Recipe Sifter

Quick stir-fried shrimp with garlic, ginger, green onion, and a brandy flambe finish. Butterflied shrimp seared over high heat and ready in under 5 minutes.

Moroccan kefta kebabs with ground lamb, fresh mint, cumin, and parsley, pressed onto skewers and broiled with a paprika-lemon oil glaze. Ready in 30 minutes.

Quick skillet paella with butter-sauteed shrimp, ham strips, green peas, olives, and cherry tomatoes over seasoned rice. A 30-minute shortcut to Spain's most famous dish.

Fresh green beans, mushrooms, zucchini, and tomato wedges simmered in a tangy Worcestershire-vinegar sauce with oregano. Serve hot as a side or chilled as a vegetable salad.

Slice and bake gingersnap cookies with molasses, ginger, and cinnamon. Make the dough, freeze in logs, and bake fresh cookies anytime for up to six months.

Slightly potted cocktail franks simmer in a bourbon-spiked sweet-and-tangy sauce of chili sauce, brown sugar and Dijon. A retro chafing-dish party appetizer that disappears off the toothpicks fast.

Grilled salmon steaks brushed with lemon butter and sprinkled with seasoned salt and dill. Four-ingredient weeknight dinner, ready in 30 minutes.

A quick and easy way to use up your leftover by making this delicious spread.

Soft molasses cookies use sour cream and a generous pour of molasses for the pillow-soft texture grandmas swore by. Spiced with ginger and nutmeg, rolled and cut from a chilled dough.

A warming Korean-inspired broth with ginseng root, garlic shoots, soy sauce, and toasty sesame oil. Just pour boiling water over the seasonings for an earthy, restorative sipping soup ready in 10 minutes.

Don't have sour cream but a recipe calls for it? Here's a simple recipe for a substitute for sour cream that I found on the Recipe Talk Forums here.

Old-fashioned Southern cream cookies made with sour cream, walnuts, and pressed flat with a cinnamon-sugar glass. Soft, cakey drop cookies that yield six dozen from one batch.

Roma tomatoes slow-roasted for three hours with olive oil, garlic, and hot chili until jammy and concentrated, then tossed with spaghetti, parsley, and basil. Named for the volcano and just as fiery.

Crisp, butter-brushed cookie sticks flavored with anise oil. A traditional Spanish treat that's simple to make with just 7 ingredients and ready in 30 minutes.

Habichuelas guisadas: Puerto Rican stewed beans with potatoes, sofrito, sazón, and tomato sauce served over white rice. A quick, soul-warming one-pot meal ready in 25 minutes.

Spargelgemüse: tender boiled asparagus drizzled with browned butter and freshly grated Parmesan, garnished with sliced hard-boiled egg. A classic German side in just 30 minutes.