Simple Cooking

To save time, use canned chickpeas instead of dried.

Dark chocolate and espresso add the slightly bitter notes needed to balance this dessert. Remember, the higher the cacao percentage, the less sweet the chocolate.

Tasty, and healthy, too: Coconut water is high in potassium and other electrolytes. And Flaxseeds are a good source of beneficial omega-3s.

Using an egg white adds crunch without calories.

Use mature flat-leaf spinach— the baby leaves lack flavor and texture.

This deeply savory tomato-based pasta sauce is flavored with garlic, red pepper flakes, and a mix of ground pork and hot (or sweet) Italian sausage. Use any short, tubular pasta you like.

"Spirits are delicious when infused with fresh fruit. Vodka is like a blank canvas—it will take on the flavor of whatever you add to it." —Mary-Frances Heck, test kitchen director

Bonus points for serving one huge stack and making your family get all Jenga on it for seconds.

This one-pan shrimp dinner is just the thing for a busy weeknight when you want something warm, but also light and fresh.

"Pineapple is great for marinades; it lends amazing sweet-and-sour flavor and contains enzymes that help tenderize the meat." —Alison Roman, assistant food editor

Frittatas are excellent served warm or at room temperature, which means that this meatless main is a perfect do-ahead dish.

If you can't find fresh chorizo, use any fresh sausage. For less heat, choose a sweet (mild) Italian sausage.

"I love to give tangy, sweet pineapple the Mexican-corn treatment by sprinkling it with salty Cotija cheese and dusting it with cayenne pepper." —Chris Morocco, associate food editor

This lightly sweetened, crepe-like dessert is a great way to end any meal, be it breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It's delicious with crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream.

Chopped lemon pulp and peel are added to the couscous for a complex bittersweet flavor.

We get a little weak-kneed with delight around cakes, particularly cakes whimsically shaped to look like something else—in this case, a Yule log. Made famous in France as Bûches de Noël, these sheet cakes, filled, rolled, and frosted to look like the trunks of trees, complete with the stumps of sawed off branches, provide creative cooks the very real opportunity to play with their food. Want a few woodsy meringue mushrooms made from meringue to continue the conceit? Why not? No offense to the French, but we think this Italian version, brushed with an espresso syrup, filled with whipped cream lightened mascarpone cheese, and encased in a serious chocolate ganache, which lends itself well to sculpting, is just about the best we've ever had. Buttercream frosting is good—we know only too well from licking many bowls of it clean—but ganache is easier to make and even better to eat! Editor's Note: This recipe is part of Gourmet's Modern Menu for A Christmas Classic. Menu also includes Herb-Crusted Beef Rib Roast with Potatoes, Carrots, and Pinot Noir Jus and Green Beans with Caramelized Pecans .

These spicy molasses cookies were a popular nineteenth-century New Orleans street food. For years, grocery stores throughout the United States have been selling them prepackaged, and often topped with white or pink icing.

Although the Delta Queen's cooks enjoyed this dish made with leftover turtle, you can use just about any kind of meat. If you don't have leftovers, try boiling a less-tender cut of beef until tender and use the stock for the soup.