16 your recipes

Light and airy blueberry cake with a folded meringue batter, juicy fresh berries throughout, and a crackly sugar-dusted top. An old-fashioned snacking cake that lives up to its name.

What to do when your brother gives you a courgette but you only like potatos.

Your basic burger recipe with ground beef, onion powder, salt, and pepper. The secret is a light touch when mixing and shaping. Overworked meat makes tough, dense patties.

Low-fat no-bake cheesecake built on cottage cheese and gelatin, topped with fresh strawberries and raspberries. Heart-shaped Valentine's-ready dessert that skips the cream cheese and the oven.

Pot roast of your choice is a flexible Dutch oven method for fork-tender chuck roast. Browned hard, braised low with aromatics, and finished with a skimmed pan sauce you can thicken to gravy. Classic Sunday supper.

Vegan eggplant and rice one-pot meal simmered in vegetable broth with crushed tomatoes, garlic, thyme, and cayenne. Low-fat, filling, and oil-free.

Canned apple pie filling made with tart sliced apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a cornstarch sugar syrup. Water bath canning recipe yields 6 quarts, each jar fills a two-crust pie.

Low-fat vegetarian chili with kidney beans, bulgur wheat, and jalapeno ready in 30 minutes. Braised in vegetable stock instead of oil for a lighter, healthier bowl.

Rugelach four ways: a single cream cheese pastry dough turned into raspberry-almond crescents, layered chocolate-pecan squares, apricot pockets and honey-pecan triangles. Holiday cookie tray showstopper.

Grilled Cornish game hens glazed with a fiery red pepper sauce made from roasted peppers, Dijon mustard, and three kinds of hot pepper. Four-alarm heat with a sweet roasted pepper backbone.

Four cheese rotini with fresh asparagus in a creamy primavera sauce made with crumbled goat cheese and tarragon. A quick vegetarian pasta dinner ready in 35 minutes.

Jewish rugelach with a flaky cottage cheese dough, apricot jam, cinnamon-sugar, walnuts, and currants rolled into golden crescents. A holiday cookie jar essential for Hanukkah or Christmas.

Pasta with chicken in a creamy tomato sauce blended with four Italian cheeses: Bel Paese, ricotta, Romano, and Gorgonzola. A rich, indulgent pasta dinner with plum tomatoes, heavy cream, and butter.

Ramp ravioli pair grilled-wild-leek filling with tender one-hour slow-cooked calamari in olive oil. A springtime Italian pasta showcasing foraged ramps at their peak.

Elegant julienned vegetable slaw with a handmade Dijon-lemon dressing, inspired by The Four Seasons Restaurant. Pick seasonal vegetables for color, crunch, and flavor in this no-cook showstopper salad.

Slow-braised calamari in umido with garlic, white wine, crushed chili, and tomato sauce, served with grilled ramp bruschetta and fresh marjoram.