10,000 fast food recipes

Rice con queso: a layered Mexican-American casserole of brown rice, black beans, ricotta, Monterey Jack, and cheddar with green chilies. A vegetarian pantry dinner that bakes in 30 minutes flat.

Try this authentic Chinese dish that has a taste which will help you forget about ordering take-out.

Italian vegetarian lasagna layered with sherry-sautéed mushrooms, zucchini, spinach, and bell peppers with a three-cheese ricotta-cottage-Parmesan filling. Lighter than meat lasagna, still hearty.

Tzimmes with beef brisket and carrots simmered in a brown sugar broth, thickened with an einbren of browned flour and schmaltz. A traditional Jewish holiday stew that's sweet and savory.

Grilled chicken romaine vinaigrette, a Caesar-style main course salad with herb-marinated grilled chicken, romaine, Parmesan, water chestnuts, and croutons.

Cinnamon sugar crusted sweet bread: a lightly sweet yeast bread flavored with anise and wrapped in a buttery cinnamon-sugar crust. Sliced thin and buttered for coffee time.

Whole wheat zucchini oatmeal muffins fold grated zucchini, toasted oats, and pecans into a cinnamon-spiced batter lightened with apple butter. Moist, hearty, and a sneaky way to use up summer squash.

Meersburger cherry dessert with kirsch-soaked tart cherries layered over ladyfingers, topped with an almond cream cheese mousse and chopped pistachios.

Firehouse-style chili with 2 pounds of ground beef, pinto beans, and smoky cumin. Serve over spaghetti Cincinnati-style or with crackers for game day.

Gruibensalat, Austrian crackling salad, pairs warm sliced potatoes with sharp onion and sizzling pork cracklings fried in lard. Rustic German-speaking Alpine farmhouse fare.

Chili Krieghauser with ground beef, French onion soup, kidney beans, and a splash of cola plus cocoa for unexpected depth. The midwestern-style cookoff chili with a secret ingredient list.

No-bake peanut butter pie with cream cheese, real whipped heavy cream, and a hot fudge topping over a graham cracker crust. Richer than the whipped-topping versions, with a denser, fudgier cut.

Great cake is an old-fashioned colonial American pound cake loaded with currants, candied citron, and rosewater. A Martha Washington-era recipe that's dense, buttery, and built for special occasions.

Chocolate sour cream fudge cake gets its dense, moist crumb from melted unsweetened chocolate, brown sugar, and a splash of hot coffee that deepens the cocoa without tasting like coffee.

Chicken a la king simmers leftover roast chicken with mushrooms and asparagus in a creamy stock-and-cream sauce, served over white rice. A comforting, retro way to use up Sunday's roast.

Four-cheese manicotti stuffed with ricotta, fontina, mozzarella, and Parmesan in a homemade tomato sauce. From-scratch Italian comfort food baked until bubbly.