Improv in the Kitchen

My friend Ellen loves to improvise—both on stage and in the kitchen.  She’s fearless and successful in both arenas, although she doesn’t tell me about the flops.

Unlike some cooks I know, Ellen is willing to go off recipe because 1) she doesn’t like one or more of the ingredients, 2) she avoids certain foods for health reasons or 3) she just feels like it.

Leeks: What Are They and How Do I Cook Them?

Leeks, which are part of the onion and garlic family, look like scallions on steroids.  They have a mild taste and a much bigger price tag than onions.  To make their food seem more exotic, some recipe-writers call for leeks when they could just as easily use onions.  That’s a waste of money as well as time because this vegetable is much harder to clean.  In fact, cleaning leeks can be more of a challenge than cooking them.

Leeks vary greatly in diameter—as little as 3/4-inch to 2 inches--and are often sold in bundles of two or three.  Most of the leek is edible, although the dark green part is fibrous and strong tasting.  I usually cut much of it off.

Mom Money-Saving Tip 13

Substitute a cheaper ingredient for a more expensive one. For instance, it won’t make a difference if you use an onion instead of 1-2 leeks. I have nothing against leeks, although they are messy to clean. Leeks are probably listed as an ingredient in the first place because the recipe writer wanted to make the recipe more distinctive-sounding, not more distinctive-tasting. New recipes are sometimes just “improvements” on old recipes. The unwritten rule for writing recipes is to change at least 3 ingredients.

See all my Money-Saving Tips!