Stuck in a cooking rut? Try some creative rule-breaking in the kitchen

If you’re feeling burned out by your daily cooking routine, you might reflexively try to pare things down, using fewer ingredients and bare-minimum recipes, but cookbook author Jerrelle Guy does the opposite — she adds something. She was able to reclaim her joy and creativity in the kitchen by sprinkling a little extra flair into her meals, tapping what was already in her pantry as inspiration to make everyday food feel special.

It’s a mindset she calls “being fancy,” which, she explains in her “We Fancy” cookbook, “has nothing to do with wealth or status and more to do with being free to be imaginative … a way to savor what we have right in front of us.” It’s a philosophy of playfulness, curiosity and abundance that can bring pleasure back to the cooking process and excitement to the plate.

This recipe, which is adapted from the book, is an expression of Guy’s mindset, turning a quesadilla into a meal packed with unexpected flavors and layers of nourishment. The ingredients she brings into the fold — gochujang and kimchi — reflect the creative rule-breaking that can reignite the spark in the kitchen.

The gochujang, which is mixed with ground spices, soy sauce and lime juice, pulls double duty. It’s slathered on the salmon before it is roasted and also stirred with yogurt to serve as a dipping sauce for the quesadillas. The cooked, flaked fish is piled onto tortillas along with chopped kimchi, which adds eye-opening flavor as well as gut-friendly probiotics and fiber, as well as sweet corn kernels, sliced scallions, cilantro and mozzarella cheese.

Folded into half-moons and browned in a skillet until the cheese is melted and all the ingredients are warmed through, the quesadillas turn out crisp on the outside and deeply savory and gently spicy on the inside. Served with the cool gochujang-yogurt dipping sauce, it’s a relatively simple meal that is inspired and memorable, proving that sometimes, to get out of a cooking rut, more is more.

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Salmon, Kimchi and Corn Quesadillas

2 tablespoons gochujang

2 tablespoons soy sauce, preferably reduced-sodium

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (from 1 lime), plus lime wedges for serving

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon mustard powder

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ cup Greek yogurt (any fat level)

One (8-ounce) skin-on salmon fillet

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

½ cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen (defrosted, if frozen)

½ cup kimchi, drained and roughly chopped

2 scallions, thinly sliced (¼ cup), plus more for serving

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for serving

Four (8-inch) flour tortillas, preferably whole-wheat

1½ tablespoons avocado oil or olive oil

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 425°F. Line a small sheet pan with foil.

In a small bowl, whisk together the gochujang, soy sauce, lime juice, garlic powder, ground ginger, onion powder, mustard powder and pepper.

In a separate small bowl, whisk about half of the gochujang mixture with the yogurt to combine. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Put the salmon on a plate skin side down and pat it dry. Pour the remaining gochujang mixture over the salmon and rub it all over the fillet. Let marinate at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Transfer the salmon to the prepared sheet pan and roast for 8 minutes per inch thickness, or until the fillet is opaque and flakes easily when pressed with tines of a fork. Transfer the salmon to a plate. Let cool slightly, then use a fork to flake the fish off the skin into bite-size pieces. If not using right away, cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day.

In a large bowl, toss the flaked salmon with the mozzarella, corn, kimchi, scallions and cilantro.

Lay the tortillas on a work surface and mound one-quarter of the salmon mixture (about ¾ cup) onto half of each tortilla. Fold the other half of each tortilla over the filling to create a half-moon shape.

In a 10- to 12-inch nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Place 2 quesadillas in the skillet and cook until golden brown on both sides and the cheese is melted, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board, add the remaining ½ tablespoon of oil to the skillet and repeat with the remaining 2 quesadillas.

Cut each quesadilla into wedges, transfer to a platter, sprinkle with the scallions and cilantro, and serve alongside the gochujang-yogurt sauce and lime wedges.

Servings: 4 (makes 4 quesadillas)

Make ahead: The salmon can be roasted and refrigerated for up to 1 day in advance.

Where to buy: Gochujang can be found in well-stocked supermarkets, Asian markets or online.

Substitutions: Don’t like heat? Reduce the gochujang to 1 tablespoon. Instead of both onion and garlic powder, use one or the other. Gluten-free? Use gluten-free tortillas, such as corn, instead of the flour tortillas, and gluten-free tamari in place of the soy sauce. For mozzarella, use other melting cheese, such as Monterey Jack. Dairy-free? Use nondairy cheese and yogurt. For cilantro, use parsley.

Nutritional facts per quesadilla (using low-fat Greek yogurt): Calories: 420, Fat: 6 g, Saturated Fat: 6 g, Carbohydrates: 41 g, Sodium: 937 mg, Cholesterol: 53 mg, Protein: 27 g, Fiber: 5 g, Sugar: 7 g.

— Adapted from “We Fancy” by Jerrelle Guy (Simon Element, 2026).