Recipe Sifter

Old-fashioned green tomato pickle with a sweet spiced vinegar syrup of cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and mace. A multi-day canning project that yields 8 pints.

Open-faced pesto, tomato, and melted cheese sandwich on a roll, broiled until bubbly. Five-minute lunch with bright basil pesto and gooey cheese.

Butterflied leg of lamb rubbed with garlic, rosemary, black pepper, and olive oil, marinated overnight and grilled over wood or charcoal. A show-stopping 6-ingredient main.

Beans with rare steak and pesto: grilled steak sliced rare over mashed cannellini beans with fresh basil-parsley pesto. A Tuscan-style dinner that's lean, protein-heavy, and deeply savory.

Shredded barbecue beef brisket sandwiches with a paprika, garlic, and mustard dry rub plus a hit of liquid smoke. Slow-roasted until fork-tender, piled on French rolls with warm barbecue sauce.

Almond-stuffed Madinah dates rolled in toasted sesame seeds, a traditional Arabic sweet served alongside gahwa. Just two ingredients and 25 minutes.

Ginger plum pork chops with plum preserves, ground ginger, and apple cider vinegar. A 5-ingredient, one-skillet pork dinner ready in 25 minutes.

Besides serving as little omelets, these can be rolled up like crepes. Especially good wrapped around some sauteed mushrooms or ratatouille.

A whole roast chicken stuffed with cherries, rubbed with paprika and cinnamon, then slow-roasted in white wine until the juices run sweet and savory. Served over spiral noodles with a cherry-wine pan sauce.

Salt-roasted shrimp with a scampi beurre blanc dipping sauce. A showstopper appetizer where shrimp cook shell-on over a bed of rock salt and get served with a buttery white wine dip.

Jazz up your winter repertoire with a tangy, colorful pomegranate dressing.

Nutella ice cream cups layered with chocolate ice cream, coffee ice cream, and swirls of Nutella topped with a toasted hazelnut. A no-cook frozen dessert that makes ahead beautifully for up to 2 weeks.

Warm brown rice breakfast cereal simmered with chopped prunes, cinnamon, and a pat of butter. Low-fat, naturally sweet, and ready to top with milk, honey, or fresh fruit.

Lamb rib chops broiled under a rosemary-garlic quince jelly glaze. A 15-minute dinner-party main with a sweet-savory lacquer that caramelizes under the broiler.

Marinated artichoke hearts with Greek olives and Salonika peppers in a lemon-vinegar dressing. A make-ahead Mediterranean appetizer served with pita wedges.

Peanut butter reindeer cookies use a boxed cookie mix, an egg, and a reindeer cutter for shape, then decorate with chocolate chips, candy-coated chocolates, and sprinkles. Easy holiday baking project for kids.