A recent restaurant appetizer reminded me how delicious it can be to mix and match. When we arrived at the restaurant, I was hungry with a capital H! The first thing that caught my eye was the word gluten-free next to the hummus and tzatziki crispy flatbread.
When the platter arrived, I expected separate containers of hummus and tzatziki with flatbread to dip into one or the other and maybe a few olives on the side. Instead, just the right amount of hummus had been spread onto the flatbread and was topped by a smear of tzatziki. The mixture of flavors in each bite was delicious!
While both flavors are Mediterranean, hummus hails from the Middle East. Tzatziki is a staple of Greek cuisine. They’re more often served as neighboring accoutrements than companion toppings. This experience was a great reminder that mixing and matching is an easy way to bring variety to your go-tos.
Here are a few mix and match possibilities:
The family meal staple lasagne’s mix of Italian herbs like oregano and basil can be amplified by the addition of Mexican spices like chili powder and cumin.
Chocolate and cayenne pepper take dessert favorites like brownies and ice cream to the spicy side.
If you like your salads cool, use your ranch dressing to cool down your pizza.
Afraid to go dairy-free because you love cereal? Pour some orange juice over those flakes. We’ve been doing this for years in my family. You can even use mandarin oranges and the juice they come in.
While you have the orange juice out, use some to dip your chocolate cookies.
For those who are upping the protein and limiting the carbs, a little strawberry jelly on your scrambled eggs, omelet, or frittata can make you forget about reaching for a piece of toast.
Be sure to feed your kids ants on a log so they won’t think celery paired with peanut butter and raisins is weird.
Add a squeeze or two of fresh lemon juice to vanilla icing before you drizzle it on cinnamon rolls. It brightens the flavor and keeps it from becoming too sweet.
A neighborhood restaurant serves a burger called The Jamn Skippy. It adds feta, caramelized sumac onions, and seasonal berry jam to a grass-fed beef burger.
The Jamn Skippy name might make you expect peanut butter, but you have to go down the street to a smash burger food truck to get your burger topped with peanut butter, jalapeño jelly, pepper jack cheese, jalapeños, lettuce, and bacon. They call it the Ooey Gooey Stack. And it is.
Taking this tasty walk reminds me of my dad’s favorite combos – salted peanuts in Pepsi, cornbread in buttermilk, and cheddar cheese on apple pie. But nobody really thought those were weird. After all, his mom made chocolate gravy for her biscuits.
Whether you think the combos are weird or not, when you’re tired of repeating the usual flavors, reach for something out of the ordinary to try. Your next mix and match experiment could turn into your favorite combo!
https://www.cooking2thrive.com/blog/perfect-pair/
