Recipe Inspirations: Sites to Cook From

A few very kind readers (readers? really? I have those!?) -- Christina, Nicole, and Sugarpond (the woman behind the delicious food blog, Five Spice Duck) -- have asked me recently about my favorite sources for recipes.  (Actually, Sugarpond asked about my ridiculously large cookbook collection, which I'll post about shortly.)

Even though I own way too many cookbooks, my go-to source for recipes is nonetheless the internet.  Because the only thing I enjoy more than eating is research.  And I am nothing if not relentless and intrepid in my search for awesome recipes.

Look at the intensity in my five-year-old eyes.
This girl doesn't just eat, she eats with purpose and seriousness.

I thought I'd put together a list of my favorite food-related web resources, and then invite you to do the same, either in the comments or in your blog.

Are you up for a round of share the food love?  Say yes!

Same day, still eating with purpose and seriousness.

My web resources break down into two categories: (1) sites I go to when I have a particular ingredient or dish in mind and (2) sites I go to for inspiration.  I'll deal with the first category in this post and the second category in my next one.

I'll look at the camera for the picture, but I'm not going to stop eating.
Because eating requires concentration, damn it!

I pretty much always start with Epicurious, with a second stop at the Foodnetwork*.  What I like about both of these sites is that they allow you to search by ingredient, meal, mode of preparation, etc.  Sometimes when it's cold, and all you have in the house is a package of chicken thighs, you want to be able to find efficiently a chicken dish you can make in the oven.  (Yes, I turn on the oven for warmth. Don't worry, mom, we're not that poor . . . yet.  But I'm a big believer in multi-tasking.)

* On the Foodnetwork website, though, I admit I'm a total snob when it comes to the recipes: Barefoot Contessa, yes; Rachel "Everything is Undiscerningly Yummo" Ray, no. Mario Batali, yes; Sandra "Drunken Tablescape Lady" Lee, hell no.  Alton, always; Giada, sometimes.  

Rodin had "The Thinker." My mom had "The Eater." Both equally contemplative.
Yes, this is still a photo from the same day, and I am still eating.

Beyond these two databases, here are my other favorite sites for "holy crap, I have an hour to get food on the table" type of recipes:

• Amateur Gourmet (Adam not only has a great palate, but an eye for finding the best version of any given dish.  I found many of my chicken recipes here.)
• The Kitchn (This Apartment Therapy site often has great tutorials alongside a diverse array of accessible recipes.)
• The NY Times Dining & Wine Section (Mark Bittman is the love.)
• Simply Recipes (Elise's recipes are fun, accessible, and sorted by ingredient and meal-type.)
• Smitten Kitchen (Lots of gorgeous photos, and recipes that are easy, comforting, and non-fussy. Recipes are delivered in a narrative style and can thus sometimes be hard to cook from.  But you can usually break the narratives down into discrete steps or find the original of the recipe elsewhere.)
• Steamy Kitchen (The motto of "global flavors . . . fast, fresh, simple" says it all. Particularly good for Asian recipes.)
• Viet World Kitchen (Andrea is the queen of accessible recipes for Vietnamese and Asian foods. She's doing a Peking Duck series now that is very instructive.)
• 101 Cookbooks (A great resource for vegetarian recipes.)

Those are some of my favorite go-to sources for accessible recipes.  Are your favorites on my list?  Which delicious sites am I missing out on?