Recipe Sifter

German potato salad with crispy bacon, tangy vinegar dressing, and a flour-thickened sauce served warm. A diabetic-friendly version using sugar substitute.

Two ingredients. Five minutes. Velveeta salsa dip stirred into hot pasta for an instant cheesy Mexican-style side dish. When you need dinner yesterday, this is the move.

This easy yet tasty chicken casserole is a great weekend lunch or dinner option.

Pickled hard boiled eggs made by reusing leftover pickle juice. Two-ingredient bar snack and salad topper that turns the dregs of the pickle jar into something useful.

Low calorie salad dressing made with vegetable juice cocktail, vinegar, lemon juice, and just a touch of oil. No cooking required, ready after a quick chill.

Braised lamb shanks with oregano and garlic served over simmered lentils with celery and bay leaf, finished with lemon slices in the oven. A rustic, protein-packed one-dish meal.

Southern hush puppies with creamed corn, chopped onions, and cornmeal batter. Drop by spoonfuls into hot oil, fry until golden for moist, slightly sweet cornbread fritters.

Asian-style green salad with napa cabbage, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, and broccoli in a soy-ginger-rice vinegar dressing. A crunchy, low-fat vegetarian side that comes together in 20 minutes with no cooking.

Badrijani Sunelebit is a classic Georgian dish of golden pan-fried eggplant slices layered with fresh basil, raw garlic, and white wine vinegar. Served cold as a salad or side.

Flour-dredged pork chops seasoned with garlic, browned golden, then slow-cooked in chicken and rice soup for 6 to 8 hours. Set it, forget it, and come home to fork-tender chops.

Turn frozen bread dough into warm, garlic butter breadsticks topped with Parmesan in under 30 minutes. Just slice, bake, brush, and dip into marinara.

I used Cornish Game Hens, but you could also use a cut up chicken. If you can't get winter melon, watermelon will work. Winter melon is white, very mild tasting and a tad denser than watermelon. I think you could get away using something like Honeydew too.

English cucumber and ginger conserve macerates sliced cucumber in sugar, then simmers the syrup with bruised ginger root for a translucent, spiced preserve. An old British country jam for cheese boards and tea.

Crispy fried asparagus won tons stuffed with chopped asparagus and water chestnuts. A crunchy, golden appetizer ready in 25 minutes. Serve with soy sauce for dipping.

Halloween hairball salad: walnut-sized balls of mashed avocado and alfalfa sprouts rolled up and perched on grated carrots, finished with Italian dressing. Kid-friendly ghoulish fun.

Fresh-from-the-cob creamed corn with crispy bacon and tender leeks, made lighter with low-fat milk. A 15-minute summer side dish bursting with sweet corn flavor.