Vegan

Daigaku Imo Hanamaru Market, a highly successful, long-running Japanese television talk show, opens with a short cooking segment every weekday morning. Finding ways to make impressive classic cuisine simpler and less technically demanding is the theme of many of the episodes. In the autumn of 2008, one of the broadcasts featured an innovative recipe for daigaku imo (candied sweet potatoes) that topped all previous viewer-rating charts. Indeed, as of this writing, nearly a year later, it remains the all-time favorite. Syrup-glazed, black sesame-studded sweet potato first became a popular snack among university students at the turn of the twentieth century. Indeed, that is the origin of the name of the dish: daigaku means "university" and imo is "potato." Most recipes for daigaku imo instruct the cook to deep-fry sweet potato chunks first and glaze them afterward. Although delicious, the classic version results in a high-calorie snack that is messy both to make and to clean up. In contrast, the Hanamaru Market version offers a (relatively) healthy snack.

The herb-and-spice blend would also be terrific with eggplant or lamb.

The dressing is also a great dip for broiled shrimp or chicken.

This stir-fry gets its hit of green from bok choy and mizuna, a Japanese salad green.

This spin on onigiri, Japanese sticky white rice balls, combines the earthiness of brown rice and mushrooms with the crunch of a sesame seed crust. The key is cooking the rice until it releases all of its starch, then chilling it in the fridge so you can easily roll it into balls before baking. If you have any sheets of nori (seaweed) lying around, you can cut them into strips and wrap them around the rice balls before or after baking.

Swapping chickpeas for edamame gives your go-to party dip a new flavor twist—and a festive green hue—while still packing in plenty of filling fiber and protein.

This is a spicy, vinegary paste from the beautiful region of Goa. It is great with meat, chicken and fish; I have used it in a few recipes to get you started. Just remember when you cook with it, it is all raw so it does need to be well cooked before you use it.

For this colorful and festive starter, be sure to grate the peel from the tangerines before cutting off the rind and slicing them into rounds.

Sweet, savory and anti-aging! Just one serving meets more than your daily need for vitamin A, which keeps skin aglow.

The technique: For crisp-tender vegetables, boil them quickly, then dump them into a bowl of ice water.
The payoff: The rapid boil cooks the veggies just enough; the ice water stops the cooking and intensifies the color of the vegetables.

The technique: When cooked at a high heat, some vegetables take on a deep, nutty flavor and golden brown color. In this recipe, the sugars in the pomegranate molasses enhance the caramelization process.
The payoff: Caramelized vegetables have that addictive sweet-savory taste and a lovely sheen.