Eve/9 recipes

This bean soup sports a colorful mixture of vegetables and rich spices reminiscent of Mexican cuisine. It tastes even better after a night in the refrigerator. Serve topped with crushed tortilla chips and low- fat sour cream, if desired.

Beer float made with chocolate ice cream and a 12-ounce pour of beer in a tall glass. Two ingredients, ready in 30 seconds, and the strangest dessert-drink you'll ever love.

Big white soft sugar cookies with buttermilk, nutmeg, and raisins that stay pale, pillowy, and cakelike. An overnight-chilled batter baked just 5 minutes for the softest cookie you'll ever make.

A hearty meatless chili with kidney beans, zucchini, green chiles, and brown rice simmered in a tomato base with cloves and vinegar. Even better the next day. Freezes like a dream.

Quesillo! Venezuela's silky three-milk custard baked in a caramel-lined pan. Just 6 ingredients, a blender, and a water bath stand between you and the smoothest flan you've ever tasted.

Here's a lean cheeseburger sure to please even avid beef lovers. Jalapeno chiles, cilantro and lime give these thick, juicy patties plenty of kick--and because the burgers are topped with roasted bell pepper, they don't need much melted cheese to satisfy.

Hearty low-fat vegetable soup with potatoes, zucchini, squash, carrots, pureed tomatoes, and kidney beans. Oil-free and loaded with garden veggies, this make-ahead soup tastes even better the next day.

Slow-simmered Italian pizza sauce built on canned plum tomatoes, olive oil, oregano, basil and tarragon. A balanced, herb-forward sauce that gets even better after an overnight chill in the fridge.

Tender date loaf quick bread studded with plump dates and vanilla. This moist tea bread freezes wonderfully, slices like a dream, and tastes even better slathered with salted butter the next day.

This is my favorite way of making them, by mixing all kind of dry fruit, seeds, oats with peanut butter and honey. It can be a quick snack, delicious dessert, or even a present in a jar!

The surprise? Sauerkraut. Rinsed and squeezed dry, it melts invisibly into this spiced apple cake, adding incredible moisture. With cinnamon, nutmeg, Granny Smith apple, and chopped pecans, nobody will ever guess the secret.

Greek-style green beans and potatoes braised slow in tomato until meltingly tender, finished with a fresh hit of mint. A vegan side or light main that's even better the longer it simmers.

Sour cream coffee cake with cinnamon-pecan ribbon: a tender bundt cake with a hidden middle layer of cinnamon-sugar-nut crunch. The brunch table classic that tastes even better the next day.

I made this for my bridge club. All eight gals including me loved it. The other seven asked for the recipe. It's easy to make and delicious. The lemon and fresh basil add a lot to the recipe. Interestingly enough, Kraft doesn't have this on their recipe web site even though it's one of their recipes.

Light sponge cake baked in a casserole dish, then soaked with a hot rum sugar syrup and topped with toasted almonds or coconut. This boozy, syrup-drenched dessert is even better the next day.

The easiest brownie pie you'll ever make: boxed brownie mix poured into frozen pie shells with chopped nuts and baked slightly underdone for a fudgy center. Makes 2 pies. Serve with mocha ice cream.