10,000 fat free recipes

Chicken fried steak with a craggy double-dredged crust, fried golden and crisp, then smothered in peppery cream gravy made right from the drippings. Classic Texas comfort cooking done the proper way.

Sauteed cherry tomatoes with fresh basil and olive oil, blistered in a hot skillet in just one minute. A 3-ingredient side dish ready in 5 minutes.

Harvest pot roast with pork shoulder, acorn squash, apples, potatoes, and carrots braised with chervil and finished with an apple cider vinegar pan gravy. Fall in a Dutch oven.

Baked apples filled with brown sugar, raisins, cinnamon, and nutmeg, served with a simple maple yogurt sauce. Use firm tart varieties like Ida Red or Northern Spy for the best results.

Mini cocktail quiches in pastry cups with ham, tuna, Swiss cheese, and a creamy egg-mayonnaise filling. The retro hors d'oeuvre that disappears off the platter at every party.

Two-ingredient fish and cheese chowder: flaked white fish simmered low with cheese until rich and creamy. The simplest possible pantry-style comfort soup.

Cuban-style red bean soup built on a classic sofrito base, simmered low with potatoes and butternut squash for body. Hearty, plant-based, and finished with a slick of olive oil for that finca-kitchen depth.

Shrimp Arnaud, a classic New Orleans appetizer of chilled shrimp marinated in a tangy vinaigrette with hot mustard, chili sauce, garlic, and chives. Dusted with paprika.

Fudgy applesauce brownies made with unsweetened chocolate, butter, and brown sugar. Applesauce keeps every square intensely moist, with walnuts baked into the top.

Irish coffee pudding, a light, chilled coffee mousse spiked with Irish whiskey and lightened with whipped cream and egg whites. Set tall like a cold souffle and crowned with cream and walnuts.

Cajun chicken nuggets pan-fried in a spiced breadcrumb and onion soup mix coating with chili powder, cumin, thyme, and red pepper flakes. Kid-pleasing appetizer with grown-up Southern heat.

Grilled vegetable and ravioli salad with cheese-stuffed pasta, smoky grilled vegetables, and a red wine vinegar vinaigrette. An 8-minute summer dinner that turns leftover grilled vegetables into a full-meal salad.

Pear-plum spread made with fresh pears, red plums, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger with no added sugar. A spiced fruit butter you can process for canning or store in the fridge.

Vegetarian Chinese boiled dumplings (shwei jow) with handmade wrappers and a tofu, mushroom, and lily bud filling. Served with a soy-vinegar dipping sauce. Makes 24.

To highlight the onion's diversity, below are four recipes, each with a different type of onion, and a different cooking technique, (one not cooked at all).

The pleasing almond flavor and nice crunch of these simple little cookies, from Paula Tuchscherer-Jones of Milwaukee, earned them a win in the ethnic cookie category.