Recipe Sifter

Honey whole wheat bread machine loaf with applesauce for moisture instead of oil. Sweetened with honey, dump-and-start in your machine. Six ingredients.

One-skillet crab rice with toasted long grain rice, tomatoes, green peas, and a splash of dry sherry. A quick seafood rice dish with Spanish-style flavor.

Duck magret strips coated in egg white and cornstarch, then wok-seared with pencil asparagus, bean sprouts, ginger, and garlic. Rich, earthy, and on the table in 30 minutes flat.

Celeriac and apple salad with yogurt, red onion, and a blender honey mustard vinaigrette, served on spinach with radishes. A bright, bistro-style salad in 15 minutes.

Shrimp lo mein with egg noodles, bean sprouts, Chinese chives, and oyster-soy sauce. A quick wok stir-fry ready in 20 minutes with restaurant-worthy flavor.

Tropical pineapple cookies sweetened naturally with banana and pineapple juice concentrate, no refined sugar added. Coconut and orange zest deliver island flavor in every bite.

Roasting is one of the best cooking methods for optimizing root vegetables' flavor. Unlike boiling, where water dilutes some of the vegetable's flavor, roasting intensifies it.

Butter in India is called makkhan. Clarified butter, instead of being called makkhan ghee, is called usli ghee (usli means "real" or "pure," which in this context refers to the real or original fat of the ancient Indians). Clarified butter or usli ghee is essentially French brown butter with the brown residue strained off. Usli ghee has a light caramel color and a heavenly aroma. Since there is no moisture present, it keeps well covered, at room temperature, for several months.

Homemade whole wheat pasta dough with eggs, olive oil, and water. A nutty, high-fiber fresh pasta you can roll by hand or with a pasta machine.

A smoky Mexican-style chicken soup with garbanzos, rice, and chipotle pepper, topped with creamy avocado and melted cheese. Warm, spicy, and ready in 30 minutes.

Olive dip with cream cheese, sour cream, chopped black olives, Worcestershire sauce, and paprika. No cooking required. Serve with scallions, celery root, or chips.

Microwave apple crisp with Granny Smith apples under a brown sugar oat topping with cinnamon and nutmeg. A warm, spiced dessert ready in just over 20 minutes, no oven needed.

A no-bake chocolate mint cheesecake made with cream cheese, Vandermint liqueur, and chocolate pudding mix in a chocolate crumb crust. Five ingredients, zero oven time, all indulgence.

Friendship starter applesauce cake spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. A sourdough-style cake with deep apple flavor and optional nuts or raisins.

Quick Maryland cream of crab soup with tender lump crab meat in a velvety milk-based broth, ready in 20 minutes.

Swedish pancakes (plattar) made with a thin egg batter cooked in a platt pan, served with lingonberry preserves, butter, and powdered sugar. Light, crepe-like, and Scandinavian.