If you've seen the fast-paced, high-energy Food Network cooking competition, "Chopped," you know the show's basket ingredients sound gross and sometimes downright terrifying on their own -- but can end up producing some surprisingly elegant and delicious dishes. You won't find canned chicken or Spam on this recipe list, compiled from Food Network's "Chopped"-inspired recipes, granted, but read on to see how ingredients like pickle juice and almond butter can give you delightfully unique dinners. Here is a list of some chopped recipes.
1. Steak and Black Bean Chalupas
Have a steak feast on the cheap with these cube steak chalupas, crispy and filled to the bursting with spicy seasoned meat, soft and flavorful black beans, and refreshingly sweet chili-lime mango.
This soothing bread pudding packs all the flavors of a sophisticated cheese plate -- a baguette, ham, camembert cheese, apple and even white wine -- into convenient little ramekins.
Extra rich and textured almond butter replaces the classic peanut flavor in this quick and easy dish. Chicken is bathed in a creamy sauce of almond butter, coconut milk, garlic, ginger, snap peas and more -- and the mixture is thrown over a generous plate of vermicelli noodles.
Collard greens are an essential ingredient in this pasta dish, complete with crispy pancetta, garlic, red pepper flakes and plenty of olive oil and Parmesan.
A creamy, tangy sauce of goat cheese and Greek yogurt mingles pleasantly with sweet grilled plums and juicy pork tenderloin. The elements marry on a bed of perfectly bitter arugula.
6. Butter Roasted Chicken with Grit Waffles
Chicken and waffles gets a gourmet makeover with buttery, peppery, oven-roasted chicken thighs and drumsticks, placed over golden grits-based waffles and drizzled with chipotle-infused maple syrup.
7. Grapefruit and Honey Salmon
This sweet and citrusy salmon makes a healthy meal in a pinch. It comes together with salmon fillets, grapefruit and just five other ingredients you probably already have in the pantry.
Creamy, comforting chicken pot pie is made even more scrumptious with a crispy tater-tot crust. Pulse store-bought tots in a food processor with thyme, sprinkle the mixture over the casserole, and enjoy the mingling of the crumbly crust with bubbling filling. You'll never go back to plain pie crust again.
9. Pickled Shrimp and Fried Tomatoes
Leftover pickle juice is reborn in this uniquely delicious dish of pickled shrimp, fried tomatoes and creamy dill pickle dressing. The tangy, briny ingredients work marvelously with versatile shrimp and the tomatoes' cornmeal coating.
10. Caesar T-Bone Steak with Stout Pan Sauce
This steak-and-potato dinner will help you finally understand what the heck the "umami" flavor craze is all about. Rubbed with garlic-anchovy paste and served with a sauce of stout beer and Worcestershire, the steak will taste different (in a good way, of course) from anything you've ever had before. Enjoy the steak and watch this year's Olympic volleyball, support the USA team!
11. Carbonara Stuffed Potatoes with Crispy Pancetta
Want to enjoy the flavor of carbonara -- eggy, cheesy, bacony goodness -- but aren't in the mood for pasta? Try it in these hearty baked potatoes, perfect for brunch or as a generous side to an Italian meat dish.
12. Chestnut Ravioli with Browned Butter and Thyme
Pureed canned chestnuts (yes, canned, apparently) and ricotta make a smooth filling for these wonton ravioli, swimming in a browned butter sauce with garlic and thyme and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.
13. Curried Pot Pies
This filling and warming vegetarian dish gets flavor from coconut milk and butter, ginger, curry powder, lime and jalapeno. The sauce coats cubed zucchini and tofu, and it's all topped off with a crown of panko breadcrumbs.
14. Banana Chip Crusted Jerk Pork Chops
Slightly sweet banana chips coat these spicy jerk pork chops, served over cooling white rice and black beans for a complete Jamaican-inspired meal.