Simple Cooking

Sweet bell pepper & roasted chicken ravioli is complemented nicely with a sauce made with yellow tomatoes, garlic, Parmesan cheese and basil. An upscale taste that is still quick and easy.

Eggplant and tomatoes are delicious roasted and blended into a chunky sauce with garlic, crushed red pepper and mint. The sauce complements the chicken & roasted garlic tortelloni nicely and makes for a wonderful dish for entertaining.

Brown butter is easy to make and delicious over vegetables, fish and pasta. It's perfect tossed with asparagus and three cheese asparagus ravioli in this recipe.

Buttermilk, packed with calcium and probiotics, lends a subtle tanginess to this spice-spiked lassi. Finish with a sprinkle of chopped pistachios for a hit of crunch.

Ginger beer (which contains no alcohol) adds a sweet kick to the tart blackberries. It’s readily available in supermarkets.

Quick and easy homemade strawberry syrup melds with creamy vanilla ice cream when fizzled with club soda.

Mixing sorrel with spinach makes an outstanding spanakopita, but the combination is nothing new. The Greeks have been doing it for a long time and it makes a lot of sense. The distinctive tang of sorrel not only replaces the lemon juice often found in spinach fillings for spanakopita, but it also balances the brininess of the feta.

Purslane has long been considered a weed, but it is increasingly showing up for sale in bunches at farmers markets. Meanwhile, Mexicans have known about its healthful properties for hundreds of years and they eat it both raw and cooked. In Mexico it's called verdolagas. Cooking mellows its tang and shrinks it, which means you can eat more of it! Paired with avocado and a tomato relish, this is a super-healthy vegetarian snack or main dish.

"A hot-sauce Michelada with some serious kick." —Alfia Muzio, recipe developer

Chef Rachel Yang likes her rice "chopstickready": sticky enough to hold together lightly, but with defined grains. To get that texture, rinse shortgrain white rice (a.k.a. sushi rice)—Alison Roman

"This twist on a Snakebite and Black cocktail uses raspberry lambic instead of hard cider." —Dawn Perry, senior food editor