This Week In the Kitchen

Every now and then it starts to feel like I'm in a cooking rut. That's when I get the urge to try all sorts of new recipes... and over the past two weeks I've tried quite a few. Most have been good, a couple have bombed, but here are three that stood out.

The other morning I was reading blogs and happened to stumbled upon a recipe for Avocado Cup Salads over at Smitten Kitchen. They looked so pretty and since I had most of the ingredients on hand, I couldn't resist. Besides Twin A, also an avocado fan, had the day off and this looked like a perfect lunch.

I made the Avocado Cup Salad with Black Bean Confetti and was very happy with the way it turned out. If I'd had a red or orange bell pepper, they would have been even more colorful. I added seedless cucumber instead of onions and topped it off with cilantro freshly picked from my new herb garden. The post at Smitten Kitchen also included a recipe for Avocado Cup Salads with Cucumbers, Radishes and Ginger-Miso Dressing. I'll try that soon.

We're back on the mussels kick. You might remember the Weekend Cooking post I wrote last fall about mussels. I'd never cooked them at home and was surprised at how quick and easy they were to prepare. This time I tried Ina Garten's recipe for Mussels in White Wine and it was heavenly! A loaf of crusty bread and some steamed broccoli made this a delicious meal. I followed the recipe exactly as written and would not change a thing. She suggests soaking the mussels in a flour/water mixture for a half hour, or until they disgorge any sand. I did that, but couldn't tell whether it made a difference or not.

Finally, we love fish on the grill and I'm always looking for new marinades or rubs. I tried a recipe for Grilled Fish Steaks from allrecipes.com after buying fresh swordfish without a definite recipe in mind. It's used ingredients I always have on hand and tasted great, too. This would work any variety of firm white fish... next time I'll use halibut.

Have you tried any new recipes lately?

Weekend Cooking, hosted at Beth Fish Reads, is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.