I am both a recipe cook and an a-little-of-this-a-little-of-that cook. What I don’t often do, however is deliberate adaptation.
Sure, I substitute ingredients here and there, but never with a specific flavor and texture profile in mind. This, I think of more as substitution.
Adaptations are intimidating. Adaptations can quickly point out just how much you don’t know. Adaptations can signify personal failure and defeat.
I absolutely love Heidi Swanson’s Curried Egg Salad. This is a major statement. Typically, I don’t eat many savory foods that could be described as “creamy.” In fact, if I think of the word, it is likely that I’ll lose my appetite. So egg salads, potato salads, most coleslaws, pasta salads, tuna salads and chicken salads are things that I rarely (read: almost never) eat. I am the one who never has any of these things on her plate at a potluck. I am the one who tries to ignore these things at a potluck. And if I am on a date, the consumption of any of these items during the date by the date really, really messes with his chances.
So, it is remarkable that when I found myself with some baked chicken in the fridge that I thought, I bet I can use that egg salad recipe and come up with something. I thought about doing some shopping to get the rest of the ingredients. Then I realized that I could use Greek yogurt, garlic scapes, almonds and nectarines in the salad instead of plain yogurt, chives and onions, pecans and apples.
An adaptation was born. And it was good.