Recipe Sifter

Slow cooker whole chicken poached with aromatics for 7-9 hours, served with a classic French-style cream sauce made from the cooking stock. A crockpot set-it-and-forget-it dinner.

Tofu and rice stuffed peppers fill green bell peppers with brown rice, mixed vegetables, sauteed mushrooms and crumbled tofu, then bake under tomato soup. A vegan, low-fat take on the classic stuffed pepper. Make-ahead friendly.

Pasta fruit salad with walnuts, mandarin oranges, grapes, and apple tossed in a creamy orange yogurt dressing. A refreshing cold side dish for potlucks and summer cookouts.

Roasted potato and surimi salad: red potatoes roasted hot with garlic, then tossed with imitation crab, hard-boiled eggs, and a dilled mayo-yogurt dressing. A lighter upgrade to classic potato salad.

Salmon steaks stuffed with julienned shiitake and enoki mushrooms, carrots, and celery, then seared and braised in a lemongrass-fish sauce glaze. Served with sticky rice.

Vegetarian gumbo with black-eyed peas, okra, corn, tomatoes, and the holy trinity in a homemade vegetable stock. A plant-based bayou bowl ready to ladle over cornbread.

Easy pork and corn stuffing bake nestles boneless pork chops over creamy corn stuffing with a sweet brown mustard glaze. Weeknight one-pan dinner ready in 40 minutes.

Whole chicken slow-cooked with parsnips, carrots, white wine, and fresh oregano. Set it and forget it for 8 hours, then reduce the pan juices into a rich sauce.

Slow cooker buffalo stew with carrots, celery, tomatoes, and a hint of ground cloves. Low-fat, high-protein bison simmers for 12 hours into a rich, fork-tender one-pot meal.

Ginger beef stir-fry with fresh ginger, garlic, green pepper, celery, and tomatoes in a savory soy-cornstarch sauce. A fast wok dinner served over hot rice.

Spicy black bean salad dressed with lime, champagne vinegar, jalapeños, cayenne, and fresh mint. A make-ahead vegan side with bright heat from dried beans cooked from scratch.

Roast beef stroganoff turns leftover roast beef into a creamy mushroom and sour cream sauce with celery, onion, and beef bouillon. A smart weeknight repurpose served over rice or egg noodles in 40 minutes.

Red beans and rice with ham, a quick Creole-style skillet built on the holy trinity, garlic, and a little jalapeno heat, simmered with canned kidney beans and spooned over rice. Weeknight-fast.

Vegetarian tomato soup with vermicelli pasta, carrots, celery, and basil in a rich stock. A hearty one-pot soup that comes together in 40 minutes.

Light tuna cakes with cream cheese, dill, lemon juice, and egg white, pan-fried crispy in just 2 minutes per side. A low-fat, high-protein seafood cake with a subtle heat from red pepper flakes.

A Bloody Mary in a bowl: smooth tomato soup with celery, horseradish, Worcestershire, and lime, spiked with vodka stirred in off the heat. The savory, boozy New Year's Day hair-of-the-dog, served warm in mugs.