Recipe Sifter

Use as a dip or topping for grilled chicken, seafood, etc., inspired by Diana Rattray

Homemade Thai green curry paste with dry-roasted coriander and cumin, fresh green chilies, lemongrass, and shrimp paste. Stores in the fridge for months and beats store-bought every time.

New England beans: canned pork and beans dressed up with real maple syrup, ketchup and chunks of ham, then simmered into a sweet-savory side in about 15 minutes. A fast shortcut to classic New England maple baked beans.

Two-ingredient New Mexico style barbecued salmon. Salmon fillets brushed with red chile barbecue sauce and grilled over wood embers. The Southwestern way to cook a piece of fish.

Vegetable lasagna layered with zucchini, spinach, mushrooms, and a red wine tomato sauce. Make-ahead and lighter than meat lasagna, with cottage cheese standing in for ricotta.

Grapefruit, Campari, and pomegranate cocktail blends tart grapefruit juice with deep red pomegranate and ice into a foamy pale-pink base, then gets topped with bitter Italian Campari. A festive New Year's pitcher drink.

Sunshine cake is a tall, lemon-kissed cousin of angel food and sponge cake, leavened entirely by whipped egg whites and yolks with bright lemon zest and juice.

Curried tuna salad with tangy Greek yogurt, mango chutney, and diced Granny Smith apple. Five-ingredient high-protein lunch that turns canned tuna into a flavor-forward, no-mayo sandwich filling.

Oatmeal crunchies with orange zest, nutmeg, and orange-apricot juice for a citrusy twist on classic drop cookies. Crispy edges, chewy centers.

Low-calorie pumpkin pie with a crunchy cornflake crust and a creamy butterscotch pudding filling. No-bake filling made with dietetic pudding, pumpkin, and nonfat milk.

Italian rabbit saddles boned, rolled around a garlic-olive-rosemary stuffing, then seared and braised in fresh tomato sauce. Rustic Tuscan cooking at its most honest.

Onion polenta and gorgonzola pizza uses firm polenta as a gluten-free pizza crust topped with soft-cooked onions, thyme, and crumbled gorgonzola. Simple vegetarian comfort food.

Orange and coffee bean cordial: a whole orange studded with coffee beans, sugar cubes, and vanilla, steeped in cognac for two months. Classic French-style homemade digestif, no special equipment needed.

Orange barbecue sauce made in the microwave in 4 minutes with orange juice, zest, ketchup, brown sugar, and dry mustard. A citrusy twist on classic BBQ sauce.

Orange champagne cocktail made with chilled champagne, ginger ale, and fresh orange juice, topped with floating strawberries for a bubbly brunch or party punch.

Orange cube muffins with a crackling sugar-cube top dipped in orange juice. A vintage quick-bread recipe that builds flavor into every last crunchy bite.