Pasta recipes

Healthy brown rice pilaf studded with grated butternut squash, fennel, and oregano. Low-fat winter side dish with warming cinnamon and white wine in every bite.

Poc-Chuc, the classic Yucatan grilled pork steak marinated in sour orange and achiote paste, served with habanero-spiked pickled red onions. Traditional Maya-style barbecue straight from Merida.

Note: 15 bean mixtures are available packaged in supermarkets and health food stores. If you prefer, make your own by combining equal amounts of dried blackeyed peas, red kidney beans, white kidney beans (cannellini), green lentils, split peas, black beans, yellow split peas, navy beans, cranberry (Roman, shell, or shell out) beans, great Northern beans, pinto beans, small white limas, red lentils, cow peas (field peas), and pink beans. Avoid using beans such as garbanzos and large lima beans, as these take longer to cook than other varities.

BBQ chicken burgers with tangy tomato, Worcestershire, and hot sauce blended right into the patty, topped with a sweet honey-lemon cabbage slaw on cornmeal kaiser rolls. Weeknight-ready in about 30 minutes.

Perfumed wtih Benali 5-spice (panch puran), this tasty melange of vegetables is wonderful with basmati rice.

Grilled sea bass over citrus couscous with a reduced orange-onion sauce, coriander and a hit of Tabasco. Bright Mediterranean-style seafood dinner.

Roasted sweet potato salad with five-spice, watercress, toasted almonds, and tangy goat cheese for warm vegetable sides ready in 60 minutes.

Rustic vegetable barley soup simmered with carrots, corn, peas, spinach, and garlic in a blended tomato-marjoram broth. Vegan comfort food that feeds 8 from one pot.

Pan-grilled Thai tuna salad with seared yellowfin, napa cabbage, cucumber, and a lime-sambal dressing. A 20-minute high-protein dinner for two that drinks like a cold Thai noodle salad minus the noodles.

Crisp lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, bean sprouts, and tofu tossed in a rich peanut-coconut milk dressing with red curry paste. A crunchy, creamy Thai salad topped with potato chips for fun.

Hollowed oranges stuffed with brown rice, chickpeas, and raisins dressed in an orange-tahini sauce with cumin and paprika. A stunning vegetarian main or side.

A hearty, full-scale borsch loaded with beef, bacon, kielbasa, beets, cabbage, potatoes, and navy beans. This is the real deal: slow-simmered, sweet-sour balanced, and crowned with sour cream. Feeds 10.

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Stuffed oranges filled with wild rice, chickpeas, and raisins bound in an orange-tahini sauce. A vegetarian Middle Eastern-inspired dish served in the orange shell itself.

Vegetarian three-bean chili with black beans, pinto beans, and kidney beans, loaded with poblano peppers, cumin, and TVP for meaty texture. A big-batch vegan chili that feeds a crowd.

Hearty Russian beet soup (borscht) loaded with beef, bacon, kielbasa, cabbage, potatoes, and navy beans in a sweet-sour broth. A slow-simmered weekend project topped with sour cream.