Simmer

In this easy pantry pasta, make-ahead lentils add heft, while bacon lends a deep, savory flavor to the sauce. It’s a hearty and comforting dinner that's perfect for cool fall evenings.

Stirring a simple vinaigrette into warm just-cooked lentils helps them drink up flavor so they taste anything but plain. Use French green or black beluga lentils as they will hold their shape best. You can keep a batch of these dressed lentils in the fridge and add to salads, pastas, soups, and more all week long.

The herbed sauce in this grain dish gets a double hit of punchy dairy: Not as sharp as other acidic ingredients, buttermilk lends a unique tang and yogurt brings body and richness.

We took loose inspiration from Hainanese chicken rice to create this weeknight-friendly dish that retains the comforting and fragrant qualities of the beloved original.

Coconut milk and lots of aromatics bring life into this fish chowder. And just when you thought oyster crackers couldn’t get better, you’ll cook them in butter and smother them in paprika.

Slowly rendering the pancetta, gently toasting the garlic, and concentrating the tomatoes puts three pots’ worth of flavor in just one.

This rich, flavorful Nigerian dish brings together bold chile heat, the pleasant funk of fermented locust beans and dried shrimp, and a good dose of Old Bay.

This is a very simple way to make wonderful rice in under an hour. It is a technique favored around the Caspian, where rice is eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

A vegetarian version of khoresh, this braise inspired by the popular Persian dish is made with cremini mushrooms, which keep their shape and offer earthy flavor. Enjoy it over rice.

This isn't really cassoulet, but it is very, very good! Cut into little bars as a pre-dinner bite or serve one toast per person alongside a crisp salad of bitter greens for lunch.

This soup coaxes big flavors from a short ingredient list. Patiently browning the onions and garlic is essential to adding flavor and depth to the finished dish.

Green curry with chicken and eggplant from Chef Hong Thaimee.

This stick-to-your-ribs stew gets heft from creamy white beans and winter squash; we opted for acorn, but kabocha or delicata squash would work great too.

This dairy-free cocoa uses fragrant coconut milk as its base. Dried rose petals bring an extra dose of floral aroma and flavor—not to mention romance.

Nigerian peppersoup should be fiery hot with rich flavor—while the traditional spices can be hard to find in the U.S., this recipe approximates the taste with a few more readily available substitutes.

Egusi seeds—the large seeds of an African melon—are toasted and ground to thicken this popular Nirgerian stew.

It’s a humble combination of two everyday ingredients, but Kiribath has enormous significance in Sri Lanka—it’s cooked by the Sinhalese to mark the new year in April, and on other special occasions that celebrate new beginnings.

This delicately spiced mussel soup uses the bivalves at their very best, when they’re plump and filled with flavour. The curry powder, chutney and raita give the soup a scent of the warm sub-continent, in the depths of dreary January.

A light, fragrant and utterly delicious south-Indian-style curry, packed with juicy prawns and tempered with coconut milk.

Two flavor powerhouses—bright, spicy kimchi and savory, briny clams—create a soup fast enough to make on even the most hectic weeknight.