10,000 oat bran recipes

Miniature cookie houses: a sturdy vanilla cookie dough built for construction. Roll, cut, bake, and decorate into tiny Christmas houses. The classic holiday project for kids and crafty bakers.

Flaky, buttery pastry triangles filled with jam and kissed with orange zest. A classic Austrian cookie that uses hard-cooked egg yolks for an impossibly tender dough.

Ground beef and kidney bean chili served inside a golden Parmesan choux pastry bowl baked in a heart-shaped or round pan. A show-stopping one-dish dinner that's easier than it looks.

Hearty Portuguese soup with smoked chorizo, potatoes, kidney beans, cabbage, and tomatoes simmered in chicken broth. One-pot peasant cooking, big-flavor weekend stew.

Chili with beans built the old-school way: overnight soaked pintos, three kinds of meat, and a slow simmer that coaxes out real depth. Cumin, cayenne, and jalapeños do the talking.

Indian chicken pies with flaky lard-and-margarine pastry wrapped around garam masala-spiced chicken, mushrooms, and corn. Handheld curry-pot pies worth the weekend effort.

Lemon pineapple chicken with broiled chicken breasts finished in a bright sweet-sour sauce with pineapple chunks, carrots, and green pepper. Light, easy weeknight dinner.

Corn and shrimp salad with boiled seasoned shrimp and sweet corn tossed in an emulsified Dijon vinaigrette with red onion and parsley. A bright, summery seafood salad.

A light, airy baked cheesecake made fluffy by folding in whipped egg whites, with tangy sour cream, cream cheese, lemon, and vanilla over a graham crust. The dessert worth saying yes to.

Pot roast with roasted vegetable sauce turns the braising veg into the gravy itself. Beef round roasts low and slow with tomatoes, red wine, thyme and bay, then the vegetables get pureed into a silky, spoon-it-over sauce.

Pumpkin sheet cake: a fast, one-bowl fall cake loaded with canned pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. Moist, not-too-sweet, and big enough to feed a potluck without breaking a sweat.

Herbed Asparagus with Shiitakes and Parmesan recipe

Melanzane in carrozza: breaded Italian eggplant sandwiches stuffed with mozzarella, anchovy, and basil, then fried golden. A Southern Italian antipasto, crisp outside, molten in the middle.

Indian-spiced braised cauliflower, potatoes, and mushrooms with cumin, curry, and jalapeno, rolled in cheesy flour tortillas with tomatoes and sour cream. Sabzi meets burritos.

Clam and shrimp chowder: a creamy New England-style seafood chowder with potatoes, corn, red pepper, and fennel seed. The anise note from fennel lifts it out of the ordinary.

French-style fruit fritters: apple, orange, or pineapple slices macerated in lemon and sugar, dipped in an egg-white-lightened batter, and deep-fried golden. Serve with powdered sugar or syrup.