Sauces recipes

Grilled steaks in a soy-ginger-curry marinade with torch bananas wrapped in foil with honey, coconut, and pineapple juice, finished with flaming brandy. A showstopper BBQ dinner.

Mexi corn lasagna layers seasoned ground beef, corn, and picante sauce between corn tortillas with a cottage cheese and Parmesan filling, topped with melted cheddar.

Chinese chicken salad with shredded roast chicken, bean sprouts, cucumber, and carrots in a sesame-tahini dressing with soy sauce, garlic, and rice wine. Crisp, nutty, and satisfying.

Crispy oven-baked fish fingers coated in toasted whole-wheat breadcrumbs, served with a tangy yogurt-Dijon dipping sauce. A healthier homemade take on the freezer-aisle classic.

Vegetarian mapo tofu (Mabo Dofu) with silken tofu, mushrooms, leeks, and sake in a savory soy-sesame sauce. A quick Japanese-style tofu stir-fry ready in 15 minutes.

Spicy Thai pizza with a brown rice and peanut butter crust, topped with a sesame-soy-cilantro peanut sauce, stir-fried broccoli, carrots, and mozzarella. A gluten-free fusion pizza.

A quick Chinese-style vegetable stir-fry with bean sprouts, ginger, garlic, and red pepper in a glossy soy-sherry sauce. Ready in 20 minutes as a vibrant side or light main.

Gado gado is the Indonesian salad of stir-fried cabbage, bell pepper, and bean sprouts drizzled with a warm peanut sauce spiked with garlic, shallot, cumin, and lemon. Vegetarian one-bowl meal.

Polpettone Italian stuffed meat steaks sandwich ham and melted mozzarella between two herbed beef-and-veal patties, breaded crisp, then baked under tomato sauce and more cheese. The Italian-American answer to chicken cordon bleu.

Polynesian chicken tosses tender chicken with pineapple, snow peas, water chestnuts, and carrots in a sweet-and-sour sauce built from the pineapple juice. A light, colorful, takeout-style dinner over rice in about 30 minutes.

Mustard chicken stir-fry: chicken marinated in a tangy Dijon, soy, ginger and garlic blend that doubles as a glossy pan sauce, stir-fried with snow peas, red pepper and green onion. A fast, East-meets-West weeknight dinner.

NOTE: The flavor of this dish depends on the flavor of the Kimchee.

Chinese grilled short ribs butterflied into a single accordion strip and marinated in peanut butter, curry, sesame oil, soy, and rice wine. Smoky, tender, unusual.

Kung Pao chicken stir-fry with charred dried chiles, roasted peanuts, bell peppers, and a soy-vinegar-sesame glaze. Wok-cooked with ginger and garlic in under 10 minutes.

Rustic seafood soup simmered in a tomato, white wine, and herb broth with crab, shrimp, and scallops. Low-fat, high-protein, and ready in about 30 minutes.

Vegan holiday loaf with brown rice, wild rice, walnuts, and Thanksgiving herbs baked until firm. A plant-based main for Thanksgiving served with mushroom gravy.