Ingredient obsession

[magid]

The NYTimes had a recipe for cranberry meringue pie, and it got me thinking about an all-cranberry meal.

• green salad with dried cranberries
  
• chicken marinated in orange juice and cranberry juice
  
• cranberry relish or chutney
  
• wild rice pilaf with dried cranberries and nuts
  
• cranberry lemonade
  
• cranberry meringue pie
  
• chocolate-covered dried cranberries
  
• cranberry tea

Which then lead to other ingredients that would work, rather a la Iron Chef (but foods I'd actually make at home).

• mango-pineapple salsa with tortilla chips
  
• green salad with tomato, basil, and mango, in a spicy dressing (optional: chunks of chicken poached in basil and salsa)
  
• salmon roasted with slices of onion, scallion, mango, and Szechuan spicy sauce
  
• mango-peach nectar
  
• mango-tangerine sorbet

• spinach salad with oil-lemon-pepper dressing
  
• Morroccan chickpea stew with preserved lemon, or
  chicken baked with rice and preserved lemon
  
• mint lemonade
  
• Shaker lemon pie

• stir-fried broccoli, onions and peapods with ginger
  
• roasted turkey thighs with ginger, black pepper, peach, and hot sauce
  
• roasted carrots, onions, and sweet potatoes with ginger and cayenne
  
• ginger tea
  
• chocolate-covered crystallized ginger

• onion soup with Parmesan croutons
  
• tomato-basil-scallion salad with feta
  
• caramelized onion and broccoli quiche
  
• potatoes gratin
  
• Key lime cheesecake

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that they're mostly fruit-focused; fruit seems to be more versatile, somehow. Or at least, that's true now that I like sweet-and-spicy foods.