Recipe Sifter

Roasted eggplant and vegetable pate with charred eggplant, yellow peppers, ginger, jalapeno, cumin, and lime. A smoky vegan spread for crostini, crackers, or sandwich filling. Keeps a week.

Pot-roasted salmon with black olives, preserved lemon, carrots, and green beans in fish stock. A North African-inspired one-pot fish dish that's elegant, bright, and ready in 30 minutes.

Romaine and tangelo salad with sweet citrus segments, toasted pecans, and a honey poppy seed dressing. Simple, bright four-ingredient winter side salad.

Oven barbecue chicken with just 2 ingredients: a cut-up whole chicken and your favorite bottled barbecue sauce. Baked uncovered for an hour until tender and caramelized.

Pizza muffins top split English muffins with sauce, cheese, ham, and pineapple, then broil until bubbly. A 5-minute after-school snack or lazy-night dinner.

Bacon-wrapped crabmeat balls with sherry, lemon juice, dry mustard, and fresh bread crumbs broiled until crispy. An elegant appetizer that makes about 2 dozen bite-sized hors d'oeuvres.

Navy bean soup with a meaty ham bone, slow-simmered with onion and celery into a hearty, smoky bowl. A gluten-free, high-fiber classic that turns leftover ham into a freezer-stocking meal.

Applesauce carrot and raisin bread is a butter-free quickbread sweetened with applesauce, lifted with cinnamon and shredded carrot, and studded with golden raisins.

Cold poached trout in tomato aspic made from the poaching liquor, tomato sauce, and gelatin. An elegant chilled fish course garnished with parsley and lemon.

Whole roasted chicken on a vertical roaster with garlic cloves, red potatoes, and rosemary in a blazing hot oven. A one-pan dinner where the drippings flavor the potatoes.

Homemade vegetable stock from celery, onions, carrots, and parsley, simmered 30 minutes and strained smooth. Freezes for up to 3 months. A clean, versatile base for soups and sauces.

Memphis-style dry rub for ribs with paprika, cayenne, green peppercorns, and Jamaican allspice. A 12-spice blend with real heat and smoky depth. No sauce needed.

Mexican-style pickled jalapeno chilies blistered then packed with carrot, onion, and garlic in a vinegar brine sealed with olive oil. Taqueria-style escabeche for the pantry.

Turkey and rice in a warm-spiced tomato sauce with sweet dried apricots and a little green chile heat. A sweet-and-savory, Moroccan-leaning skillet served over fluffy rice, lean and quick to fix.

Traditional turtle and ham soup simmered with cloves, bay leaf, thyme, garlic, and chopped lemon. A hearty Cajun-style wild game soup with deep, savory flavor.

These calzones are very healthy, some kinds of vegetables, very light and savory.