There's no need to restrict ingredients to the same recipes time and time and again. Get creative in the kitchen with these alternative ways of working with your favourite foods.

If spreading peanut butter on toast is getting boring, try exploiting it to make everything from indulgent milkshakes to nutty ice cream. We love these peanut butter truffles, which take just five minutes to make. Roll them in crushed sesame seeds, chocolate, freeze-dried raspberries or desiccated coconut for a professional finish.

Instead of adding aubergine (eggplant) to a ratatouille or curry use it for your next burger night. You can breadcrumb and deep fry slices to replace burger buns, or roast them for a meat-free alternative to a burger patty.

The popularity of Brussels sprouts just keeps on growing. These miniature cousins of the cabbage – once much maligned – now crop up everywhere from healthy slaws and salads to the most decadent hash recipes. We love using them as a pizza topping: try this recipe with lemon and vegan mozzarella.

We’ve always known honey is versatile – it works as beautifully in porridge as it does drizzled on roasted root veg. What’s less obvious is how well it goes with savoury foods such as goat’s cheese – the natural sugariness is tempered by the fresh creaminess of the cheese and balances, rather than over-sweetens the dish.

While avocados go especially well in salads, with eggs and mashed up in a guacamole their creaminess also makes them suitable for desserts. You don't even need an ice cream maker for this avocado and lime ice cream, which is also an inventive way to use ripe avocados.

Orange juice isn't just for breakfast. Chicken and citrus can be a marriage made in heaven, particularly if you add ginger, honey, spring onions and a touch of chilli to the marinade. Get the recipe and find out more in this guide to the best marinades for every type of meat and fish.

Butter can really become something special if you know how. Making browned butter or beurre noisette is just one ingenious way to upgrade this everyday ingredient, and it's not as complicated as it sounds. Simply cook the butter on a medium heat until golden in colour and a nutty aroma is released. You can also add herbs such as sage: try this recipe for roast chicken with gnocchi and sage butter.

As vegetarian and vegan food becomes more popular, recipes are increasingly making vegetables the star of the show. Cabbage ­– though not a staunch favourite – is deserving of a better status. Try cutting it into ‘steaks’, then rub with oil and seasoning and roast in a medium-hot oven for 20 minutes on each side until the edges start to char and turn crispy.

Beetroot – so good roasted or in salads – can also add an earthy depth and moisture to cakes and desserts. We love this not-too-sweet beet-berry sorbet.

Gone are the days when cauliflower was only served smothered in cheese sauce. Now recipes range from cauliflower pizza bases for the gluten-intolerant to this cauliflower crème brûlée, a recipe that sounds like it shouldn’t work but sure as heck does.

Dark chocolate isn’t just for nibbling on or baking with, it adds a velvety richness to stews. Try this recipe for Venezuelan chocolate chilli chicken.

Umami lovers can do more than put salt on their movie snack. Blend soy sauce with melted butter and pour onto popcorn for a savoury snack extraordinaire.

A glut of onions or shallots doesn’t have to be discarded. Instead, finely slice and fry in hot oil until crispy then spread out on kitchen paper and dab to remove excess fat. Once dry the onion bits can be stored in an airtight container and used to add a tangy crunch to a range of dishes. Try them on rice and noodles or even hot dogs.

This cupboard staple works as a snack or in curries but the ‘milk’ from cashew nuts also makes a suitable alternative to dairy. Make cashew mayo by soaking cashews in water overnight then draining and blending with avocado oil, lemon juice, vinegar, fresh garlic, fresh herbs, mustard and seasoning.

Beloved of chefs, olive oil is more versatile than you might expect and works just as well in baking and desserts as salad dressings. You could try using a light, fruity olive oil to make olive oil ice cream (pictured) or have a go at this simple olive oil cake, delicious with roast pears.

Forget about savoury dishes, chilli and chocolate are a match made in heaven. For a sweet treat with some heat steep a red chilli in milk and cream then add some grated chocolate and whisk. Get the full recipe here.

Shelling fresh peas or broad beans? Don’t be suspicious of their furry husks. You can turn the pods into fritters for a delicious, moreish snack – try this recipe with Sriracha mayonnaise.

In Italy, dried breadcrumbs (pangrattato) have traditionally been used to add texture and crunch to spaghetti when Parmesan was too expensive. Today it’s still a practical way of using leftover or stale bread.

Looking for a new way to use garlic? Here’s one that will keep vampires away – garlic-infused vodka. Add half a dozen peeled cloves to a bottle of vodka, shake vigorously then leave for a few days. Remove the garlic and serve the liquor with tomato juice for a Bloody Mary with a pungent punch.

Parmesan is a regular item in most people’s fridges because it goes on top of pretty much anything savoury, but the rinds are often thrown away when they can be utilised. Add to soups, sauces, stocks and risottos for a savoury undercurrent, or use to infuse olive oil.

This hardy, headily scented herb deserves to be more than just an accompaniment to lamb. Add rosemary to sea salt with a little lemon zest and dry out in the oven on a low heat to be used at a later date on roasted vegetables, potatoes, seafood or sprinkled on homemade bread. 

Drinking coffee might give you the best caffeine kick, but don't overlook it as an ingredient. Once you've tried a classic coffee cake, experiment with something more unusual like this hot coffee souffle or an indulgent tiramisu.

Like mustard? Like soup? Do as the Dutch do and rustle up some mosterdsoep, a warming soup with mustard at its heart. This variation champions squash but still has mustard as a key ingredient.

Cheese fiends always have a block or two of hard cheese in the fridge, where it usually finds its way into savoury dishes (if it isn’t snacked on first). But don’t dismiss its suitability in desserts – it’s delicious added to the pastry of an apple pie.

Coriander is all too often overlooked, left out during cooking and instead scattered over a finished dish. Yet it's distinctive flavour means it can easily be the star of a recipe. Try this coriander, peanut and chilli pesto, delicious stirred through noodles, spooned into soups or thinned into a salad dressing.

Butternut squash is among the most versatile of winter ingredients, working beautifully in everything from pasta dishes to salads. Less well known is how easily it can be used in dips. This recipe with harissa and yoghurt is delicious with crackers, crisps or cucumber sticks.

Next time you have leftover onion skins, don't discard them: use them to dye water to make marbled eggs instead. Find out how in our top tips for using up leftover vegetables.

A surplus of milk can be made into milkshake or, even better, a delectable fried dessert. Leche frita is a popular dessert in Spain that consists of milk, sugar, corn flour and flour that’s boiled, set, then dipped in egg and flour and fried.

Strawberries aren’t just for covering in cream. Basil’s aromatic pepperiness offsets the fruit’s sweetness and offers up a whole new level of herby freshness. Include a drizzle of fruity, tart balsamic vinegar and you’ve got a salad or dessert with a difference – this recipe combines all three ingredients.

This root veg has more in its repertoire than a roast – the natural sweetness of swede gives it a wider scope. You can even add it to ice cream with impressive results.

Although maple syrup and bacon have been culinary sweethearts for years candied bacon has become a social media favourite in recent times, topping brownies, cupcakes, doughnuts, popcorn and even this panna cotta.