Simple Cooking

Turn any extra hardy greens or herbs you can find in your fridge into dinner tonight with this pesto pasta.

The crunchy, salty, sesame-drenched celery sticks at Bar Goto in New York are so good, you’ll forget they’re made from vegetables.

Here, fillets of delicate white fish gently poach in thyme-infused milk. The addition of lightly mashed potatoes and leeks makes it the perfect one-pot meal.

Sticky rice is worth using for this porridge-y, comforting chicken soup recipe; it releases lots of creamy starches and helps builds nice body as it cooks.

The ingredient list for a curry can be a little daunting with all those spices, but the technique isn’t very far from a pasta sauce: you just toast the whole spices and then move on to a sort of sofrito of onion, garlic, and ginger. From that flavor base, you add tomatoes and whatever veggies you desire. At the end, a quick chutney, really just a rough chopped blend of herbs and coconut, gives the stew a bright pop of flavor (the way a few torn basil leaves make that tomato sauce sing).

This green pesto owes its intense and powerful flavor to the use of kombu. It’s such an easy recipe that you can experiment with the ingredients as much as you like. The arugula and basil, for instance, can be substituted with any leafy green of your choice. And the pine nuts can be replaced by any other type of nut, such as cashews or hazelnuts. You can even use sunflower seeds! Serve the pesto on crackers, on a grilled vegetable sandwich, or with a bowl of pasta.

Medrich's version of these golden orange yam and coconut cookies from Spain is delicate and flavorful.

For easy, hands-off dinner prep, throw chicken thighs, green chiles, white beans, and a flurry of spices into your slow cooker and come home to a hearty, flavorful meal.

Tangy cranberries and sweet orange zest add a floral tartness to this apple crisp topped with an almond-studded, oatmeal-cookie crumble.

A long-standing tradition in Upper Michigan, meat hand pies are the ultimate portable comfort food.

This impressive side plays on the classic twice-baked potato with toppings of Parmesan whipped cream, candied hazelnut-bacon bits, and chives.

Digging into these wet nuts is like getting the best part of the ooey-gooey pecan pie: the rich brown butter brings out the nuttiness of the pecans and walnuts, and tangy orange juice helps balance the sweet filling. Serve them over ice cream, with chocolate mousse, or with our Build-Your-Own Thanksgiving Pie Bar.

This brothy beans-and-greens stew is all about the spicy chile-herb "smash" that gets scattered on top.

The gluten-free crust for these vegetarian pizzas is made from cauliflower that's been ground into fine crumbs and mixed with almond flour and Parmesan cheese.

When working with a large quantity of greens, it’s much easier to sauté them if they’re blanched first. Their time in the olive oil is more for flavoring and reaching the ideal texture.

What makes this salad so good? A secret ingredient we like to call "flavor flakes."

Marinate chicken breast cubes and vegetables in a blend of garlic, fresh dill, lemon, and olive oil for super-juicy, flavorful grilled skewers.

This stick-to-your ribs vegetarian dinner is a snap to make: Just hit the prepared pasta section of the grocery store for the gnocchi, roast some eggplant (do this step ahead, if you want), add marinara (store-bought is fine), and top with mozzarella.

Want comfort food on demand? These family-friendly baked shells can be assembled ahead and refrigerated or frozen so they're ready to pop in the oven with no day-of work.

This robust dinner (or lunch!) salad is a little Southern, a little Southwestern and a lot delicious. Save time by using leftover cooked chicken from another meal or store-bought rotisserie chicken.