Vegetable

You can find this dish at almost any Chinese restaurant, but it is easy to make at home—and usually better, too. Some people deep-fry the chicken first, but stir-frying is much quicker and less complicated, and the results are still great. Serve with plain rice.

Hong Kong, where East and West have met and exchanged ideas for a long time, has devised some dishes that to most American palates may seem more bizarre than stewed pigs’ ears. Among them is this recipe, stir-fried chicken with creamed corn. Yes: Canned cream corn, as in Jolly Green Giant or Clarence Birdseye. It’s not fancy, but it’s a good home-cooked dish, quick, easy, and convenient.

A simple stir-fry, one made with a great deal of ginger and typical Thai seasonings. It makes a great weeknight meal; serve it with jasmine or sticky rice. Information on Thai fish sauce (nam pla) is on page 500.

These are chicken croquettes with North African flavors. Leftover mashed potatoes and chicken are absolutely acceptable and you can use cooked cod (or other white-fleshed fish) in place of chicken. Any vegetable or salad will round this out nicely.

Caraway seeds bring their interesting, bitter character to this simple soup, which is produced throughout Eastern Europe. It’s light but flavorful when made vegetarian, richer and more robust with bacon and beef stock. The Scandinavian variation is even simpler (and sweeter). To crush the caraway seeds, put them in a small plastic bag or wrap them in plastic or wax paper and press on them with the bottom of a pot (or other heavy object) or go over them with a rolling pin.

If you have had only the fast-food variety of tacos or made them using a mix, these will come as a revelation, yet they’re quite easy to make. Top them with sour cream, any salsa (pages 610–612), Guacamole (page 22), or a combination; they are also delicious on their own. There is a wealth of variations here; if you’re not interested in frying, see the soft taco version. The chicken can be cooked by any method you like; poaching with aromatic vegetables and spices will work, along with producing a decent stock.

This is a classic taqueria dish that is even better when made at home. Although the preparation takes some time, enchiladas are delicious and fun for parties or potlucks. You can fill and roll the tortillas ahead of time and then top with the sauce and cheese and bake immediately before serving. To make cheese enchiladas, omit the chicken and fill the tortillas with cheese; pour the sauce over all and proceed.

Dry sherry—ask for Fino—is among the world’s most distinctive wines and also among the best for cooking. Here it’s used as the basis for a rich but low fat sauce that is an absolute classic.With bread or rice, this is an incredible dish.

This Laotian version of arroz con pollo is a rich, flavorful, and gorgeous one-pot dish, unusual and quite easy. See page 500 for information on Thai fish sauce (nam pla).

A deceptively easy weeknight chicken dish (as long as you have cooked or canned chickpeas around) with much of the exotic spicing that makes North African cuisine so enjoyable. With the added chickpeas and vegetables, it’s also very nearly a one-pot meal; just serve it with rice or—more in keeping—couscous (page 526) and you’re all set.

Duck confit is one of those foods that began as a method of preserving and continues because it tastes so damn good. It’s a simple enough process, and the results are dependable. It’s best when you use duck fat as a cooking medium. While not exactly a pantry staple, duck fat isn’t terribly expensive if you buy it from a specialty retailer that makes most of its money from other parts of the duck (like Hudson Valley Foie Gras: www.hudsonvalleyfoiegras.com). Fortunately, confit is not bad with olive oil either, though when you do the math on the two and figure in how delicious potatoes sautéed in leftover confit fat are, duck fat becomes increasingly appealing. My favorite way to serve duck confit is with a simple and strongly flavored salad of bitter greens—like the Green Salad with Vinaigrette, Roquefort, and Walnuts on page 165 minus the blue cheese and made, if possible, with a fifty-fifty walnut oil/olive oil dressing.

This dish incorporates many of the distinctive elements of Spanish cuisine: almonds, garlic, saffron, and sherry. The addition of hard-cooked eggs to poultry dishes, traditional and still popular, is called pepitoria. Serve with Yellow Rice (page 518) or any other rice or potato dish and whatever vegetable you like.

Little more than chicken braised with onions but with a couple of “secret” ingredients. The first is a lot of saffron. Saffron takes a bit of an initial investment (it’s $30 or more an ounce), but it lasts a very long time; I use it regularly, and an ounce lasts me years. (Of course, I usually add it in pinches; this is a more extravagant dish.) The second is preserved lemon. If you can buy this at a Middle Eastern store, you’re in luck. If you can’t, you’ll have to make your own, but it takes weeks, so this recipe requires what you might call advance planning. However, the results are great even without the lemon. Couscous (page 526) is a natural here, as is the Spicy Carrot Salad on page 191.

A dark, fairly intensely flavored stew that is best made with rabbit (or, traditionally, hare), but is quite good with chicken.You can make the entire dish in advance and let it rest at room temperature for a few hours before reheating (or cover and refrigerate overnight). This is lovely just with crusty bread, or with any potato dish.

In a largely vegetarian country, eggs take on more importance than they have traditionally in the States. Indians eat eggs in a variety of interesting ways and at all meals. Here they’re hard-cooked, simmered in a spicy tomato sauce, and served as a main course. It’s a great, easy, and inexpensive weeknight dish. Serve with Pilaf (page 513) or another rice preparation.

As long as you are not a person who eats only sweets for breakfast, there is nothing more satisfying than huevos rancheros, the original “breakfast burrito.” Since you finish the dish in the oven, you can prepare all but the eggs ahead of time, which makes it a great brunch dish when you have guests; the recipe is easily doubled or even tripled.

Shirred eggs with a spicy sauce make a great brunch dish. Serve with toast or Arroz a la Mexicana (page 517).

Perhaps the most commonly seen tapa of all, this is a dish I have loved eating (and making) since I first visited Spain more than twenty years ago. Don’t be put off by the large quantity of olive oil; much of it will be poured off (and will have a lovely taste, so you can use it for sautéing; refrigerate in the meantime).

Dark, glazed, and bittersweet, this is another marvel of simple cooking from Southeast Asia. It takes no longer than a classic European chicken sauté, yet when you make it you will impress not only your guests but yourself. You can stop after step 2 and have a Thai-style dish, which is good, or proceed to step 3 and have one of the best Vietnamese-style chicken dishes you’ve ever tasted. Either way, serve with rice. For information on Thai fish sauce (nam pla), see page 500.

A near no-brainer, as long as you have Tomato-Chipotle Salsa on hand. Even if you don’t, not a lot of trouble, and one of the best grilled chicken recipes I know. See the variations for an even faster way to make this and one that works as an appetizer. Don’t serve this, however, to people who do not like hot food. There is no taming chipotles, though most people find them delicious. You need rice here; Arroz a la Mexicana (page 517) would be ideal. Some slices of (cooling) avocado would be welcome as well.