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1479 recipes found
Curried Coconut and Red Lentil Soup
In this quick-cooking and restorative soup, the key to building flavor fast is curry powder. While the spice blends vary from brand to brand, most include at least coriander, cumin, turmeric, fenugreek and black pepper. Madras curry powder, used here, is a spicier variant featuring chile powder. In the time it takes for the vegetables and aromatics to soften, the red lentils cook through, creating a creamy, velvety texture when the soup is blended. The optional addition of coconut water reinforces the flavor of the coconut milk and balances the aromatic savoriness with a hint of sweetness. The extra hydration this soup provides is especially welcome during Ramadan.
Slow-Cooked Fish With Citrus and Herbs
During Nowruz, the Persian New Year, it’s customary to serve fish alongside sabzi polo, buttery herbed saffron rice, as a nod to renewal and prosperity. Traditionally, white fish is smoked or fried, but this dish brings in many of the same key ingredients — fragrant saffron, fresh herbs and citrus — while embracing a more effortless, slow-roasted approach. A flaky white fish like cod or halibut works beautifully here, but salmon also works and tastes especially luxurious when bathed in olive oil, garlic and dill.
Shirini Gerdooyi
Desserts for Nowruz, the Iranian New Year that is also celebrated in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and beyond, are symbolic of a sweet year to come. In the days leading up to the first day of spring, which marks the New Year, home kitchens become a festive hub, busy with the preparation of baked goods to share with friends and family. Shirini gerdui, also known as pofaki gerdui, are one of many traditional Nowruz cookies. Here, they also are scented with vanilla. Made with only a handful of ingredients, they are light and delicately sweetened, crisp around the edges, chewy and slightly hollow on the inside with welcome bites of walnut. Serve with a cup of tea to welcome a sweet new year.
Cabbage Steaks
Tender and crisp cabbage “steaks” are indeed vegetarian, similar to cauliflower steaks, but achieve remarkable complexity from the way they are sliced into thick planks and roasted, which chars the outer edges and makes the inner leaves rippled and buttery for a balance of textures. The key is using plenty of olive oil: Some gets blended with spices and brushed all over the steaks, and even more is drizzled on top just before roasting. Serve these cabbage steaks as a simple side with a sprinkle of dill, alongside a pile of pierogi, a spatchcocked chicken or roasted salmon, or serve them as a main, with a spoonful of romesco and some fresh bread.
Cucumber-Cabbage Salad With Sesame
Taking cues from Vietnamese flavors, this colorful salad can be served on its own or be a fine accompaniment to roast chicken, grilled meat or fish. The dressing, a zippy mixture of garlic, ginger, sesame oil, fish sauce, lime juice and jalapeño, makes sure the vegetables shine. Ordinary cabbage will work fine, but if you can find napa cabbage, so much the better.
Chicken Jalfrezi
Originally created as a way to add flavor to roasted meats, chicken jalfrezi is a tangy, spicy stir-fried curry with origins in Bengal. “Jalfrezi” translates to "hot fry," and the dish typically features meat coated in a thick tomato-based gravy — a defining characteristic of the Anglo-Indian version that became popular through British curry houses in the mid-20th century. This recipe uses both Kashmiri chile powder and fresh serrano chiles to deliver its signature spicy kick.
Sausage and Barley Soup With Greens
This simple, satisfying soup relies on sausage as its flavorful base. Start by cooking raw sausage, rather than precooked links, since it generally has better texture and flavor for soup. Pearled barley adds heartiness and a wonderful chewy texture. Stir in a handful of greens at the end, plus a little vinegar for brightness, and you have a cozy meal in less than an hour of mostly hands-off time. To make this soup gluten-free, you can substitute French green lentils for the barley. If you are making it ahead of time, wait to add the greens until you’re ready to serve to preserve their bright, fresh flavor.
Bourbon Beef and Farro Stew
Reminiscent of a soothing beef and barley soup, this bourbon-scented short rib and farro stew brings much-needed comfort during the cold season. As with many beef stews, you’ll start by searing the short ribs. Beef short ribs are not the cheapest cut, but they are prized for their marbled fat, which builds complexity, and they simmer up deliciously fork-tender. Making the most of the flavor-packed fat rendered from the short ribs, the onions get lightly caramelized in it, then showered in splashes of smoky, sweet bourbon. Next, everything goes in the pot: The short ribs are gently simmered in beef stock alongside paprika and cumin-spiced onions, carrots and farro. A splash of balsamic finishes the stew, balancing out the rich, meaty flavors.
Fried Cabbage
Southern fried cabbage smartly marries lean cabbage with pork in the form of rich, meaty bacon. First, you chop bacon into small pieces and cook until crispy. Next, the cabbage cooks right in the bacon fat with onion and garlic, quickly soaking up tons of smoky flavor. Covering the cabbage as it cooks helps it soften quickly and evenly, achieving a uniquely silky texture. A touch of stone-ground mustard gives a tangy lift. This easy side pairs well with roasted chicken, fried chicken, pork chops and grilled sausages.
