Unique Food Combinations

Sometimes you have to think outside the box when it comes to using your leftovers. You've probably been using the same list of basic flavor combinations for most of your eating life, without giving it much thought. In order to use what you have, you need to let your creativity flow. If you aren't sure about how a couple of things will flow together, try one of them in small quantities with the other item. Maybe it will work.

One combination that I didn't consider for a long time was both tomato-based pasta sauce and alfredo sauce. However, Pastitsio is one of the family's favorite meals and they taste excellent together, especially when you toss in some cheddar cheese for accent! :)

Today, I had a wonderful lunch based upon this concept. I had a small leftover Honey Lime Chicken breast left from dinner Monday night. This morning, we visited the downtown City Market and came home with some peaches, pears, baby spinach, and other items, some of which needed to be used as soon as possible. We also picked up a package of freshly-baked pita bread that was fantastic!! So I got a bit creative for lunch. On the pita bread, I drizzled a bit of honey mustard, then arranged a light bed of baby spinach. Onto that went the heated chicken breast, cut into strips, and half of a peach, sliced. A roma tomato was diced and added and I had a very colorful lunch ready! (I didn't think to take a photo - I'm sorry!)

Now, the question is....how did the honey-lime chicken, spinach, and peaches taste together?? They were amazingly excellent! The flavors blended together and created a very tasty sandwich that I plan to make again. I hadn't tried chicken and peaches before, though some of you might have, and I really enjoyed it. I think it would have been good with a bit of fresh cilantro, too. I'll have to remember that. My initial plan was to have a very basic chicken pita - I'm sure glad I experimented!

This particular example is pretty basic, but it gives you the idea. Just try something outside of your cooking comfort zone. You never know....you might find a new family favorite!

Got any unique combinations you've tried? Let me know. Let's get creative!