From this interview with Tamar Adler from Cap Beauty:
"I cook with ingredients that don't look like ingredients: half a leftover sandwich, a moldy tomato, a little bit of chana masaala. I wanted to pass the knowledge along. I wasn't sure if it could be done — could I write recipes that included things like "a moldy tomato?" I ended up trying. I think it works! Having a child also helped. I wanted to give other parents as much of a leg up in cooking and feeding as possible."