886 better recipes

No-bake chocolate wine balls rolled in sugar, made with crushed vanilla wafers, ground walnuts, honey, and sweet red wine. They get better with age, like a fine confection should.

Homemade oven-baked croutons from day-old bread, slow-dried at low heat until golden and crunchy. One ingredient, any herbs you like, and better than anything from a bag.

Turkey pasta salad with corn, zucchini, and picante-creamy garlic dressing. A Tex-Mex spin on leftover turkey, ready in 20 minutes and better after a chill in the fridge.

Chilled cream of cucumber soup with sour cream, fresh dill, and parsley. A cool, refreshing summer starter that's better made the day before. No fuss, no stove time after dinner.

Oven-dried tomatoes, a simple slow-roast technique that concentrates summer tomatoes into chewy intensely sweet jammy slices. Better than store-bought sun-dried, with infinite uses across the kitchen.

Easy to prepare, and this German potato salad is very flavorful and tasty. Make it a day ahead, let it marinate in the refrigerator overnight, it tastes even better next day.

Shredded cabbage, carrots, peppers, and cucumbers marinate overnight in a tangy-sweet vinegar dressing. This crunchy health salad gets better as it sits, making it ideal for potlucks and meal prep.

This super carrot raisin salad is very good for dinner, very light and tasty, but you had better finish it at one meal, don't let it overnight, will be not fresh.

Smoky, flame-kissed whiskey BBQ sauce with molasses, brown sugar, and a splash of hot sauce. Sauteed in scotch then flambeed for deep, complex flavor that only gets better with age.

A hearty meatless chili with kidney beans, zucchini, green chiles, and brown rice simmered in a tomato base with cloves and vinegar. Even better the next day. Freezes like a dream.

Homemade crunchy granola with rolled oats, wheat germ, coconut, nuts, and raisins baked in honey and vanilla. Better than anything from a box and your kitchen will smell like a bakery.

Potato fudge uses mashed potatoes as the secret binder in a chocolate candy rolled in coconut or walnuts. A Depression-era confection that works better than it has any right to.

Stir-fried flank steak with ginger and scallions tossed with noodles, bean sprouts, shredded carrots, and celery in a light soy sauce. Better than takeout beef lo mein in 40 minutes.

Cold spaghetti pasta salad tossed with diced cucumber, red bell pepper, fresh tomatoes, tomato sauce, and bottled Italian dressing. A potluck classic that travels well and tastes better the second day.

Potato barley soup simmers pearl barley with carrots, celery, onion, and potatoes in beef or chicken stock for a thick, hearty grain-and-vegetable bowl that gets better the next day.

Italian-style green bean salad tossed with thinly sliced onions, red wine vinegar, olive oil, basil, and Parmesan. A low-calorie make-ahead side dish that gets better the longer it chills.