I’ve written before about discovering that not only was I able to cook, I enjoyed doing it. Since then, my husband and I have put together some meals that would probably be ho-hum occurrences to kitchen regulars, but to me felt like revelations. I feel like a switch went on recently that allowed me to substitute ingredients and still get good results — something I never would have tried before. For instance, I recently made Megan’s curried pasta salad, only I used rotini and shaved carrots, skipped the cilantro and radish, and added grilled chicken. And it was still delicious! My most recent triumph is the cioppino you see above. You could say I took some real liberties with this recipe, using what I had readily available in our kitchen. My “recipe” started with the butter, onion, and garlic from All Recipes, but then I diverged, adding a large can of plain tomato sauce, a jar of marinara from Trader Joe’s, two cups of water, a sprinkling of crushed red pepper, a bit of leftover fresh salsa, a cup of frozen mustard greens, razor clams, and a package of seasoned mahi-mahi, also from Trader Joe’s. I served the whole thing over some basmati rice, and the reviews were stellar. Have any similar substitution victories to share? –Mary T.