Curry Shrimp and Sweet Potato
Inspired by the charms of Caribbean curry shrimp, this recipe provides a quick and adaptable path to dinner. Once the base recipe has been memorized, any number of substitutions can be made for the shrimp and supporting vegetables. The formula is simple: While shrimp marinate in curry powder, a medley of onions, bell peppers, garlic and chiles sweat their way to succulence. Sliced onions are added in two steps — once at the beginning and again at the end, with the shrimp — to offer both a mellow sweetness and a more pungent bite. This curry can be served on its own, but prefers to be spooned over freshly steamed rice.
Cauliflower Satay
In this party-friendly appetizer, roasted cauliflower is paired with a shortcut version of the rich, creamy coconut and peanut butter satay sauce often served with chicken. To coax out deep, nutty flavor from the cauliflower, first roast it simply slicked with oil to help it caramelize, then coat it in a blended mixture of coconut milk, shallots, lemongrass and spices to bump up moisture and flavor and roast until tender. While your cauliflower roasts, you’ll prepare a supersimple peanut sauce by simmering coconut milk with red curry paste and peanut butter. (The salt and heat levels in store-bought curry pastes vary widely, so season your satay sauce accordingly.) Intended as an appetizer, this recipe is hearty enough to work as a main course when served with rice, but also pairs well with crispy or grilled tofu, grilled chicken or steamed vegetables, and can dazzle as the centerpiece for a main-course salad.
Microwave Nutella Pudding Cake
This warm, gooey, flourless chocolate cake requires just three ingredients, five minutes and a zap in the microwave. Nutella does the heavy lifting here, standing in for sugar, fat and flour and offering its milky cocoa sweetness and toasty hazelnut flavor to every spoonful. This cake is best slightly underbaked so the center is molten like a lava cake. A dollop of vanilla ice cream or Greek yogurt is optional, but a wonderful way to balance the richness of the cake beneath.
Laksa
While chicken curry laksa is a popular restaurant dish across Southeast Asia, making it at home is entirely doable. It’s as simple as blending a spice paste, cooking it off and poaching some chicken thighs. It gets its complexity from rempah, a fragrant spice paste made with ingredients such as lemongrass and galangal (which can be swapped for ginger). This recipe calls for making your own rempah, but to save time, you can buy a good-quality paste and enhance it with fresh lemongrass, ginger and garlic (see Tip 2). The coconut milk-based broth is spicy, savory and rich, but not heavy, based on the curry laksa found at hawker centers in Malaysia and Singapore. The flavor improves over time, so it’s a dish worth making in advance.
Galbitang (Short Rib and Korean Radish Soup)
This traditional Korean soup features fall-off-the-bone tender braised short ribs and Korean radishes in a clear and soothing broth. Seasoned with onion, garlic and ginger, the radish releases its own sweet and savory juices to create a layered soup that is an elixir for cold winter months. Soaking the beef for 30 minutes beforehand helps remove impurities for a clear broth; there aren’t too many ingredients involved in making this soup so attention to detail pays off. A tip on easy degreasing, if time permits: Make the soup a day ahead and chill completely in the refrigerator; the fat will rise and solidify on top, making it a breeze to remove (and thereby yielding an even clearer and cleaner-tasting broth).
Kālua Pork
Tender, juicy and kissed with a touch of smoke, kālua pork is an iconic and revered Hawaiian dish dating back to the earliest settlers of the islands. Kālua, meaning “to cook in an underground oven,” is a cooking method brought by the Polynesians to what is now the Hawaiian islands. Traditionally, a whole pig is seasoned with Hawaiian sea salt, wrapped in locally grown ti leaves (which are also used to weave leis) and cooked in a pit oven called an imu for hours to serve at luaus and potlucks. While it’s not possible to replicate those traditional flavors and cooking techniques at home, you can still prepare a succulent and flavorful kālua pork using a handful of ingredients. Here, boneless pork shoulder (or Boston butt) is drizzled with hickory liquid smoke, seasoned with Hawaiian salt, wrapped with more widely available banana leaves, and slowly cooked to tenderness in a low oven. (You can also use a slow cooker; see Tip.) Serve kālua pork with rice and mac salad for a Hawaiian-style lunch plate.
Khoresh Gheymeh (Meat and Split Pea Stew)
In the canon of iconic Iranian stews, khoresh gheymeh holds a top spot alongside classics like ghormeh sabzi. A seemingly humble dish of gently spiced meat and split peas, khoresh gheymeh can be served as a cozy home-cooked meal or a celebratory dish; in big batches as a means of giving alms to those in need; or during religious ceremonies. “Gheymeh” refers to the size of the meat, which should be cut into small pieces. Traditionally, lamb is used, but you can also use beef. The stew is enriched with starchy Iranian yellow split peas called lappeh (see Tip). In this version, the split peas are parcooked separately so their texture and cooking time can be controlled. The split peas finish cooking in the stew, becoming tender but holding their shape. Limoo Ammani, or dried limes, lend the stew its distinctly rich and earthy tang, but if you can’t find any, use lime or lemon juice. Khoresh gheymeh is famously topped with either fried matchstick potatoes (see Tip) or fried eggplant; this version uses potatoes. Spoon the stew over rice and serve, if you like, with Shirazi salad.
