Grain-Free Tahini Granola

If you’re missing the oats in this gluten-free, make-ahead granola, simply swap out 1 cup of the nuts for ¾ cup rolled oats (Bob’s Red Mill makes a variety of gluten-free oats that are perfect for this recipe).

Butternut Squash Polenta | Epicurious

Butternut squash melts into the polenta as it cooks for this creamy make-ahead dish. Once transferred to a baking dish, pressing chunks of creamy Fontina cheese into the polenta ensures that once baked it will be full of gooey pockets of cheese throughout.

Sweet Cinnamon Tamal

Baking a single large-format tamal may not be traditional, but it produces a similarly tender, moist, barely sweet cake with pudding vibes.

Cinnamon Baked Doughnuts

Hong Kong Egg Tarts

Chinese egg tarts come in a few varieties: these tarts hail from Hong Kong and consist of a puff pastry crust with a slightly less sweet and rich filling than other versions. They are enjoyed throughout the year for breakfast or as an after-school or mid-afternoon snack. In Hong Kong, there are specific bakeries that specialize in egg tarts; when a fresh batch is hot out the oven, the beautiful sweet aroma travels down the block to attract customers.

Mustard, Kale and Cheddar Pull-Apart Bread

These mustardy monkey bread rolls boast lots of cheddar cheese and garlic, making them ideal with soup or pasta.

3 hr 5 min

Greek Salad

While diner-style Greek salads made with chopped romaine, crumbled feta and often grilled chicken have become ubiquitous in American restaurants, a traditional Greek salad, or horiatiki salata, is a simpler affair. An assembled salad of large-diced vegetables with Kalamata olives and sometimes capers, this salad has no greens at all, and the feta is served sliced on top of the salad rather than crumbled and tossed into it. A traditional Greek salad dressing usually consists of olive oil and red wine vinegar; this recipe adds garlic and oregano. To make the salad into a satisfying vegetarian main course, throw in a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas.

15 min

Stone Fruit Caprese

A standout caprese starts with great fruit. You need ripe tomatoes to weep juices, which then mingle with grassy olive oil and milky cheese to make your dressing. Basil adds freshness, black pepper and flakes of sea salt add crunch, and that’s it, a perfect combination. But if the stone fruit options are looking better than the tomatoes at the market, you can use them instead. They’re similar in flavor to tomatoes, but need cajoling to relinquish their juices. By letting sliced fruit macerate with salt, sugar and lemon juice, their fruitiness becomes more electric and their juices pool on the plate. Start with fruit you can smell and pair it with equally quality ingredients. Caprese is more about shopping than cooking.

20 min

Taco Salad

This Mexican American classic has roots at Disneyland. Charles Elmer Doolin, a cofounder of the Frito Company, created an edible cup out of Fritos and served it at his Disneyland restaurant, Casa de Fritos, in 1955. It was the size of a teacup, filled with ground beef, beans and sour cream, and called the Ta-Cup (a portmanteau of taco and cup). The creation was a hit, with recipes for taco salad made with various corn chips proliferating in the ’60s, becoming a staple in school cafeterias, and eventually growing into the jumbo version added to the Taco Bell menu in 1984. (The menu item was retired in 2020.) You can use any corn chip for this recipe, and there’s no need for it to be in cup form, but opt for Fritos, if you want that authentic taste. 

35 min

Feta-Ranch Wedge Salad

A towering wedge salad is fun to look at, but the height and shape make it impractical for a couple reasons: Toppings tumble right off and dressings can’t permeate it properly. This recipe fixes all that by calling for thinly sliced wedges that are stacked on their sides. The toppings stay put, and the dressing can work its way into all the little nooks and crannies. This salad looks impressive, it tastes delicious and it’s actually quite no-fuss: You can make the dressing days ahead of time, and swap in whatever herbs, spices, seasonings you have and crave. The only tricky aspect is emulsifying your feta. The key is time: Scrape the sides as needed and keep blending. With some coaxing, it always gets there.

30 min

Lemon Turmeric Chicken Salad

Afghan murgh kebab (chicken kebab) and white sauce is a classic combination — the tangy, earthy sauce complements the turmeric-stained grilled chicken. Here, the two inspire a creamy, lemony chicken salad. Traditionally, Afghan white sauce is made with mayonnaise, milk, dried dill, vinegar and often MSG. A bit of Greek yogurt balances the richness of the mayo while maintaining a texture sturdy enough for a pita pocket. Fresh dill, sugar, salt and vinegar pay homage to the original seasonings, while the lemon zest, turmeric and garlic draw from the traditional murgh kebab marinade. 

25 min

Cauliflower Salad with Yogurt Sauce and Pomegranate

Get the recipe for this best-ever Cauliflower Salad with Yogurt Sauce and Pomegranate on Food & Wine.

35 min