Soup/Stew

Set out all of the components of this fun and delicious dish and allow guests to add their own toppings. Because the chili is meatless, the vegetarians in the crowd can also enjoy this meal by simply omitting the crispy cubed-pork topping.

Savoy cabbage would work well here, too.

Miso soup and quick-roasted mushrooms give Pacific cod a meaty umami boost.

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

In this soupy, risotto-like side dish or starter, pureed parsnips and blanched carrots, parsnips, and turnips are stirred into cooked basmati rice. The parsnip puree adds luxurious richness without any cream, butter, or cheese. Serve alongside pan-grilled steaks or pork chops.

Look for squash that are heavy for their size.

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.

What gives this thick, voluptuous soup its deep-golden flavor and aroma is toasted dried summer-sweet Cope's corn. Chef Linton Hopkins embellishes the soup with tender, briny shrimp and foresty mushrooms, but it would also be delicious with crabmeat or bacon & or with nothing at all to distract you from its mysterious, soul-satisfying essence.

This rustic, satisfying spiced soup—a perfect dish to make ahead and reheat on busy weeknights—will help stave off even the fiercest midwinter chill.

This soup gets a rich, earthy flavor from dried porcini mushrooms, which are available in the produce section of many supermarkets and at Italian markets and specialty foods stores.

Be sure to use white corn—it's sweeter.