Recipe Sifter

Creamy pinto bean soup pureed smooth with chile, onion, and light cream, garnished with toasted pine nuts, cilantro, and chives. From-scratch beans cooked until velvety.

Italian Parmesan risotto topped with garlicky pan-toasted mushrooms. Creamy rice built one ladle of broth at a time, finished with Parmigiano-Reggiano and crowned with golden mushrooms.

Vegetarian rice and mushroom burgers made with brown rice, carrots, whole wheat bread crumbs, and a touch of cayenne. Broiled until golden and crisp on the outside.

Lightened fettuccine alfredo built on blended simmered garlic and broth, thickened with sour cream and parmesan instead of heavy cream. Zucchini matchsticks cook in the pasta water for a vegetable-loaded quick dinner.

Creamy corn chowder with leeks, carrots, and potatoes simmered in chicken broth, then puréed smooth and enriched with evaporated milk: light, comforting, ready in 30 minutes.

Annie Mae Jones' ham and white bean soup, a simple old-fashioned recipe that uses a leftover ham bone, white beans, and a few aromatics. Thickened with mashed beans the traditional way, no roux or cream required.

Elegant seafood appetizers with bay scallops, Granny Smith apples, and mushrooms in white sauce, served in individual ramekins. Breadcrumb topping broils golden. Sophisticated starter for special dinners.

Silky blended vegetable soup combines turnips, potatoes, leeks, and carrots in chicken broth, finished with cream and fresh dill.

Golden saffron rice baked with shrimp, tomatoes, white wine, and beer in an earthenware casserole. A festive Spanish-style one-pot meal for any gathering.

Blanched asparagus shocked in ice water to lock in bright green color, then drizzled with peanut oil and finished with minced shallots and parsley. A 15-minute healthy vegetarian side dish.

A great stand alone vegetarian meal or top it with a fillet of grilled chicken or a white fleshed fish fillet.

Traditional Irish baked herring stuffed with lemony breadcrumbs and braised in hard cider. A rustic, hearty supper that brings the taste of coastal Ireland to your table.

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).

Barbara's Applesauce Meat Loaf makes a lighter turkey meatloaf with oats and unsweetened applesauce for moisture, cooked in a microwave in just 10 minutes with a ketchup-mustard glaze.

Basic Southern Italian tomato sauce with Roma tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and parsley. Ready in 30 minutes, this classic pomodoro base is vegan, naturally gluten-free, and endlessly versatile.

Old-fashioned beef and barley vegetable soup built from meaty soup bones simmered low and slow with pearl barley, carrots, celery, tomatoes, and sweet green peas. The kind of soup that warms you from the inside out.