Soup/Stew

Look for ancho chile powder in the spice section of supermarkets.

Cinnamon, clove, cumin, and other spices perfume your house as this cooks.

Normally we consider ourselves chili purists, but this quickie version — made with a really good bottled salsa — satisfied our craving.

Lentils are a very ancient food staple, and have been the basis of diets in the Middle East for millennia. To perk up the flavor of this soup, cooks often add a spritz of lemon juice to each serving at the last minute.

Minestra di farro
Puréed-bean soups can sometimes be monotonous, but here farro's seductively chewy texture is anything but boring. This recipe has the comforting appeal of pasta e fagioli. Farro is available from Far Away Foods (farawayfoods.com).

For easy serving, ladle the soup into pretty bowls, and set them on the buffet table.

Serve this creamy, chilled soup as a refreshing first course.

Traditional Scandinavian fare, this rich stew is comfort food at its best — think chicken potpie without the crust. Boiled potatoes are the perfect starch to balance the sweet carrots and parsnips.

Lamb shoulder is meltingly tender here, and a natural partner for earthy-sweet artichokes.

With authentic Asian flavor, this soup is a perfect light supper.

This light chowder with a subtle note of smokiness really lets the scallops shine.

Gael Greene shared these recipes with Epicurious from her new book, Insatiable. On a writing retreat at the cabin of screenwriter Vicki Polon, we put together this fragrant soup.

Dduk Gook Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Eating Korean by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee and are part of our story on Lunar New Year. Eaten especially during Korean New Year (Soll), Dduk Gook can also be made with dumplings.

Fish stews abound throughout the Mediterranean and most evolved from the fishing boats themselves, as fishermen reserved the worst of their catch for themselves and cooked it on-board.