I was cooking last night and I had one of my favorite green vegetables, Kale, on the stove top sauteing in some butter and olive oil with minced garlic and fennel rings.  Sounds pretty good so far, right (apologies to you that don't like this sort of stuff).  I just couldn't get it to where I wanted it, flavor wise.  I could have gone to the bacon drippings for a teaspoon or so of that.  It always seems to work.  However, I didn't really want to load the dish up with fat unnecessarily.  So I started looking around the refrigerator for something new to try.  My eyes fell on a bottle of poppy seed dressing.  Hmmmm.... The dish needed a bit of sweet (Kale can be a bit bitter and I had planned to add some lemons to finish).  I love poppy seeds.  Heck, why not.  I decided that I would start slow, all the time knowing full well that if the flavors didn't fit, it was going to ruin the whole batch.  I had a good saute pan full of lighly sauted kale and I added about a tablespoon of the dressing.  That was it and the amount was just right.  I got a great balance and a new flavor layer that really rounded out the dish.

The point is don't be afraid to try new things, even if they seem a little wierd.  Just think of things that taste good together (steak and cheese, pears and cranberries, spinach and poppy seed dressing, hehe).  You'll make some messes for sure, but you'll also discover some hidden treasures and have some great cooking stories to share.

Pura Vida.