Simple Cooking

If your largest skillet isn’t large enough to hold 12 oz. pasta and toss everything together, dump the mixture back into the pot from cooking the rigatoni and toss.

Don’t toss out your Parmesan rind. Use it to flavor the beans and broth for this comforting classic.

All that sour cream keeps these biscuits super moist and tender—they reheat well, even after sitting out for hours (pop back into 350°F oven for 5 minutes).

This is like pouring a cooked mojito over stewed chicken, with the rum, lime, and herbs mingling beautifully with the chicken juices. Serve it with rice and a cold, crispy Alsatian white like a Pinot Blanc.

Frozen peas are a gift to the breakaway cook: their creamy, earthy goodness bursts with flavor, and they couldn’t be easier to store and prepare. The pesto-like tarragon emulsion, made even creamier by the addition of Greek yogurt, really brings out the best in them, and the sprinkling of pistachios on top lends a lovely toasted, nutty texture. Try them with a broiled fish fillet and a glass of grassy Sauvignon Blanc.

This side dish has it all: creamy avocado, tart orange, savory greens, zesty chutney, and crunchy toasted almonds. Serve as a salad or a side dish alongside a piece of grilled fish.

Store-bought ingredients are an easy way to spruce up old favorites, like coconut cream pie. Here, passionfruit curd lends its distinctive tropical flavor to the filling for a refreshing twist.

Coeur à la crème (cream heart) is a classic French dessert traditionally served with strawberries.

Light, creamy, warm, and slightly-sweet egg-based dressing is the perfect companion to zesty watercress. This is adapted from a recipe in "Valentine Dinner for Two" from the February 1977 issue of Glamour magazine, which we updated for our 2016 Epi Valentine's Menu.

This dish is made with chicken thighs, which have more flavor than chicken breasts but you can substitute chicken breasts if you like. The meat needs to be raw for this dish so it can absorb more of the flavor as it cooks. Although the recipe calls for tequila, you can substitute beer, orange juice, or pineapple juice if you prefer. The liquid smoke is optional, but it does add a nice extra kick of smoky flavor. Serve this dish with rice, refried beans, and frozen margaritas or a frosty glass of beer.

Tom Yum is made so many different ways that no two batches are really ever alike. Simultaneously spicy, tart, and sweet, this soup grows on you the more you eat it. Try it along with rice to cut some of the heat, or eat it throughout a meal for a welcome contrast.

Spice-rubbed chicken legs get roasted alongside spaghetti squash and onion for an easy sheet-pan dinner that’s bursting with bright, comforting flavors inspired by Persian cuisine.

Meet the most creamy, comforting, flavor-packed baked pasta dinner you can make without any actual pasta.

Spaghetti squash plays the part of rice noodles in this take on a Vietnamese noodle bowl.

As long as you’ve got frozen spinach, cream cheese, and heavy cream, you can throw this together in a flash.

This quick-cooking version of the street-food favorite features chicken that is crisp on the outside yet moist and juicy on the inside.

This double-decker pie features two stacked flavors in a stunning presentation that is just as celebratory as birthday cake.

This hot chocolate mix is made with a blend of chocolate and cocoa powder for a rich, decadent flavor and creamy texture.

This bright and fiery Haitian condiment (pronounced "pick-lees") is traditionally served with meats and fried food to balance rich flavors.

For this quick dinner, chicken gets a crisp crust thanks to a touch of cornstarch.