Simple Cooking

Marinating chicken wings in a base of tamarind purée, fish sauce, brown sugar, crushed red pepper flakes, and cumin gives optimal flavor and just-enough char.

Originally from Yemen, this fiery condiment has a dense, round flavor that comes from a variety of fresh chiles, herbs, and spices.

This recipe brings together the flavors of Mexico’s Gulf Coast with the anise-like flavor of Mexican avocado leaves and the tang of sour oranges.

Flavored with citrus, maple syrup, and cilantro, this slaw makes an excellent topper for tacos or huaraches.

This yeasty, coarse-textured breakfast loaf makes the best toast ever. Slather it with jam or turn it into an egg sandwich.

A sophisticated take on the beloved children's snack of celery with peanut butter and raisins, this salad is a study in textures with chewy dates, crisp apple, and fresh herbs.

This easy recipe skips the yeast in favor of baking powder and baking soda to create soft, pillowy, flawlessly sweet wheels that get topped with a tangy buttermilk glaze.

The flat, wide shapes of broken lasagna noodles drape over themselves, trapping the buttery, lemony sauce.

Jarred roasted red peppers, canned white beans, and a bunch of pasta water make this sauce flavorful, thick, creamy, and totally vegan.

This is a great last-minute dinner.

This Jalapeño Ranch is gonna kick up all kinds of taco creations and take veggies and dip to a new level in your life.

For an easy, one-pan weeknight dinner, crispy chicken goes on top of a pile of silky cabbage to finish in the oven, then gets topped with sweet peas and fresh herbs.

This cake has the fluffy, so-light-it-could-float texture of angel food cake, with a touch of egg yolk for richness. Tahini brings pure sesame flavor and a lining of sesame seeds adds a bonus level of crunch.

Eggs, cream, peppery greens. This is a low-fuss, highly satisfying brunch made in a skillet on your stovetop. It's a brunch recipe that'll impress with no fuss.

There is a way to have your macaroni fix in the freezer: a custard-style baked mac ’n’ cheese. Instead of a cream-based sauce, this one uses eggs and béchamel to help bind a very cheesy filling with the noodles. The pimentos help to cut the richness with a little bit of acidity.

Béchamel, a cream sauce bound by a roux of flour and butter, holds up well in the freezer, maintaining the same gooey, melty texture that the freezer too often destroys in other dairy. It’s pivotal for casseroles, such as lasagna (page 126) or the green bean dish (page 125) that falls on so many Thanksgiving menus. It’s the halfway point to sausage gravy (page 122) or cheese sauce. Long story short, béchamel helps bridge the gap when thinking about foods that freeze well. Just like duct tape, you should never be without it.

This classic yeasted recipe produces waffles that are wonderfully crisp outside, and creamy on the inside.

With this shelf-stable homemade pancake mix ready to go in your pantry, you’re always minutes away from an exceptional pancake breakfast.

This makes enough strawberry glaze for one full recipe of gem cakes; you can halve the recipe if you’d like an assortment of flavors.

This makes enough green matcha glaze for one full recipe of gem cakes; you can halve the recipe if you’d like an assortment of flavors.