858 bitter recipes

Broiler-roasted red peppers with fresh lemon juice and salt. Three ingredients, silky-sweet strips that go with anything Mediterranean. Better than jarred.

Bean and tomato salad tossed with a honey-cider vinaigrette, crisp-tender green beans, cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil. A vegetarian summer side that gets better as it marinates in the fridge.

Crispy onion bhaji with chickpea flour batter, cumin, cayenne, and fresh cilantro. A classic Indian street food appetizer fried golden and served with mango chutney.

Hearty Shaker bean soup simmered with a ham bone, navy beans, tomatoes, carrots, and spinach. A rustic American heritage recipe that feeds 12 and gets better every hour it cooks.

Pickled red onions Yucatán-style with cumin, Mexican oregano, garlic, and apple cider vinegar. The bright-pink condiment that makes tacos, grilled meat, and avocado toast taste better.

Bacon and bean soup simmers slivered bacon with kidney beans, carrots, celery and turnip in a thyme-scented beef broth. A hearty winter soup that tastes even better the next day.

Golden, hollow popovers that puff up dramatically in the oven using just 4 simple ingredients: flour, eggs, skim milk, and salt. No sugar, no butter in the batter, and naturally diabetic-friendly. Pure baking magic.

Apricot and cardamom bars with dried apricot, apricot nectar, and unsweetened applesauce in the batter, finished with a sweet apricot glaze drizzle. Low-fat and done in 45 minutes.

Marinated eggplant in olive oil: salt-pressed, vinegar-soaked strips layered with garlic, oregano, and chile in extra-virgin oil. An Italian antipasto that gets better for months.

Wespennester (wasp nests), a rare traditional German fried pastry from the Oberallgau region. Batter layers are built on wooden spoon handles and filled with honey.

Homemade pickled jalapeno slices in a sweet vinegar brine with garlic. Quick to prep, then chill for 7 days to develop bold, tangy heat. Better than store-bought.

Pakoras: crisp Indian fritters of onion, potato, and spinach dipped in spiced chickpea-flour batter and deep-fried to golden crunch. Monsoon-season street food at its finest.

Lavender angel food cake with 12 egg whites beaten to stiff peaks and dried lavender folded into the batter. Light, fragrant, and fat-free. Ready in about an hour.

Light upside-down cake with canned apricot halves on the bottom, topped with a sponge-like batter made from separated eggs and bread crumbs.

Bone broth caribou soup loaded with potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnip, and cabbage, seasoned with juniper berries and white wine. Even better the next day.

Raspberry angel food cake with fresh berries folded directly into the whipped egg white batter. Light, fat-free, and bursting with pockets of fruit.