cooking and experiment with what they knew and liked. Today two of them are fantastic cooks, and playing Chopped could have played a part in their learning.
Here's another benefit. When you play Chopped in your kitchen, you will find you need to shop less, reducing your grocery bills. As prices increase at the stores, this is a fun way to creatively use what you have while wasting less. That is a win-win.
