Tomato

This chili is so tasty that your carnivore friends may not even notice it doesn’t have meat. It makes a lot, so if you have leftovers, freeze individual portions in resealable bags. For a quick meal, just nuke one and eat it my favorite way: poured over a baked potato.

Although we college kids are known for our love of pasta because it’s cheap and easy to make, that doesn’t mean it can’t also taste great and be low in calories. This dish is a perfect example of that. Shrimp Linguine Marinara tastes like an extravagant indulgence, but it’s only about 400 calories per serving.

My boyfriend’s mother made this dish when my family was visiting and we all fell in love with it. It’s surprisingly simple, but the combination of flavors is amazing. She served it as a side dish, but we loved it so much that we make it as a meal now. Trust me, you have to try this recipe.

Here is another super simple dish that can be made in the time it takes to cook the pasta. You can use any type of pasta in this dish so feel free to swing out. I’ve used all different shapes, but my favorite was the pasta shaped like the state of Texas. It was so weird I had to buy it.

When I first started college, I was a total pastaholic, not only because it’s cheap and you just have to boil water, but because it’s so darn good. This is one of my favorite versions. With pasta, Italian sausage, and melted mozzarella, who wouldn’t love it. This dish makes a lot, but that’s okay because it’s also excellent reheated.

Because I am a vegetarian and the rest of my family is not, we are often at odds to come up with a dinner that will make everyone happy. Ratatouille (ra-tuh-TOO-ee) has saved the day more than once. I always make a double batch and freeze the extra in resealable bags. It reheats well in the microwave and is really good on pasta, rice, or whatever starch the rest of your family is eating.

When I did an internship at Disney World, one of my coworkers used to eat these for lunch every day. The rest of us always made fun of her until she finally got us to try one. As you probably guessed, pretty soon we were all eating them. This tasty wrap has the egg salad that I have always loved, but the cheese, lettuce, and tomato add a new flavor.

If you make these for your friends, make sure you eat some right away, because they will evaporate if you walk away. Megan and I like our salsa saucy, more like a picante sauce, so we add some tomato sauce. But, if you like chunky salsa, you can skip the sauce and just use the diced tomatoes.

Even the thought of making yeast breads can be intimidating, but this recipe is pretty simple and always works. Because of the oil in the dough and all of the toppings, the dough can take a lot of abuse without being a problem. I top the focaccia with whatever we happen to have on hand. It’s also great with sliced tomatoes, garlic, thyme, or mozzarella. This is one of those recipes for which the possibilities truly are endless.

When you present dumplings with this sauce, the combination may recall an Italian pasta dish, but the sauce’s zesty qualities resemble the Latin flavors of Mexico more than of Europe. But on closer analysis, the combination of chile, ginger, herbs, and spices is definitely Asian, specifically Nepal’s Himalayan cuisine, which blends Chinese, Indian, and Tibetan traditions. In the Nepalese repertoire, this sauce is a type of achar (a moniker for chutneys and pickles) and is what typically accompanies momo; it’s great with Tibetan momo, too. With a tangy edge, moderate heat, and spiced depth, the sauce has a multilayered punch that begins seemingly subtle but finishes with a certain feistiness. Sometimes ground toasted sesame seeds are added for richness, but I find that they mute the other flavors too much.

Many years ago as a student at the University of California, Berkeley, I was invited to a dinner given by professor Laura Nader, a Lebanese American professor of Middle Eastern studies and sister of maverick politician Ralph Nader. Her dinner was simple and elegant, and the main course was a sort of Lebanese ratatouille. It was a delicious first for me, and contained many of the same elements as its French counterpart—eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes and green pepper—but its seasonings, rather than being the basil and garlic of the French version, were more typical of the Middle East. You might serve the dish with rice and a simple salad of romaine lettuce, just as Professor Nader did so long ago. I would also offer some crusty bread on the side.

Moussaka is a quintessential Greek dish, and one that every American knows. Usually a delicious dish of layered eggplant, ground beef or lamb, tomatoes, onions, and, best of all, a thick custard topping, moussaka is one of my personal favorites. This version calls for only vegetables, a not-uncommon variation found in rural Greece. It does well in the slow cooker, but may be just a bit juicier than if baked in an open casserole dish in the oven.

Countries all around the world make use of dried beans, and cook them, of necessity, in an oven or on a stove top for a long time, often dressing them in the simplest of ways. The Greeks, who serve them both as a meze (appetizer) and as a main dish, are no exception. For this dish, I’ve recommended fava beans, commonly used in Mediterranean countries, but Greeks often use a large, white bean called gigandas that can sometimes be found in Middle Eastern markets. Note: If you are using favas, be sure to buy blanched, skinless beans, as favas come encased in a tough, brownish shell and are sometimes sold that way. This dish makes a nice meal with a green salad and a crusty country loaf.

One of the great joys of my childhood was having my mother read to me from Heidi. Heidi drank goat’s milk from a bowl for breakfast and had soup for dinner. In the Swiss Alps, Heidi enjoyed a feast that has sustained and nurtured people the world over for many centuries: soups, sometimes featuring the simplest of ingredients (as simple as some oats or flour, a nip of onion, and some broth or milk). Soups like this one have been made and drunk in France’s mountainous regions for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. All you need are some really flavorful ingredients, a creative mind, and a loving heart. Note: Don’t buy hard, flavorless tomatoes in the dead of winter and expect this simple soup to taste good! Use the best, freshest tomatoes you can find, preferably from your own garden, picked at the peak of ripeness on a late summer’s day. This is not a winter soup.

For most of us, the mention of lasagna conjures up mouthwatering images of rich tomato sauce layered with rich cheeses and thin noodles. But a type of lasagna can also be made using polenta rather than pasta. In this polenta lasagna, the old familiar formula appears, but the packaging (polenta instead of lasagna noodles) is new. I recommend making the tomato sauce a day ahead of time, and possibly having two slow cookers on hand so that you can pour the polenta quickly from one into the other.

Chili, a quintessential slow cooker meal, is not a traditional Mexican dish. Rather, it seems to be Southwestern in its inception. It is sort of a combination of the dried beans and chiles so readily available in the Southwest with the wonderful spices brought by Europeans to Mexico. This particular version is generously seasoned with spices and chili powder and has been pieced together by me over the course of a few years. The following recipe makes a big mess o’ chili and is best done in a 6- or 7-quart slow cooker.

One of the beautiful things about traditional Indian cooking is that each cook grinds her own spices, and each dish therefore bears the unique thumbprint of its creator. Freshly ground spices give this simple soup a gourmet touch.

Another delicious Indian soup, similar to the Spicy Indian Lentil and Tomato Soup (page 26), but with rice and a very different blend of spices.

Loosely translated as “Devilish Shrimp,” this dish packs a good punch. My friend Rene’s mom cooked this for me several years ago. I soon became hooked and started re-creating my own version at home, incorporating Sriracha. The dried chiles don’t have a substitute perse, and should be sought out, as they contribute the unique smoky/fruity/spicy combo that makes this plate divine. They are available online or at any Latino market.

Several years ago, I took a culinary tour of Oaxaca, Mexico, run by my dear friend nancy Zaslavsky. While I knew I was in for some great food, I don’t think anything could have prepared me for the incredible marriage of flavors I found one morning in a bubbling hot cauldron of chilaquiles. I’ve used the memory of that momentous meal as inspiration for a Sriracha-tinged version that may not classify as traditional per se, but you know damn well it’s going to be delicious!.