Recipe Sifter

Homemade chunky applesauce with brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Just simmer tart apples until tender and mash to your favorite texture. Four ingredients, one pot, zero preservatives.

Cilantro garlic shrimp stir-fried in a Thai-style pan with cilantro pesto and fish sauce. A 5-ingredient seafood dinner from wok to plate in 5 minutes.

Cinnamon applesauce ornaments: two-ingredient dough of ground cinnamon and drained applesauce, rolled, cut with cookie cutters, and dried into fragrant holiday keepsakes that scent the whole room.

Cinnamon, clove and nutmeg ornaments are fragrant homemade holiday decorations, not edible: a no-bake dough of warm spices and applesauce, cut into shapes, air-dried, and hung to scent your home with Christmas spice.

A traditional Spanish clay pot dish of fresh clams cooked with garlic, onion, lime juice, red wine, parsley, and bread crumbs. Rustic, briny, and served straight from the cazuela to the table.

Creamy spinach spread with ranch-flavored cheddar cheese, crumbled bacon, and crunchy water chestnuts. A no-cook party dip that comes together in five minutes flat.

An easy way to change things up for breakfast.

A club sandwich meets a burrito: ham, turkey, and Swiss cheese rolled up in a flour tortilla with lettuce and sprouts. A 5-minute no-cook lunch wrap that's light, fresh, and totally portable.

Pineapple coleslaw with crushed pineapple, lime, celery seed, and Miracle Whip. The sweet-tart Hawaiian-style slaw that goes with pulled pork, fish tacos, or BBQ ribs.

Concia is a Roman Jewish dish of fried zucchini layered with garlic, fresh basil, and white wine vinegar. A make-ahead antipasto that improves overnight.

Microwave-heated ham slices ready in 4 minutes. A fast, no-fuss method for warming pre-cooked ham with sizzling edges using just a paper towel and a heat-safe platter.

Cooked wild rice with bacon and butter: nutty, chewy wild rice simmered to tender, then tossed with crisp bacon julienne and a knob of butter. A simple side that eats like a meal.

Cookie candy turkeys assemble chocolate stars, caramels, striped chocolate cookies, and candy corn into adorable no-bake Thanksgiving favors. Kid-friendly craft dessert ready in 20 minutes.

Cooking grains the foolproof way: two parts water to one part grain, rinse first, simmer covered, never stir. Works for quinoa, rice, millet, and farro. The basic ratio every home cook should know by heart.

Four-ingredient cottage cheese pancakes blended smooth with eggs, corn oil, and flour or cornmeal. Light, protein-packed griddle cakes ready in 30 minutes.

Two-ingredient crab roll with backfin crab meat and cream cheese, shaped into a log and served with crackers. A no-cook elegant appetizer for parties.