Saute

Serve this meatless main—made by frying torn-up tortillas or tortilla chips with eggs, tomatoes, and cheese—for breakfast or whenever you need an authentic Tex-Mex experience.

Serve this lightly spiced, last-minute bean dip with tortilla chips and watch it disappear before half-time.

Sweet, spicy, and refreshing all in one, this crisp cabbage side dish is a great way to get out of a steamed-broccoli rut.

A specialty of Kerala, this simple, spiced-up stir-fry makes for a quick, hearty dinner.

Here, fresh shrimp gets gently poached in herb-laced coconut milk. The spicing is subtle, so as not to obstruct the milk’s sweet flavor.

Cumin and turmeric give this 30-minute vegetarian stew smoky, warming flavor and vibrant, soul-satisfying color.

Frying the paneer in a little oil before stirring it through the masala not only makes it crispy—it also adds loads of flavor.

This one-pot meal is herby, sweet, and garlicky all at once. To add more green, throw in a handful of arugula or spinach at the end; for more garlic, pair it with garlic toast.

This recipe is in the Mains chapter of my cookbook, but I have to say, I've eaten it at all times of day. It's made it to my breakfast table, and I've definitely whipped it up for a weekend lunch. After I eat it, I always feel so nourished and happy—and my body seems to love me for that. The spices are definitely what make this dish so special.

The zest of a lemon or other citrus fruit is the outermost, colored skin that contains flavorful oils. Use a grater to take off just the colored part, not the white pith. Thoroughly washed organic oranges, lemons, or limes should be used for zesting. Dried, grated orange or lemon zest is also available in the spice section of most stores.

These tacos are a delicious and clever use of "nextovers" (what we call leftovers transformed into a new dish the next day).

An elegant dish that may be served to the family or at a grand party. Rice is the ideal accompaniment.

Shrimp are quick to cook, but still manage to feel rather special. This recipe borrows spices from the southern shores of India; I tasted a dish similar to this when I was learning about the local cuisine. At first, you get pure heat from the chiles; when it subsides, you're left with delicate and delicious flavors. Here, I have toned down the chiles and added some background warmth by using fresh ginger instead. I’ve used tiger shrimp and removed most of the shell, apart from the tail. I prefer to leave the tail on, as it means that you have something to hold on to when biting into the shrimp, but you can take the entire shell off if you prefer. Just make sure the shrimp are raw and that they have been deveined.

Lots of texture and a range of flavors are brought out of the brussels sprouts by prepping them three ways in this recipe—leaves, raw slices, and sautéed halves.

Fermented black soy beans—a Chinese cousin to miso paste—are the key to this flavorful weeknight stir-fry.

The most popular person at any Japanese street festival is the yakisoba guy. Standing at a small cart with a hot griddle, he wears a twisted hair band and holds two giant spatulas, one in each hand. With great energy and fanfare he stir-fries a heap of vegetables and pork with chukasoba noodles—the yellow, springy Chinese-style wheat noodles more commonly known as ramen. He finishes with a glug of the special bottled sauce that tastes like a spicier version of tonkatsu sauce, and customers walk toward him like zombies. At home, however, the dish is best cooked one portion at a time.

Olive oil–fried leeks add irresistible crunch, flavor, and an impressive look to this classic Thanksgiving side, while lemon turns up the dial on the zest. 

Cooking the brussels sprouts in two stages for this recipe ensures that the cores will be tender and the outer leaves will still have bite.

In Hong Kong, where XO sauce was invented, dried shrimp or scallops and Chinese ham are combined with chiles to create a powerhouse condiment that is salty, spicy, and funky. This recipe uses mushrooms in place of the pork, a cheeky reference to green bean casseroles.

Take a breather from roasting. Our stovetop method for this glazed vegetables recipe yields glossy, tender results and works on basically any firm veg.