Rice

If you forget to thaw the shrimp in the morning, set the bag in a large bowl filled with cold water. It will defrost in minutes. One cup of dry rice will yield 3 cups cooked; leftover rice, which is slightly dried out, makes the best stir-fries.

The trick to a successful stir-fry? Prep everything before you cook.

Buy thinly sliced beef at Korean markets, or ask your butcher to cut it for you.

I adore the kick that wasabi gives to anything in its path. Get it in powder form and add slowly to dressings or mayonnaise, or if anyone you know goes to Japan, get them to bring you back the toxic green stuff in a tube.

Whoever believes that bread-based stuffing is the only one worth eating hasn’t tried this wild rice version. Alongside perfectly cooked poultry, its blend of sweet and savory stands out as a great-tasting, healthier alternative to plain old stuffing. Pearl onions are sweeter than their larger cousins and they add a nice visual touch, so seek them out in the market’s frozen section. And to fortify nutrients, substitute with brown rice, which requires a little more cooking time than white.

This dish is as good as the time and ingredients you put into it, so use quality ingredients and patience to get the flavors to harmonize. A teaspoon of white truffle oil can substitute for the black truffles.

A satisfying budget-friendly Southern supper with leftovers that pack up easily for lunch the next day—what else could you ask for? This one-pot feast is packed with turkey, rice, and peppers, plus a little cayenne for spice. If you don’t like turkey, use chicken instead and add a dash of smoked paprika or lean bacon for a warm, earthy effect.

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.

Bright orange, cooling mint, sweet raisins, and earthy pecans—yep, this wild rice salad by Epicurious member Jruz has pretty much nothing in common with the salty kitchen-sink rice salad from the school cafeteria. Try this alongside pork tenderloin or roasted poultry for a welcome change from starchy mashed potatoes.

This dish from Epicurious member Christopher Curtis of Halifax, Canada, pairs well with Mexican, barbecue, or various fish dishes. Easy to make, the rice is infused with natural smoke from the grilled corn and peppers. Add chipotles to enhance that smokiness, or throw in some sausage, such as chorizo, for a meaty main course.

Bring the vibrant colors and fresh flavors of this Spanish dish to your table in under an hour. Spicy chorizo, fresh shrimp, roasted peppers, and tangy artichoke hearts melt together on a bed of saffron-infused rice in an easy dish, ideal for summer sharing. Personalize your paella by adding a favorite shellfish or throwing in some cooked onions.

Chef Kris Wessel of Florida Cookery in Miami Beach, Florida, shared this recipe as part of a Palm Tree Christmas menu he created exclusively for Epicurious.

The best leftover dish is the first sandwich you make from what's left of the turkey, standing barefoot in a quiet kitchen lighted only by the dim bulb above the stove: thick toast with mayo and cranberry sauce and dressing and slices of just-carved meat.
No, scratch that (though it's delicious and you should make two or three). The best leftover recipe is risotto with turkey and wild mushrooms, the grains of rice plump with turkey broth and made nutty with cheese. The soft richness of the meal recalls Thanksgiving, then amplifies the memory, giving it a rakish flair.

This recipe is part of the Epicurious Online Cooking School, in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. To watch it being made, and to learn how to make other Mediterranean classics, check out the video classes.

Editor's note: This recipe is part of a special Thanksgiving menu created by chefs Allison Vines-Rushing and Slade Rushing of MiLa restaurant in New Orleans. This dish is a rice pilaf, where the rice is toasted in oil with onion before liquid is added to finish the cooking. The addition of chopped pecans adds an additional nuttiness to the toasted rice. Pilafs are usually made with a meat-based stock like chicken; if you want a vegetarian version, you can easily substitute vegetable stock or water. We like to serve this alongside our turkey at Thanksgiving.

This recipe is part of the Epicurious Online Cooking School, in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. To watch it being made, and to learn how to make other Italian classics, check out the videos.

This recipe is part of the Epicurious Online Cooking School, in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. To watch it being made, and to learn how to make other Italian classics, check out the videos.

This recipe is part of the Epicurious Online Cooking School, in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. To watch it being made, and to learn how to make other Mexican classics, check out the video classes.

This recipe is part of the Epicurious Online Cooking School, in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. To watch it being made, and to learn how to make other Mexican classics, check out the videos.

Many people become extremely intimidated when it comes to making Persian rice. You have to trust me when I tell you it is really not a big deal—just don't tell anyone Persian I said that! All you need to do is to imagine that instead of making rice, you are making pasta. Most of us know how to make pasta; it is probably what you ate every day when you went to college! You are going to cook this rice in boiling water with oil and salt, just like pasta. You are going to wait until the rice is "al dente" (when you bite a grain of rice it should still have a white dot in the middle), just like pasta. Do not overcook Persian rice or your reputation as a Persian cook will suffer! And last, you are going to drain it, just like pasta. The difference comes next: Persian rice has one cooking step that pasta doesn't have. Persian rice gets steamed. Think of it this way: since this rice is fancy, it requires a "spa treatment." What is the result when you pamper yourself in a sauna? A new you! What is the result when you treat your rice to a "spa treatment"? Each and every grain of rice becomes its own entity and a pearl from heaven! What is the best after-effect of a "spa treatment" for a woman? It makes a better wife, a better mother—and a better cook! What is the best after-effect of a "spa treatment" for Persian rice? The most scrumptious, crunchy, golden crust: TADIG! To make this rice you will need a colander—and the smaller the openings, the better. You don't want your precious rice to slip out! Also, many Persian cooks wash and soak the rice as if it were dirty laundry…I am sorry, I keep my laundry in the basement and I don't have time for all that soaking, so trust me when I tell you that you don't need to do it! The quantities in the recipe below might seem large, but considering that Persians breathe rice, it goes really fast. If you want to make a smaller quantity, try only 3 cups rice, 8 cups water, 1/4 cup oil, and 1 tablespoon salt. Also, any basmati rice will do. Basmati rice is also available in whole-grain brown; although it is a little stickier, it is absolutely delicious and healthful!