Epicurious

Need a festive centerpiece for a holiday dinner? Choose this recipe, which calls for a tender cut of inexpensive meat. Although the instructions seem complex, preparation time and effort can be considerably reduced with some advance planning so that the day of serving, all you need to do is reheat.

With a recipe as simple as this, there’s no reason not to make dessert. The fruit comes out soft and tender, while the crumble is crisp and light golden brown. Experiment with other seasonal fruit combinations: raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries are other summer options, while apples, pears, and quince are perfect for fall. All are delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Filet mignon gets a Southwestern twist from Cucina Rustica restaurant in Sedona, Arizona, with smoky chipotle chiles amping up the creamy Gorgonzola and shiitake mushroom sauce. Any leftover steak and sauce makes a delicious sandwich on crusty bread with peppery arugula.

This amazingly easy recipe is a perfect, slightly sweet ending to a decadent meal or an afternoon treat on a lazy Sunday. After blending the ingredients, all you need to do is let the mixture sit in the freezer.

This soul-satisfying, butter-crusted, fruit-filled dessert is a straight-up American classic. The flaky, beautifully woven topping offers a tempting peek of whole cherries in all their fresh, tart glory, with none of the gelatinous, sticky-sweet filling you find in most cherry pies. It’s so easy and popular you might want to double the recipe and make two.

Perfect with roast chicken on a casual Monday night with family, this seven-ingredient dish is great to throw together at the last minute. Steam the potatoes instead of boiling—this will keep them fluffy and light. Then, taking inspiration from German-style potato salad, smash them with a hot and smoky bacon dressing and toss with fresh dill, cider vinegar, and sugar. Planning an elegant winter spread? Serve this hearty side with pork chops.

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.

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.

Had your fill of sweet potatoes made even sweeter with brown sugar? These quick-baked sweet potato “chips” flip the script with garlic and melt-in-the-mouth fried sage. Serve as colorful hors d’oeuvres at a cocktail party; as a crisp side course for barbecued pork, roasted turkey, or a holiday ham or tenderloin; or as a stand-in for movie popcorn on the couch with a beer on a chilly Friday night. Not bad for a recipe that only takes 25 minutes and four ingredients.

This dish calls for just five commonly used ingredients, making it a last-minute cinch. Roasting the cauliflower in either slices or mini-florets tenderizes it, and the olive vinaigrette adds tanginess to the already nutty base, pumping up the dish with the perfect sharp flavor note. Serve this alongside any cut of lamb or beef.

A departure from the more common potato gnocchi, these light, pillowy rounds feature semolina and are baked instead of boiled. Parmesan cheese and a glaze of butter make them quite rich and delicious. They go well with meat or poultry but you can also top the gnocchi with your favorite tomato sauce or pesto.

Consider roasting broccoli over steaming it—doing so allows it to caramelize under the high heat. Add some slightly nutty and mildly tangy Asiago, and your taste buds will tell you this cruciferous vegetable deserves its place in the pantheon of vegetables. Be sure not to cut the broccoli into tiny pieces, as those will burn.

The chile vinaigrette here will perk up an otherwise ho-hum dish with some heat and tang. For a tasty variation, use sweet potatoes instead of acorn squash.

From Southern food aficionado John T. Edge, this recipe calls for bitters such as collards, mustard greens, and kale and then amps up the flavor with red pepper flakes, garlic, and crunchy bacon. Homemade béchamel sauce sends it over the top. Serve this as a savory addition to any winter feast in place of the usual creamed spinach; it’s a spectacular pledge-of-undying-love-to-the-chef kind of dish.

A modern version of a Cantonese classic, this noodle dish got a reworking in Epicurious member Roni Jordan’s Massachusetts kitchen and has been a family staple for more than twenty-five years. These sesame- and soy-sauced noodles will easily become a favorite whether you enjoy them warm, at room temperature, or straight out of the fridge three days later. Toss in your favorite veggies for a multifaceted vegetarian meal or serve it alongside grilled chicken or flank steak.

New York’s Momofuku Ssäm Bar is certainly worth a visit at least once, but you’re sure to make these Brussels sprouts from chef David Chang at least twice—in the same week. While this signature dish is deep-fried at Ssäm Bar, the secret to Chang’s home preparation is roasting the mini cabbages at 450°F, maximizing their sweet, nutty flavor and crisping their beautiful green leaves. The recipe is written for slightly charred results; if you prefer your vegetables more green than golden brown, check them after 20 minutes or so.

Down-home cornbread gets a beautiful, fragrant makeover with the addition of warming honey and flowery sage. But don’t worry, it’s still the same cornbread from the block. The ingredient list is short, the prep is straightforward, and the whole dish takes so little time to prepare that you could bake it while your roasted turkey rests or chili simmers.

This dessert is so stunning your guests will wonder if it’s art or food. Orange-hued mango sorbet, deep purple blackberries, and cloudlike vanilla ice cream fit together in a mosaic of luscious, vibrant flavors. Indulge your creative side and layer the ingredients decoratively, filling any cracks with blackberry purée. When everything is assembled, freeze the sweet terrine anywhere from three hours to five days.

Amaretto makes this a grown-up treat. If you want the kids to enjoy these as well but don’t want to forgo the almond flavor, use a nonalcoholic Amaretto syrup such as Monin. Or omit the syrup. Just be sure to stick with thick Greek-style yogurt for an unbeatably luscious, creamy pop.

This refreshing dessert from Epicurious member Danita Sam Lai of Los Angeles is a crisp, delicious treat. Limoncello and Grand Marnier are optional but recommended, as the alcohol imparts a pleasing softness to the finished sorbet. Keep in mind that alcohol slows the freezing process, so freeze overnight before serving—unless you’re one of the many folks who likes a slightly slushier sorbet, in which case a few hours in the freezer will do nicely.