One-Pot Meals

Bayerischer Würsteltopf Germans like to layer meats and vegetables in a pot and leave them to cook. Not all their hot pots are all-day affairs, however. This one, a hearty main dish, is ready to serve in half an hour. Most of its liquid cooks away, so this is actually a mélange of broth-poached vegetables and sausage.

Tender pieces of short rib and barley add body to a delicate herbal broth you can make ahead and enjoy for days.

It's hard to believe there's no cream in this soup, it's so velvety. A swirl of minty pistou, added at the last minute, provides complexity.

Why "soda jerk"? Because two kinds of pop lend the right dose of sweetness.

Lamb shoulder is meltingly tender here, and a natural partner for earthy-sweet artichokes.

With authentic Asian flavor, this soup is a perfect light supper.

This simple one-dish vegetarian meal is hearty without being heavy.

This light chowder with a subtle note of smokiness really lets the scallops shine.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Crescent Dragonwagon's book Passionate Vegetarian. Dragonwagon also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. This is fast and seriously good. Weird as it sounds, try it once and you'll come back to it. Children are thrilled with it too. It's virtually instant to put together, but it does need to simmer for 15 minutes. If you get really crunched, forgo sautéing the onion. Now to the recipe's provenance. I'll bet my Aunt Gloria—my father's sister—is going to be astonished that I still have the recipe for the meatballs with the totally bizarre but inexplicably delicious cranberry-and-tomato sauce that she gave me back in 1969, and that that self-same recipe has been converted, to surface again almost 30 years later with seitan. You end up with a sweet-sour sauce, given attitude by the horseradish. It's still a wildly improbable combination, still easy, still infinitely better than it has any right to be. Serve over pasta or any cooked grain or with mashed potatoes.

Some say it isn't soul food unless it's mashed, creamed, candied, or deep-fried. But Southern cuisine needn't swim in saturated fat: Witness the recipes in Dr. Ro's Ten Secrets to Livin' Healthy (Bantam Dell Books) by nutritionist Rovenia Brock, Ph.D. With this delicious down-on-the-Delta dish, Brock slashes the fat while upping the nutritional ante with picks high in vitamin A, beta-carotene, and lycopene. You get a meal that's good for your heart and soul.

When you crave something hot and filling, a bowl of this chili will do the trick.

Get a better body at the grocery store. Just as certain exercises strengthen your stomach muscles, certain foods protect specific parts of your body. (Your tummy gets benefits from sit-ups and garlic.) A top-to-toes rundown based on new research includes the following: Eggs banish blurry eyes. Cranberry juice brightens smiles. Chocolate is your heart's friend. Carrots preserve lungs. Water is a hipbone buddy. And you get all these super foods in one bowl.

Cuddle up with comfort food that's — gasp! — healthy.
Soothe your carb-craving soul without the guilt. This chicken pot pie delivers comfort at a fraction of the salt and fat of the traditional variety.

The French prince: Jean-Georges Vongerichten, executive chef and co-owner of Jean-Georges, Jo Jo, Lipstick Cafe, Mercer Kitchen, and Vong in New York City. What you'll love: No-mess cooking — just wrap the chicken and vegetables in foil, then bake and serve. Our taster says it all: "Super easy and very delicious."

Though not quite as tender, lamb shoulder chops have deeper flavor than rib chops and won't break the bank.

Ask your fishmonger to skin the salmon fillets for you.

Ann Gillespie of Alexandria, Virginia, writes: "Because I'm balancing graduate school and a family, I try to cook things that don't take a lot of time. But I love experimenting with ingredients, so most of my recipes are easy to make and use interesting flavor combinations. The olives and cinnamon in this stew give it a nice Moroccan flavor. This dish balances sweet and savory with tangy Kalamata olives and golden raisins.