Simmer

This flavorful, filling stew was developed by home cook Jennifer Smith of Tyler, Texas, who hit on the perfect balance of jalapeño heat, aromatic cumin, and stick-to-your-ribs black beans. Best of all, it’s a budget-friendly weeknight dish made of ingredients you probably have in your pantry. Jennifer’s secret weapon: “A can of flavored diced tomatoes. They’re great in chili and my black bean soup. I keep plenty of pantry staples, garlic, and herbs on hand to spice up whatever I’m making.” Serve this soup over rice and some crusty bread for a simple meal, and you’ll have healthy leftovers for lunch.

Fondue may have been trendy in the 1960s and 1970s, but cheesy goodness has never really gone out of style. This recipe is straight from the Alps, and calls for the classic combination of Gruyère and Emmental. Melt them in a cast-iron fondue pot with the simmering wine before transferring the mix to your fondue stand. Of course, you can serve this with cut-up veggies and fruit, but bread is the true classic partner. Just know that if you lose your bread in the cheese, you’ll need to kiss your neighbor. That’s Swiss tradition.

Remember the scene in The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy steps out of her house and everything turns Technicolor? This gorgeous, colorful vegetarian supper from chefs Bruce Aidells and Nancy Oakes has the same effect on a winter day. Butternut squash absorbs the laundry list of zingy spices, but if you’re sensitive to spices, feel free to cut the cayenne by half. Add chickpeas for a hearty, nutty dose of protein, and top with a cooling dollop of Greek yogurt.

In addition to being packed with meaty flavor, turkey is a healthy alternative to beef, rendering this a great dinner option for the whole family; to really save on fat and calories, stick to lean ground turkey. Pair this dish with a green salad and red wine, then finish off the meal with bowls of your favorite ice cream.

A satisfying budget-friendly Southern supper with leftovers that pack up easily for lunch the next day—what else could you ask for? This one-pot feast is packed with turkey, rice, and peppers, plus a little cayenne for spice. If you don’t like turkey, use chicken instead and add a dash of smoked paprika or lean bacon for a warm, earthy effect.

A traditional Spanish romesco sauce calls for almonds, but in this recipe hazelnuts spruce up simple halibut fillets. The sauce freezes well and also partners with chicken, steak, or pasta. For a more budget-friendly dish, substitute tilapia. You can also swap roasted red peppers for the piquillos and use whatever nuts you happen to have in the pantry.

In this comforting chowder, heavy cream, flour, and potatoes provide rich, velvety texture, while the smoky flavor of chipotle chile in adobo sauce adds heat. The recipe calls for about a pound of smoked chicken, which is available at some butcher shops and specialty food stores, but you can also use (unsmoked) chicken breasts.

Get a full serving of the Southwest with this bowl of beans, barley, and chicken from Epicurious member Mike Kubin. This hearty soup is perfect for midweek eating. If you prefer a meatless version, simply omit the chicken and substitute vegetable broth for the chicken stock. You can even bump up the bean count for additional protein—and extra fiber. Store any leftovers in the fridge, and take this soup to work for lunch.

Get a taste of North Africa with this lamb slow-cooked with stewed apricots, tomatoes, cinnamon, ginger, and lemon. To complete the Moroccan theme, serve the winter stew atop couscous. Alternatively, pair it with crusty bread for a heartier meal. Just be sure to save some leftovers, as the meat will be even tastier the following day.

This unassuming rice salad from Mustard Seed Market & Café in Akron, Ohio, is so unusual it’s likely to shift everyone’s attention from the main course. Dates and cinnamon, two Middle Eastern staples, are paired with cashews, green onions, and cilantro and are punched up with freshly squeezed lemon juice. Use a cast-iron pot to get what Persian-style rice is best known for—the crispy toasted bits. Topped with a fried egg, it’s a casual supper; paired with simple roasted fish, it’s a proper formal meal.

Bright orange, cooling mint, sweet raisins, and earthy pecans—yep, this wild rice salad by Epicurious member Jruz has pretty much nothing in common with the salty kitchen-sink rice salad from the school cafeteria. Try this alongside pork tenderloin or roasted poultry for a welcome change from starchy mashed potatoes.

With just three ingredients, this sophisticated take on creamed spinach is extremely easy to make. In a pinch, use an immersion blender to mix the sauce, or try ricing the potatoes to make this winter side a tad thicker.

This deconstructed praline version of fondue wows time and again thanks to its simplicity and unexpected flavor. While it’s great any time of year, it’s especially suited to the summertime, when you want to keep cooking to a minimum and you have an abundance of berries, melons, peaches, and grapes at peak flavor. This setup is ideal for parties, as it encourages interaction; there’ll be no wallflowers when you set this out.

This salad is a beautiful chorus of peas and pods. Cook all the beans in the same pot so you boil the water only once.

This summery way to serve yams is great with hoisin-glazed ribs or pork chops. Experiment by swapping the spuds for rice to create another filling vegetarian meal, or serve the creamy dressing as a dip for chicken satay.

When developing this recipe, Epicurious member Joan Higgins of Pearl River, New York, decided to use extra shrimp to make sure that her diners had a piece of shrimp with each spoonful. The bisque’s base is indulgent, too—half-and-half infused with earthy nutmeg and enlivened with paprika. Even with its deep flavor and silky texture, Higgins says the best thing about this recipe is that it’s foolproof.

This mix of refreshing lemon and spicy ginger snaps in the form of a frosty, zesty pie is perfect for spring parties. The ginger snap crust is ridiculously easy. Consider topping the pie’s creamy citrus with a sweet dash of raspberry sauce.

This velvety pudding is the brainchild of chef and cookbook author Sara Foster; and like many of her recipes, it’s a masterpiece of simple goodness that needs no extra bells or whistles. But it’s amenable to a variety of sauces and toppings. Try soaking the fresh berries in port to make a memorable dessert.