Healthyish

People have been brining chicken in buttermilk since forever, often as the first step in a dredged and fried chicken situation. But we have chef and cookbook author Samin Nosrat to credit for the idea of roasting poultry straight out of a buttermilk bath, which not only imparts delicious tangy flavor, but also helps the skin achieve a walnut-colored hue when roasted at high heat.

Swapping traditional ingredients like guanciale and pancetta for vegetable-based umami bombs (hello, garlic and smoked paprika) isn’t the only thing to consider when making a vegetarian carbonara. Many hard cheeses (including Parmigiano-Reggiano) use animal rennet, so if you want to seek an alternative, ask your cheesemonger.

This recipe gives off major chicken-soup vibes but is entirely vegetarian—and you don’t have to simmer vegetables or cheese rinds for hours to get there. The lightning-fast broth gets its flavor from caramelized miso and nutritional yeast (a trick we picked up from Bay Area cookbook author and food writer Andrea Nguyen). The gluten-free dumplings are soft on the outside and pleasantly chewy on the inside. 

Guaranteed to make any raw vegetable taste good.

While butter is the usual choice for galette or pie dough, a combination of olive oil and yogurt gives this crust a flaky texture and a golden brown color when baked. If the dough is a little crumbly when rolling it out, don’t worry: Just patch it back up.

Hot-and-sour soup inspired this highly nontraditional springtime version. Miso gives just enough body so that you won't need cornstarch to thicken it, and you can use silken tofu or thinly sliced yuba instead of egg for that same silky effect.

This salad puts all the best textures on a spoon: crisp, raw broccoli; chewy, sticky dates; and crunchy toasted pistachios. The ras-el-hanout, a Moroccan spice blend featuring aromatic and warm spices, adds a smoky depth to the bright citrusy dressing, which soaks into the broccoli as it sits. Don’t have ras-el-hanout? Garam masala, baharat, or curry powder will also work. And if you’re a meal prepper, this is a great make-ahead salad—it only gets better with a little time.

Wheat germ, the nutrient-rich heart of wheat kernels, gives these cookies their hearty, nutty crunch while also keeping them tender and crumbly. You can often find wheat germ in the bulk bin aisle of the grocery store, but toasted rolled oats or ground flax can be used in its place for a similar texture. These cookies are ideal for making in advance, as their flavor and texture improve after a few days. The butter and milk can be substituted with plant-based alternatives without sacrifice, so make them vegan if you want.

Battuto is 1) A chopped herb sauce that tastes like spring 2) Fun to say. Make it!

This recipe is all about the technique. Once you learn it, you’ll be doing it over and over again.

Something truly magical happens when fennel, garlic, and anchovies get caramelized together.

Okay, we waited until now to mention that this creamy, earthy, silky rich soup is vegan. Puréeing some of the mushrooms along with cashews adds body that doesn’t compromise on flavor.

We really went for it here, drawing on the flavor and texture of idli podi (a coarsely ground spice mixture that also goes by the name “gunpowder spice”) to create a gluten-free version of craggy-crunchy fried chicken. Our version swaps chickpea flour and sesame seeds for wheat flour, and, once fried, we dust it with lime zest, coconut, and crushed red pepper flakes. Be sure to fry the chicken to a deep brown to create superior crunch and coax out the nutty flavors of the chickpea flour and sesame seeds. And don’t skip the honey: It will balance out all the bold flavors.

The goal here was to achieve a tonkotsu-like broth without using any meat. Tomato paste, dried shiitake mushrooms, kombu, and a little bit of butter help to get you that rich umami-like effect.

No more free massages for stubbornly tough greens. Here, a quick char in a hot skillet tempers the raw edge of kale and balances its vegetal flavor.

This dressing will remind you of the freshest, greenest ranch you’ve ever tasted. 

We took loose inspiration from Hainanese chicken rice to create this weeknight-friendly dish.

A fragrant, sweet-and-sour, perfectly acidic roast chicken. 

Yes, turkey is a relatively lean protein, but when you pair it with white beans, a robust and concentrated chile purée, and simmer it for a short period of time, it delivers major body and richness. 

Even when roasted at a high temperature, cauliflower takes time to get properly charred and crispy around the edges. Don’t worry if it shrinks a lot—the flavor will be that much more concentrated.