Raiding the Pantry The Purple Palm Restaurant & Bar | Palm Springs, Calif.

Necessity is the mother of invention, and for Nick Tall, The Purple Palm’s Executive Chef, it helped guide him to one of the restaurant’s most successful and popular dishes. “I knew I wanted to get more fish on the menu,” he says. “A grilled fish would bring balance back to the station distribution of our menu.” He also had a lot of inventory left over from the previous chef, including Israeli couscous, pine nuts, smoked paprika and saffron. “It was hundreds of dollars just sitting on the shelf, taking up much-needed space.” So, the Marinated Swordfish was born, served with Israeli couscous, sautéed baby spinach, and a creamy citronette starring Greek yogurt, lemon juice and saffron. “I also toasted the pine nuts and combined them with some local red pomelo and fresh herbs.” He marinated the swordfish in a few citrus fruits, adding a bit of paprika for zing. The result is a well-balanced seafood entrée that’s popular among his diners. “And it was completely the result of just a bunch of extra stuff lying around that we weren’t even using,” says Tall.