Recipe Sifter

A hearty pasta Bolognese with a slow-simmered ground beef and tomato sauce built on sauteed onion, pepper, and celery. Loaded with oregano and basil, finished with grated parmesan over your favorite pasta.

Burt Reynolds' red wine beef stew from a 1984 celebrity Christmas book, with round steak browned in bacon fat, simmered in wine and tomato sauce, then finished with potatoes, carrots, celery, and mushrooms.

Filets of sole in white wine sauce poaches delicate sole in an oven-warmed bath of clam juice, dry white wine, garlic, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Elegant French-style fish, low in fat and big in flavor.

Aduki and squash soup blends sweet butternut, earthy adzuki beans, balsamic vinegar, rosemary, and savory miso for a rich vegan fall soup with a Japanese-macrobiotic backbone. High in fibre and deeply warming.

Slow cooker Texas-style chili with ground beef, kidney and pinto beans, plum tomatoes, and a touch of warming whole allspice. A 4-hour low-and-slow chili built from pantry staples.

Vegan tomato rice soup blended creamy with soy milk and garlic, brightened by apple cider vinegar and finished with cooked rice and toasted sunflower seeds. Dairy-free comfort.

I cooked this soup 3 times lately, and the best base is turkey- chicken stock in my opinion. Just a summer soup made of many stems.

A thick and delicious soup that's made with great northern beans and a variety of spices.

Poor Man's Jambalaya with tasso ham, andouille sausage, the Cajun holy trinity, and gumbo file seasoning - all cooked in one cast iron skillet in about 70 minutes.

Whole wheat couscous with brown lentils, fresh tomatoes, basil, and Parmesan simmered in vegetable juice. A low-fat vegetarian one-pot meal with hearty protein and bright Italian flavors.

Bay scallops simmered with spinach in a garlicky tomato sauce with fish stock and lemon, served over pasta. A low-fat, low-calorie seafood dinner ready in 30 minutes.

Kalamarakia Tursi is a Greek pickled squid appetizer simmered in olive oil with rosemary and parsley, then marinated in white vinegar with garlic and peppercorns. Serve cold as a tangy meze.

Chicken and shrimp gumbo with okra, mustard greens, collard greens, and a custom Cajun seasoning blend thickened with browned flour. A lighter take on gumbo with no oil-based roux and loads of greens.

Old Munich sauerbraten: beef marinated for days in a spiced vinegar bath, then clay-pot braised until fork-tender in a sweet-sour gravy thickened with gingersnaps. Authentic Bavarian pot roast for potato pancakes.

Cajun dirty rice with ground chicken gizzards, livers, and pork cooked in the holy trinity with Tabasco, cumin, and paprika. Authentic bayou flavor in every forkful.

New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp cooked shell-on in a buttery, peppery sauce with beer, Worcestershire, garlic, and Cajun spices. Serve with crusty French bread.