Food Resolutions

Too often we use January as time to make food resolutions that simply aren’t realistic. Instead of making resolutions that would be too hard for me to keep like “I’ll never eat left-over brownies for breakfast again,” I like to make a different kind of kitchen resolution. Each year I pick a new technique or flavor that I want to experiment with in the kitchen and play around with it throughout the year. Here are some of my kitchen resolutions from year’s past.

2006 – Lower-fat baking, Seasonal green salads

2010 – Dried beans, Barbecuing fish and chicken

2012 – Pan roasting a chicken breast, Homemade ice cream

So what are this year’s resolutions? This year I decided to devote every Wednesday night to making eggs for dinner. I’m looking forward to trying out roasted root vegetables (potatoes, carrots, rutabagas, & turnips) with sunny-side up eggs, polenta with poached eggs, and avgolemono. I also want to learn more ways to cook trout. Trout are abundant in my area and I’m sorry to say that I really only know one way to prepare it.

If you’re looking for a good food resolution for 2014, here are some ideas to get you going with a whole new culinary adventure this year.

• Try replicating one of your favorite restaurant dishes
• Pick a country and focus on a few of the dishes and spices that are native to it
• Browse the WA Grown website and videos for topics and recipes that pique your interest
• Ever been curious about a strange ingredient at the grocery store? Buy it and try it.

Make a resolution that’s fun to keep and start out the year with new adventures in your kitchen.