Recipes with vegetable oil

White chocolate coffee truffles with espresso cream centers, Kahlua, and a white chocolate shell topped with chopped chocolate-covered coffee beans. A homemade candy gift.

Curry-spiced baked sweet potato sticks with turmeric, cumin, and ginger. Skin-on fries roasted at high heat until crispy outside and creamy inside. A healthy vegan side dish.

Chinese-American General Tso's chicken with crispy deep-fried bites tossed in a sweet-and-tangy chili-garlic-ginger sauce. Better than takeout, ready in under two hours including marinade time.

Lamb and pine nut stir fry: quick microwave stir fry with thinly sliced lamb, bok choy, mushrooms, and oyster sauce. Toasted pine nuts on top for crunch. Ready in under 30 minutes over rice.

Grilled sea scallops in an Asian sesame marinade with hoisin, soy sauce, ginger, and dry sherry. Marinated overnight and skewered over charcoal.

Lotsa chocolate cake is the classic doctored-cake-mix bundt with devils food mix, instant fudge pudding, sour cream, and a full bag of chocolate chips. Dense, moist, foolproof.

Blackberry grunt with spiced molasses berries topped with egg-glazed biscuit rounds baked golden brown. An old-fashioned fruit dessert with warm cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.

White bean soup with sage: creamy great northern beans simmered with onion, carrot, tomato and fragrant sage in chicken broth. A quick, low-fat soup that's on the table in about 30 minutes using canned beans.

Beer pancakes with molasses served with a homemade brown sugar and beer Pilgrim syrup. A hearty, colonial-inspired breakfast with malty depth and caramel sweetness.

Pressed bean curd soup with pan-fried tofu, green peas, tomatoes, corn, and a savory broth of soy sauce, dry sherry, and sesame oil. A hearty vegetarian Chinese soup.

Poppy seed snack bread is a shortcut quick bread built on white cake mix and coconut instant pudding, studded with poppy seeds. Two loaves in one bowl, mixed in under 5 minutes.

Classic Midwestern longjohns: rectangular yeast-raised doughnuts fried golden and topped with a cooked brown-sugar maple frosting. Old-school bakery comfort.

Tostada waffles: cornmeal waffles topped with taco meat, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and olives. A Tex-Mex dinner-meets-breakfast mashup built for the waffle iron.

Bread machine cranberry cinnamon bread: tangy fresh or frozen cranberries folded into a soft white loaf with lemon zest and warm cinnamon. Set-and-forget loaf for fall and holiday brunch.

Indian-style scrambled eggs with cumin, cilantro, and green chili: eggs cooked cake-style with onion, then finished with toasted ground cumin and fresh herbs.

Easy chicken Creole with cooked chicken in a tomato-paste sauce with onions, green pepper, garlic, and Tabasco. A 25-minute Louisiana-style weeknight dinner over rice.