Simple Cooking

First of all, zoodle is a made-up word for vegetables that have been cut to look like noodles. Make this recipe vegetarian by substituting 8 oz. fresh shiitake mushrooms in place of the bacon, leaving out the anchovies, and using a vegetable stock or water.

For this soup recipe, whack the garlic cloves with the side of a chef’s knife; the papery skins will loosen from the cloves and you can slip them right off.

Coddle eggs in a warming, cumin-spiced Swiss chard braise to start the new year with plenty of healthful, fortifying greens.

Classic recipe. Superior flavor. Flawless brunch.

This punch recipe easily scales down by half, or even all the way to festive drinks for two.

A homemade cranberry simple syrup puts this sparkling cocktail recipe into fancy party-worthy status. Use leftover Campari to make your very own Negroni or Americano.

These potato blinis are inspired by a Thomas Keller recipe. They're the ideal base for caviar.

The lime juice and oil will keep the avocado from turning brown, but it’s a good idea to make this pico de gallo recipe right before you serve it.

Not feeling the squares in this phyllo bites recipe? Use a pizza cutter to cut crackers into any shape you like!

Ah, Babybel cheese, the fancy French chef’s secret weapon for fondue—it keeps the molten mixture from separating, and its unassuming flavor lets the Gruyère shine.

When great dips get together, it’s magic. This recipe boasts all the beauty of a creamy onion dip with the irresistible appeal of queso.

No, they're not precious gems, these sparkly crunchy treats are prime for mixing and matching your favorite flavors (with a splash of booze for good measure).

Using dried porcini mushrooms as the base of the rub for this dramatic centerpiece roast gives it a pleasantly funky, earthy flavor.

Serve this festive, warming punch to welcome guests in from the cold or along with dessert at the end of a holiday feast.

You’ve heard it said that the best spaghetti sauces are simmered all afternoon. If that’s true, why not let the slow cooker do the cooking for you? This sauce takes 5 minutes to make and is loaded with vitamins. Make a double batch and freeze half for another day.

Roasting grapes is fun and unexpected, although very popular in the wine regions of Italy. I remember being surprised to find juicy grapes cooked into a dense olive oil cake in Tuscany years ago. Here the sweetness of the grapes balances the earthy truffle oil and rosemary, and the feta adds a salty kick. The flavors are just perfect, and this flatbread takes me right back to Tuscany every time.

Dulce de leche literally translates to “candy of milk.” In layman’s terms, it’s a caramel-like concoction made from boiling sweetened condensed milk until it becomes . . . well, pretty much an eighth deadly sin. What I love most about dulce de leche is that it has the beautiful color and deep flavor of caramel, but not the chewiness . . . so you don’t have to expend needless energy flexing your jaw muscles.

Two warnings about these cookies: Don’t give them to young children before bedtime and don’t leave them lying around, if you want any left for yourself. These cookies are crisp on the edges and have a chewy middle strewn with pockets of soft chocolate. The espresso powder, as Kelsey (The Naptime Chef) noted, amplifies the chocolate, but not the sweetness, making it a grown-up cookie. When making any cookies, make sure to cream the butter really well—this aerates the cookies and integrates the sugar—but be conservative with your mixing once the dry ingredients are added.

Broccoli-cheese soup is my life. There’s something about it that triggers a happy, peaceful memory. I just don’t know what the memory is. So I guess technically, it isn’t really a memory at all. I think a memory, by definition, is something that someone actually has to remember.

Mimicking traditional semolina pasta, cauliflower "rice" takes on fragrant Persian spices in this grain-free take on couscous.