Boulèts (Epis-Spiced Meatballs)
A favorite of the chef Elsy Dinvil, these tender fried beef meatballs were a common sight on her childhood dinner table in Jérémie, Haiti. Comforting yet complex thanks to epis, a Haitian seasoning blend made with herbs and spices, they’re a great addition to rice or even some crusty bread. You can enjoy them as is or with the piquant onion and tomato sauce below. If you like heat, be sure to break open the Scotch bonnet chile after it’s tender from stewing, and it’ll give the sauce a hot, fruity flavor.
Lo Han Jai (Buddha’s Delight)
On Lunar New Year’s Day, many Cantonese families will make a pot of lo han jai, also known as Buddha’s delight. The vegan dish is rooted in Buddhist tradition, which prescribes that a meat-free diet be observed during the new year as a form of self-purification and to welcome good luck. Delicious any time of year, Lo han jai has transcended Lunar New Year and is nowadays enjoyed as an everyday dinner dish. There is no single recipe for lo han jai — families are likely to have their own versions — but the key is to create a textural dish by bringing together dried and fresh vegetables. Swap out any of the ingredients you cannot find and consider substituting with other vegetables such as carrot, sugar snap peas, lotus root, baby corn or cauliflower.
Spinach and Gungo Pea Soup
When the winter soup rotation starts to feel a bit stodgy, reach for this more-green-than-bean recipe. Also labeled as pigeon peas, gandules or whole toor, depending on where you may purchase them, gungo peas are earthy and starchy, with a flavor similar to black-eyed peas. Bacon, in the form of both rendered bacon fat and crumbled bacon bits, offers smoky and savory notes to the soup. Seemingly endless piles of baby spinach finish the soup just before a portion of it is blitzed with an immersion blender, which adds body and encourages even more melding of flavors than the long simmer.
Shake and Bake Pork Chops
This homemade version of the nostalgic seasoned bread crumbs from the supermarket yields pork chops that cook up almost as easy and fast — and even juicier. The recipe also gives your spice cabinet a workout with a delicious blend of spices. Start by brushing a thin layer of mayonnaise on boneless pork chops to lock in moisture and add flavor. Then coat the chops in a heavily seasoned sweet and savory bread crumb mix and bake until perfectly crispy and moist. Served with applesauce on the side, these pork chops are perfect for quick weeknight dinners. In fact, the bread crumb mix can be made in large batches so it is always on hand.
Roasted Kabocha Squash
Naturally sweet kabocha squash takes on a caramelized richness when brushed with maple syrup and coconut oil and roasted. The flavorful dish is equally at home alongside a holiday roast, on a bed of whipped ricotta or atop a grain bowl. Coconut oil works exceptionally well here, adding a subtle nuttiness and sweetness that other oils lack, though vegetable oil will work too. Best of all, the kabocha skin is edible so no peeling required. Don’t forget to save those seeds for roasting.
Creamy Cauliflower-Cashew Soup
Creamy and comforting, this cauliflower soup happens to be vegan, and takes its silky texture from being simmered and thickened with roasted cashews. The nuttiness of the cauliflower and the cashews is balanced by the addition of a tart apple. The preferred thickness of creamed soups varies, so if the soup feels too thick, just adjust it to your ideal level of creaminess, adding more stock or water — and an additional sprinkle of salt — as needed.
Orange Marmalade
Marmalade techniques abound, and many are complicated, but everyone can master this easy recipe with good old-fashioned navel oranges and a little patience. Most traditional recipes are made with Seville oranges, a fragrant citrus that often requires blanching to remove some of its bitterness. To mimic the unique tangy bittersweetness of Sevilles, this method simply uses a combination of oranges and lemon. Rest assured, it will not taste cloyingly sweet, but rather balanced and bright, as all great fruit preserves should. One step that can’t be rushed, however, is an overnight soak to extract as much pectin from the boiled peels as possible — this will keep the marmalade spreadable and buoyant.
Miso-Maple Sheet-Pan Chicken With Brussels Sprouts
Doused in a sweet and salty marinade, this roasted maple-miso chicken with Brussels sprouts is as doable as it is delicious. With less than 15 minutes at a high temperature, the cubed chicken develops a sticky, shiny, slightly charred exterior, while maintaining a tender and juicy interior. Brushing the chicken mid-bake with marinade might seem a little fussy, but those sweet, caramelized pockets of flavor on top of the chicken are a worthy reward. If you’re looking for some additional brightness, top the chicken with a squeeze of lemon juice or a splash of rice vinegar. Serve over a bowl of rice or polenta.