10,000 main dish recipes

Three-ingredient kielbasa, kidney beans, and pasta shells. The kind of dorm-room or hunting-cabin dinner that delivers protein and comfort fast. Ready in 30 minutes.

Salmon burgers bind canned salmon with eggs, breadcrumbs, scallions, and lemon juice into pan-fried patties, served with a quick yogurt-cucumber-dill sauce. Pantry-friendly omega-rich dinner.

Creamy veal steaks with yogurt sears thinly sliced veal, layers it with sliced apples, and bakes under a tangy yogurt and evaporated milk sauce. A Scandinavian-style braise with sweet-savory balance.

Hot-sauce chili simmers cubed beef chuck with green chilies, hot pepper sauce, chili powder, and cumin into a no-bean Texas-style chili. Two-stage cook for fork-tender beef.

Mud-baked fish encases a fresh-caught whole fish in river clay and cooks it directly on hot coals for three hours. Traditional Australian bushcraft cooking method.

Crispy sesame chicken: bone-in pieces dredged in a sesame-seed-flour coating, pan-fried golden, then baked through. Nutty, crunchy crust on juicy chicken, not the Chinese takeout version.

Veal fricassee with fiddleheads gently simmers cubed veal in white wine and cream with onions and fresh chervil, finished with tender spring fiddlehead ferns. Elegant French country dinner.

Vegan leek and kasha pie: Eastern European-inspired casserole with toasted buckwheat groats, sauteed leeks, and a tofu-bechamel topping crisped under bread crumbs.

Grecian skillet rib eye steaks rub with oregano, basil, garlic, and pepper, pan-sear in olive oil, then finish with lemon juice, crumbled feta, and Kalamata olives. Mediterranean steakhouse dinner.

Frijoles borrachos, drunken pinto beans simmered low and slow in beer and water with bacon drippings, onion, garlic, fresh and pickled jalapenos, and chili powder. Mexican border country comfort food.

Slow-cooker chicken pie that hands off the work to the Crock-Pot, then crowns vegetables and shredded chicken with a flaky pie crust baked separately. Leftover poultry rescue.

Microwave scalloped oysters: oysters layered with buttered onion-celery, milk, and crushed crackers, then topped with cheese. Ready in ten minutes, no oven required.

Chicken Kiev shortcut style: breasts injected with garlic-lemon butter, breaded with Parmesan cracker crumbs, and baked. A clever workaround to the classic stuffed-and-rolled Ukrainian dish.

Bistecca alla Fiorentina: thick T-bone grilled rare with Tuscan herbs, served with garlicky sauteed spinach and a glug of extra-virgin olive oil. Classic Florentine steakhouse plate.

Sesame gingered shrimp stir-fried with asparagus, orange and lemon zest, and a sherry-cornstarch sauce. A bright, citrus-kissed seafood stir-fry over fluffy long-grain rice.

Mayonnaise-free tuna salad: drained canned tuna mixed with sweet relish, chopped onion, oregano, and celery seed. Lighter pantry-staple sandwich filling for two.