1,451 light recipes

Crab, shrimp, fish, and squid braised in a clay pot with ginger, coriander root, mung bean noodles, and fresh basil in a soy-oyster sauce. A spectacular Thai seafood feast for four.

A layered casserole of wild rice, poached chicken, green beans, and mushrooms in a sherry-Parmesan cream sauce topped with sliced almonds. Minnesota hot-dish at its best.

Tex-Mex quiche with two filling options: spicy pepper jack or loaded sausage with cheddar and green chilies. Topped with fresh avocado and tomato wedges.

This Tex-Mex chicken spaghetti bake layers pasta in a smoky chili-spiced tomato sauce with melted cheddar, olives, and tender shredded chicken. A crowd-pleasing casserole ready in 2 hours.

Three-layer Southern coconut cake with a tangy crushed-pineapple filling and billowy seven-minute frosting. An almond-scented butter cake stacked with grated coconut between every layer.

Nothing is more fascinating and delicious than eating at the open- air street hawker centers in Asia, particularly in Singapore. Each stall serves a specialty, typically an honest, unpretentious, home-style dish for $1 to $3 a plate. This rice noodle dish is hawker food at its best. If done right, its fragrance will tell you how good it's going to be as soon as it arrives at your table.

Mocha buttercrunch pie with a pecan-chocolate shortbread crust, a frozen mocha mousse filling, and a coffee whipped cream top studded with chocolate chips. Three layers of coffee-and-chocolate richness in every slice.

Malai kofta are golden-fried potato and paneer-style balls stuffed with cashews and raisins, simmered in a cashew-cream sauce warmed with cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cayenne. A North Indian restaurant classic.

Four-component chocolate cake: cocoa layers, fudge filling, chocolate whipped cream frosting, and a drizzled cocoa syrup finish. The cake for serious chocolate lovers.

Three layers of deep chocolate cake get brushed with vanilla sugar glaze while hot, then stacked with mocha buttercream icing spiked with coffee and cocoa.

Toasted coconut layer cake with zesty lime-lemon curd filling and fluffy coconut-crusted seven-minute icing. A tropical showstopper that's equal parts tangy and toasted-sweet.

This dish is very, very hot. It may not seem so at first, but the spices have a cumulative effect that builds up over the course of the meal.

Sea scallops poached in court bouillon, bathed in a Gruyere cream sauce with mushrooms, and piped with a golden mashed potato border. The full classic French presentation.

Two-layer banana cake studded with chopped Butterfinger bars, spiked with dark rum, and coated in a glossy semisweet chocolate ganache. A showstopper that can be made 2 days ahead.

Seared double-cut pork chops glazed with tamarind and molasses, served over roasted sweet potatoes with a rich mole cream of pepitas, pistachios, pine nuts, and roasted poblano.

Loaded baked mac and cheese with extra-sharp cheddar, spinach, corn, sour cream, and a custard-style sauce of half-and-half, heavy cream, and eggs. Rich, creamy, and packed with hidden veggies.