Recipe Sifter

Hearty tomato soup with cooked rice, tender carrot, celery, and a base of canned tomatoes thickened with whole wheat flour and finished with milk. A creamy 30-minute one-pot soup that fills a bowl properly.

Red bell pepper soup with fresh tomatoes, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, ginger, and cumin. Slow-simmered with red onion and garlic for deep, layered flavor.

Chilled herbed vegetable soup pureed with carrots, tomatoes, red potatoes, and red peppers, then blended with buttermilk, marjoram, thyme, and lemon juice. A creamy cold summer soup.

Ho'o Kanaka Stew, a traditional Hawaiian beef and vegetable stew thickened with poi. Salt pork, chuck, cabbage, and tropical staples in one rustic pot.

Home-improved tomato sauce doctors canned tomato sauce with sauteed onion, garlic, and fresh herbs. Tastes like scratch-made in 30 minutes.

Slow-simmered vegetable stock bursting with earthy aromatics and garden-fresh flavor, ready to elevate soups, risottos, and sauces from ordinary to extraordinary.

Honey barbecue chicken breasts oven-baked in a homemade tomato-honey sauce with cider vinegar, Worcestershire, and paprika. A no-grill weeknight BBQ supper.

Hoosier supper, an Indiana-style ground beef and rice casserole loaded with eggplant, tomato, and onion soup mix, finished under a parmesan bread crumb crust with ripe olives.

Horn and Hardart's legendary automat mac and cheese with a roux-based cheddar sauce, canned tomatoes, and a pinch of cayenne. The NYC classic, baked golden.

Hortosoupa: humble Greek vegetable soup with tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, and onion simmered slow in olive oil. Peasant-style, vegan, and deeply satisfying.

Baked peas layered with green bell pepper, onion, and canned tomatoes in a simple vegetable casserole. An old-fashioned side dish baked uncovered in tomato juice until tender.

Texas-style red chili made from dried chile pods pureed into a fiery sauce with browned meat, cumin, and oregano. No beans, slow-simmered for hours.

A quick, spicy hot sauce for falafel: tomato paste simmered with vegetable stock, chili paste, cumin, lemon and fresh herbs into a bright, fiery sauce in about five minutes. Drizzle it over falafel, shawarma or grilled veg.

Classic house salad with romaine, radicchio, shredded carrots, tomato, and cucumber tossed in vinaigrette. A crisp, colorful side salad ready in 15 minutes.

Howard Karten's salsa is a Mediterranean-leaning chunky tomato dip: peeled tomatoes, red onion, black olives, cumin, garlic, oregano, and red wine vinegar. No chiles, no cilantro, all flavor.

Hot green chili with chicken (or pork), four pounds of green chiles, tomatillos, and a long slow simmer. Southwest-style chile verde thick enough to ladle over enchiladas, eggs, or grilled steak.