Recipe Sifter

Simple spaghetti with shrimp, garlic, green pepper, onions, and sharp Romano cheese. No tomato sauce needed for this 20-minute Italian-style shrimp pasta.

Competition-style Texas chili with 4 pounds of cubed round steak, 14 spices including curry and cinnamon, green chiles, and a secret weapon: milk chocolate melted in at the end.

Spicy white chicken chili with great northern beans, green chilies, Monterey Jack cheese, cumin, and cayenne. A creamy, cheesy twist on classic chili ready in 45 minutes.

Hearty baked casserole of red beans, rigatoni, Italian sausage, plum tomatoes, Swiss chard, and white wine with oregano and garlic. A rustic Italian-inspired one-pot meal.

Simple guacamole with avocado, cumin, oregano, parsley, and taco seasoning. No-cook dip ready in 10 minutes, great with tortilla chips or raw veggies.

PETA Spanish tofu omelette is a vegan take on tortilla española with soft tofu, potato, onion, and green pepper. No eggs, no dairy, ready in 30 minutes. Served with salsa.

Hearty Italian spaghetti with ground beef, tomato sauce, tomato paste, black olives, and green peppers simmered 90 minutes. A slow-cooked Sunday sauce topped with Parmesan cheese.

A unique lasagna layered with seasoned ground beef, spaghetti sauce, olives, corn, peas, and melted mozzarella. This family-size casserole puts a creative Midwestern spin on classic Italian lasagna.

Vegan red lentil lasagna loaded with broccoli, mushrooms, zucchini, and corn in a tomato-herb sauce, topped with a dairy-free nutritional yeast cheese sauce.

Southwest baked beans with three types of beans, Roma tomatoes, molasses, honey, cumin, and apple cider vinegar. A smoky-sweet, slow-baked side dish that feeds a crowd.

Basic bean soup with homemade vegetable scrap stock, sautéed mirepoix, and cooked beans, half puréed for body, half left whole. Vegetarian, fiber-rich, freezer-friendly.

Low-fat asparagus guacamole made with pureed cooked asparagus and yogurt instead of avocado. Same guacamole seasonings - cumin, cayenne, garlic, tomato - a fraction of the fat.

Onion and tomato tart with anchovies bakes caramelized onions, tomatoes, briny anchovies, and Nicoise olives on a thin yeasted crust. The Provençal pissaladière at home.

Slow cooker chicken chili with browned thighs, dried navy beans, crushed tomatoes, green chiles, and sharp cheddar. Set it in the morning, come home to a bowl of smoky, spicy comfort.

Soupe au pistou, a Provencal vegetable soup with white beans, potatoes, pasta, and a fresh basil-garlic-olive oil pistou stirred in at the table. France's answer to Italian minestrone.

Southwest black bean soup simmers dried beans with smoky ham, chipotle, and cumin, then purees half for a velvety body. Topped with creme fraiche and red bell pepper for a smoky, hearty bowl.