Food

Easy to make up ahead and just finish in a hot oven, this potato-vegetable mashup is wonderful as an entree on its own (especially if you choose to do a whole potato for each serving) or as a side to any simple chicken, fish or meat dish. This is also a wonderful luncheon main course served along with a crisp green salad. 

This light, white vegetarian chili packs plenty of punch from poblanos and green chiles and is packed with fiber-rich beans and veggies. Top it with a bit of shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream, sliced radishes, cilantro and diced avocado with a few wedges of lime on the side for a delicious whole meal in a bowl. 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil.

I make grilled short rib chili when the weather proves warm enough for the grill sentry. In the fall, a harvest of vegetables inspires a meatless chili. Early on in the year, during the winter, this lean version, based on chicken and butternut squash, helps us stick to healthier resolutions.

If an easy-peasy, crunchy candy dipped in chocolate sounds like your kind of good time, wowza— have I got a deliciously simple treat for you. Honeycomb, which goes by myriad whimsical names, is made with just four ingredients— sugar, syrup, baking soda, and cream of tartar— or five if you count the water. 

Between the umami-rich miso paste, pungent fresh ginger and garlic, and toasty sesame oil, plus the crisp edges and soft, flaky bites you get from air frying, I just can’t get enough. And the best part? Your main course and a side of tender-crisp broccolini cook up in 20 minutes.

Choose your own adventure with these noodles! They’ re delicious with peanut butter and tahini alike. Plus, you can use whatever frozen vegetables you have on hand and finish the dish off with any herbs still hanging out in your crisper.

Vegan eaters can simply skip the feta and yogurt or swap in dairy free crumbled cheese and plain unsweetened coconut milk yogurt. Don’t be shy with the fresh cilantro and dill--the finished dish tastes fresh and bright--even in January.

In a lineup of classic Southern pies, banana cream pie wins first place for being literal sunshine in a pie dish. Cold pastry cream filling, fresh bananas, a flaky pie crust, all topped with dollops of fluffy whipped cream? It’s a recipe for smiles. But the best part about cold pies, like this banana cream pie, is that it’s the ideal make-ahead dessert. In fact, making this pie ahead is a key component to getting it right — the chilling time is as much of an ingredient as the bananas or cream.