Recipe Sifter

Chunky beef chili: cubed beef chuck simmered low with tomatoes, green pepper, onion, garlic, and chili powder until tender. Texas-style no-bean chili built for piling toppings on top.

Smoky chicken chili built on toasted ancho and chipotle peppers, dark beer, and a whisper of cinnamon. No beans, no tomatoes, just bold, complex heat over rice. Ready in under an hour.

No-bean Texas-style chili with ground beef, ground chile peppers, green chiles, and fresh tomatoes. Fat is skimmed after chilling for a leaner bowl.

A tasty low-fat dish that goes great with any meal you prepare this summer.

Favourite Stuffed Pepper Soup recipe

Five Lilies Chowder is an allium-lover's soup built from five members of the lily family: onions, shallots, garlic, leeks, and chives. A light, elegant chowder with white wine and sherry in a clear chicken broth base.

Julia's manicotti, shells stuffed with ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan and Romano, baked in a slow-simmered wine-laced tomato sauce. A family-style Italian-American bake with deeply seasoned red sauce.

Rustic tomato soup made with very ripe tomatoes, garlic, and oregano, enriched with small pasta. This Mediterranean-style soup relies on peak-season tomatoes for incredible flavor.

My take on this classic Italian belly warming soup.

Party rye pizza: cocktail rye rounds topped with sausage, melted Velveeta, mozzarella, and tomato paste. Make-ahead freezer appetizers ready in 8 minutes.

Chicken cacciatore baked in a crushed Roma tomato sauce with white wine, fennel seed, cinnamon, coriander, and red pepper flakes. A lighter, oven-baked Italian hunter's chicken.

Potato moussaka casserole with ground lamb, barley, tomato sauce, and a custard topping baked until golden. A simplified Greek-style casserole that swaps eggplant for sliced potatoes.

Homemade red enchilada sauce from whole dried chile pods, garlic, oregano, and cumin, thickened with a bacon drippings roux. Rich, smoky, and leagues ahead of anything from a can.

Baked red snapper fillets in a spicy tomato-chili sauce with zucchini, bell peppers, and celery. A lean, flavor-packed Southwestern-style seafood dinner.

Roasted Poblano, White Bean, Turkey, and Steak Stew recipe

Fans of Southwestern cuisine will enjoy this version of white chili, flavored with chopped green chiles and onion, and simmered in a broth blended with garlic, oregano, cilantro and ground red pepper.