96 smart recipes

Cayenne corn bread made easy in a bread machine. Cornmeal and bread flour with a kick of cayenne pepper and a touch of applesauce for moisture. Just load the machine and press start.

A milk-based sourdough starter jump-started with yeast: flour, water and yeast left to ferment, then enriched with milk, sugar and flour. Keep it in the fridge and feed it after each use for ongoing baking.

Traditional French onion soup starting with homemade beef bone stock simmered for 3 hours, then finished with caramelized onions and melted Gruyere. This from-scratch version takes patience but delivers deep, rich flavor.

Manhattan-style clam chowder with bacon, minced clams, diced potatoes, plum tomatoes, celery, and green pepper in a briny tomato broth. The red chowder that started a rivalry with New England's cream version.

Spanish clay pot chicken with ham, eggplant, zucchini, peppers, and tomatoes braised in wine. A rustic Mediterranean one-pot meal cooked from a cold oven start for tender, falling-off-the-bone results.

Applesauce cinnamon bread for the bread machine, with buttermilk for tang and a full tablespoon of cinnamon for serious spice. An eight-ingredient yeast loaf that loads and starts in under 5 minutes.

Swiss cheese potato bread from the bread machine, with potato flakes for a soft, moist crumb and melted Swiss for nutty, savory flavor. Just add everything, press start, and bake a tender golden loaf.

A three-layer blackberry cake bursting with fresh berries, flaked coconut, and chopped pecans, frosted in a buttercream loaded with more of the same. Starts with a cake mix but finishes like a showpiece.

Sourdough starter from scratch in two days using water, active dry yeast, sugar, and flour. The fast-start version that skips the wild-yeast wait, refresh with flour and water as you use it.

Bacardi Chocolate Rum Cake starts with a chocolate cake mix spiked with dark rum and chocolate pudding mix, then gets split and frosted with a boozy chocolate whipped cream. Rich, moist, and dangerously easy to make.

Outrageously oatmeal bread is a soft, lightly sweet bread machine loaf with rolled oats, a spoon of applesauce, and a drizzle of honey. Dump everything in, press start, and wake up to a tender sandwich loaf.

This three-layer coconut cake starts with a yellow cake mix shortcut, then gets loaded with shredded coconut, crunchy walnuts, and a from-scratch cream cheese frosting with toasted golden coconut on top. Ready in about an hour.

A bread machine chocolate date-nut loaf made with whole wheat flour, cocoa, instant coffee, chopped dates, chocolate chips, and walnuts. Dump the ingredients in and press start. Five minutes of hands-on work for a fragrant, hearty loaf.

Hush puppy is an old Southern term that originated after the Civil War. People didn't have enough for themselves to eat let alone feed their dogs, so when the old hounds started barking from hunger, they would throw pieces of fried corn bread to them, yelling, 'Shut up, dog! Hush puppy!"

A grilled, rather than baked, pizza with some unexpectedly delightful toppings. Use these ideas as a starting point and get creative with your toppings... the possibilities are endless! Enjoy with a salad and your favorite flass of wine! Cook time does not include dough's rising time. Can be ovenbaked if grill is not available

Green smoothies are a wonderful easy way of increasing your leafy green intake - if you are new to green smoothies, start slowly and over time add more greens. The pineapple in the smoothie contains powerful digestive enzymes, while the spinach is loaded with iron. Coconut water is a wonderful way to quench your thirst while replenishing electrolytes - did you know that it was used by doctors during World War II to do transfusions when donor plasma was not available?