Chopped Challenge: What would you make with four ingredients?

Do you love Food Network’s Chopped? The Chopped Challenge has foodies whipping up some tasty and creative dishes. Ready to get cooking?

A simple concept is bringing people together. The Chopped Challenge (#ChoppedChallenge) started by Food Network takes its popular Chopped show to the home kitchen. If you have ever wondered what it would like to cook with that mystery basket, here is your chance.

Take a moment. If you were given four ingredients, potentially random ingredients, what would you make? There is no recipe, no cheating (I.e. putting those four ingredients on a plate). Could you come up with a tasty dinner?

With more people at home, many people are both excited and scared to cook. From never turning on the stove to the aspiring chef, creating a meal from scratch does take some inspiration. While celebrity chefs might make cooking look easy, it starts by getting into the kitchen. Sometimes a little fun can make cooking even better.

As seen on Food Network’s social media, the Chopped Challenge is simple.

https://twitter.com/FoodNetwork/status/1241379726574444544

Now, the challenge says four ingredients. Like any Chopped episode, those ingredients must be used, but cooks can use additional ingredients. The idea is to have fun while cooking.

Since someone else picks the ingredients, the challenge could be easy or the challenge could be difficult. Some flavors may not go together. Other ingredients might have you stumped.

Personally, years ago, I did one of these challenges at an event. The basket contained scallops, blueberries and corned beef. Never in my life would I have combined these ingredients together. But, on an induction burner, I created a scallop crudo with a blueberry vinaigrette and a corned beef hash. More importantly, the experience with the other cooks was of the most fun cooking experiences that I’ve ever had.

No matter the combination, the idea is to have a little fun. Sure, your dish might not look like a Marc Murphy or an Alex Guarnascelli dish. As long as you enjoyed cooking (and hopefully made something edible), it is a moment of diversion.

More importantly, this idea can be expanded beyond just this Chopped Challenge. It is a great reminder to go through the pantry or the back of the refrigerator to use ingredients. No one wants to throw away a bag of chips because they expired. Why not find ways to use that food in the pantry.

FoodSided challenges its contributors to try the Chopped Challenge. Take four ingredients from the house, cook up an amazing (or humorous) dish and share a picture with #FoodSided.

Are you ready to take the Chopped Challenge? Are you finding that cooking at home brings a little happiness to your day?