Easy chicken paella casserole with browned chicken pieces baked over rice, peas, mushrooms, and onion soup mix in chicken broth. A simplified, hands-off version of the Spanish classic.
Cajun shrimp bread stuffed into a hollowed French loaf with toasted bread crumbs, sauteed onions, paprika, and melted cheddar on top. A Louisiana-style appetizer or party centerpiece.
Lamb and pine nut stir fry: quick microwave stir fry with thinly sliced lamb, bok choy, mushrooms, and oyster sauce. Toasted pine nuts on top for crunch. Ready in under 30 minutes over rice.
Lobster chunks poached in herbed chicken broth with fresh mushrooms and garden vegetables, finished with lime juice. A light, elegant seafood dish ready in 30 minutes.
Vichyssoise is the chilled French leek and potato soup, enriched with heavy cream and half-and-half, finished with snipped chives. Silky, cold, and the original elegant summer first course.
Minestra di riso per Pesach is an Italian-Jewish Passover soup with tiny chicken-matzo meatballs, rice, and a hard-boiled egg yolk in each bowl. Delicate holiday soup with cinnamon-spiced meatballs.
White bean soup with sage: creamy great northern beans simmered with onion, carrot, tomato and fragrant sage in chicken broth. A quick, low-fat soup that's on the table in about 30 minutes using canned beans.
Wok-fried ginger crabs with garlic, scallions, rice wine, and a light-dark soy sauce blend. A fast Chinese-style crab stir-fry that goes from wok to table in minutes.
Oyster-artichoke soup is a New Orleans classic with briny oysters, tender artichoke hearts, and a butter-flour roux base. Make it a day ahead so the flavors deepen overnight before reheating.
Creamy toasted almond soup with almond paste, sherry, orange zest, and rice, pureed silky smooth. An elegant New England inn-style appetizer soup.
Golden lentil and potato soup, a velvety, skin-on soaked yellow lentil pot simmered with onion, celery, and carrots in rich chicken broth for old-school comfort.
Easy chicken Creole with cooked chicken in a tomato-paste sauce with onions, green pepper, garlic, and Tabasco. A 25-minute Louisiana-style weeknight dinner over rice.
Chinese stuffed tofu pockets filled with seasoned ground pork, deep-fried until crusty, then simmered in chicken broth with dried mushrooms and fresh peas.
Mexican omelet filled with chopped chicken in a blended chili-tomato sauce. A protein-packed breakfast or dinner with smoky spice and a from-scratch filling.
Shrimp curry simmered in a butter-based sauce with chopped apple, tomatoes, ginger, and curry powder. A mild, fruity curry served over rice or stuffed into warm rotis.
Spicy garbanzo beans cooked with whole mustard seeds, cinnamon, ground cloves, and tomato paste. A warming, aromatic chickpea side dish ready in under 25 minutes.