Stew

Savoy cabbage would work well here, too.

This potato soup recipe was brought over from Poland by test kitchen director Ruth Cousineau's grandmother.

Debi Mazar shared this recipe exclusively with Epicurious. When making this rich dish, Mazar likes to multiply the recipe by one and a half. Leftovers can be quickly heated and served over pasta for an easy, delicious weeknight dinner.

Browning the lamb shanks helps seal in the juices when they braise.

This "assembly of greens," as Miss Lewis would say, has a supple texture that works nicely with cornmeal dumplings.

Residents of Brunswick, Georgia, and Brunswick County, Virginia, are both fiercely protective of the provenance of this dish, but let's face it—hunters have lived off this sort of thing forever. Like all stews, this tastes even better the next day.

"There is a dish that originated in Charleston called Hoppin' John," Edna Lewis writes in In Pursuit of Flavor, "which we had never heard of in Virginia." This (along with the fact that she found black-eyed peas a little dull) goes a long way toward explaining why she decided to gussy up its scrupulous simplicity—virtually unchanged through the centuries—with tomatoes. Well, nobody's perfect. Here you'll find the real thing, traditionally eaten on New Year's Day for good luck. Serve it with extra black-eyes and their pot liquor on the side to add more moisture, as well as a platter of Simmered Greens .

For most people, the word gumbo immediately conjures the Cajun and Creole cooking of Louisiana. But okra (ngombo in Bantu), for which the soup-stew is named, reached South Carolina with the slave trade some years before Europeans settled in Louisiana, and the Creole world, where African, European, and indigenous cultures meet, actually extends up the southern Atlantic coast. There are many different gumbo recipes, all taking advantage of local ingredients and served with rice. This one is a heady, fragrant slurry thick with seafood. If desired, add filé powder (ground dried sassafras leaves), a Choctaw thickening agent with an almost lemony flavor, just before eating.

A fiber-filled belly warmer from Brian Scheehser, chef at Trellis in Kirkland, Washington.

Eat this hearty chili as is or over rice.

This hearty fish soup get tons of flavor from smoky bacon and fragrant saffron.

Vegetarians deserve a showstopping centerpiece for their main course, too, and this burnished pumpkin, filled with a fragrant stew, will have even meat eaters saying, "Who needs a turkey?" Root vegetables, mushrooms, and seitan—a firm, meatlike wheat protein that soaks up all the flavors of the sauce—mingle with roasted vegetables inside the pumpkin, whose flesh you scoop out along with servings of the stew. (Don't be intimidated at the thought of assembling such a masterpiece—if you've ever made a jack-o'-lantern, you have the skills to prepare this dish.)

With its notes of cumin, cinnamon, and chocolate playing off the gentle spice, this meatless chili combines the best parts of a mole sauce and a Cincinnati-style chili. Its rich body makes it a seriously satisfying dinner any night of the week.

The legacy of San Francisco's Italian and Portuguese immigrants—many of them fishermen—lives on in this fuss-free take on the North Beach favorite, with fresh fennel adding a subtle touch of anise to the tomato-based seafood stew.

Though this rich, intense, homey stew has the depth of a recipe handed down through generations, it's actually a modern interpretation, by Momofuku partner Joaquin Baca, of a Mexican stew he grew up eating, made with Japanese ingredients. And it's the best kind of comfort food: The dark greens, mushrooms, and burdock, braised with silky chicken in a savory broth, make this single dish feel like a satisfying, well-balanced meal.

A flavorful, colorful vegetarian stew that's as beautiful as it is easy to make. Rice on the side makes the dish complete and soaks up all those great flavors.

Using turkey makes this take on the Hungarian beef stew lighter. Adjust the heat level by using all hot paprika, all sweet paprika, or a combination.