Vegan recipes, done properly
Cook more plants, with less fuss.
North American · 35 min · Easy
Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Thick, orange, deeply cheesy soup with broccoli soft enough to fall apart in it. Cashews and nutritional yeast do the work the cheddar used to.
North American · 30 min · Easy
Creamy Cashew Mac and Cheese
A blender sauce of soaked cashews and nutritional yeast that clings to every elbow of pasta: properly creamy, savory and comforting, with not a plastic slice of vegan cheese in sight.
North American · 35 min · Easy
Chili Cheese Fries
A platter of crisp fries buried under a thick lentil-and-tomato chili and a blended cashew cheese sauce, finished with scallions and jalapeños. The messiest, most shareable thing you can put on a table.
Latin American · 15 min · Easy
Agua de Tamarindo
Tamarind loosened in hot water and sweetened into a sour-brown cooler with a long, mouth-watering finish. Sharper and more savory than it looks.
North American · 20 min · Easy
Vegan Protein Pancakes
Oat-flour pancakes built on a scoop of vanilla plant protein and soy milk, sweetened by a mashed ripe banana rather than sugar. Cooked as small rounds so the soft batter flips cleanly. Light to eat but genuinely filling. Batch a pile of them and reheat through the week.
Caribbean · 25 min · Easy
Coconut Chickpea and Spinach Curry
Chickpeas simmered in coconut milk with thyme and allspice, finished with spinach. Mellow, quick, and entirely from cans and a bag of leaves.
Mediterranean · 35 min · Easy
Crispy Roasted Chickpeas
A crunchy swap for chips: chickpeas dried hard, roasted until deep golden, then tossed hot with smoked paprika, cumin and garlic powder. Protein and fiber for very few calories.
North American · 45 min · Medium
Mushroom Bean Burgers
A patty built from whole ingredients rather than bought in a box: mushrooms cooked dry, black beans mashed coarse, walnuts and oats for body. Seared hard for a real crust.
Latin American · 20 min · Easy
Elote Street Corn Salad
Everything good about Mexican street corn, taken off the cob and into a bowl: charred kernels, a tangy lime dressing, chili, and a shower of herbs.
North American · 120 min · Project
Lemon Pepper Wings
Seitan shaped around skewer handles, double-dredged and double-fried until it crackles, then tossed in a buttery lemon pepper glaze. Sixteen wings, four a person, a whole evening's project. You'll need a tiered steamer pot or a pot with a steamer basket.
Mediterranean · 45 min · Easy
Chickpea and Pepper Stew
A cheap, batch-friendly workhorse: mixed peppers cooked down until silky with sweet onions and tomato, then folded through chickpeas and finished with red wine vinegar and parsley.
South Asian · 40 min · Easy
Sheet-Pan Cauliflower and Lentils
Cauliflower roasted with curry powder until the edges char, then folded through warm lentils and yogurt. One tray, one can, very little attention.
Mediterranean · 25 min · Easy
Lemon and White Bean Pasta
Twenty-five minutes, one pan, mostly cupboard. The beans break down just enough to make the sauce creamy without a drop of cream.
North American · 30 min · Easy
Bang Bang Broccoli
Broccoli roasted hard until the edges char, then tossed hot in a creamy sweet-chili sauce with a sriracha kick. Sweet first, hot second, sharp underneath.
South Asian · 45 min · Medium
Chickpea Curry (Chana Masala)
The Punjabi chickpea curry that earns its place in every weeknight rotation: deeply spiced, made almost entirely from the store cupboard, and better on day two.
North American · 20 min · Easy
Loaded Nachos
The most shareable thing in the booklet: a tray of tortilla chips scattered with cumin-spiced black beans, drizzled with blender cashew queso, then loaded with salsa, avocado, pickled jalapeños and cilantro.
Latin American · 15 min · Easy
Hibiscus Iced Tea
Dried hibiscus steeped briefly, sweetened while hot and chilled hard: tart, cranberry-deep and an almost unreasonable red. The most common agua fresca in Mexico.
African · 60 min · Easy
West African Peanut Stew
A silky, gently spiced stew where peanut butter melts into tomato and stock to make something deeply savory. Sweet potato and chickpeas make it a full meal in one pot.
North American · 35 min · Medium
Vegan Philly Cheesesteak
The weekend indulgence: seitan (or mushrooms) seared with soy sauce and vegan Worcestershire, piled into hoagie rolls with charred peppers and onions, then flooded with a blender cashew cheese sauce.
Latin American · 40 min · Easy
Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tacos
Smoky roasted sweet potato, spiced black beans, and enough lime to wake it all up. The roasting tray does most of the work.
Latin American · 40 min · Easy
Cuban Black Bean Soup
Smoky, garlicky and thick enough to stand a spoon in. Cheap store-cupboard beans turned into something that tastes like it simmered all day.
North American · 35 min · Easy
Crispy Tofu Nuggets
Firm tofu pressed and torn (never cut) into craggy nuggets, dipped in mustardy plant milk and coated in seasoned panko. Fry them or bake them; either way they're built for dipping.
North American · 30 min · Medium
Fried Oyster Mushrooms
Torn oyster mushrooms dipped in a quick plant-milk buttermilk, dredged in seasoned flour and cornstarch, and fried until shatteringly crisp. The texture lands somewhere very close to fried chicken.
European · 22 min · Easy
Black Garlic and Miso Butter Pasta
Black garlic mashed into miso and butter until it becomes a dark, jammy paste, then loosened with pasta water into a glossy sauce that clings. Sweet, deeply savory, and on the table in the time it takes the water to boil.
North American · 40 min · Easy
Buffalo Cauliflower Wings
Game-day wings, baked not fried. Cauliflower florets dipped in a simple seasoned batter, baked until crisp, tossed in buffalo sauce and returned to the oven until sticky. Served with celery sticks and vegan ranch.
North American · 45 min · Easy
Coconut Rice Pudding
Short-grain rice simmered slowly in coconut milk until it collapses into something thick, creamy and barely sweet, scented with cinnamon and vanilla.
Mediterranean · 30 min · Easy
Chickpea & Tomato Stew
A revithada-style chickpea stew: soft, warming and quietly spiced with cumin and smoked paprika. Ready in half an hour and lovely spooned over rice.
North American · 60 min · Easy
Smoked Carrot Lox
Whole carrots roasted buried in salt until they collapse to a silky, translucent texture, then peeled, sliced on a long diagonal and steeped in smoke, oil and vinegar. The salt crust does the work: it seasons and dehydrates at once.
European · 50 min · Medium
Spanish Tortilla
Soft olive-oil-poached potatoes and onion set in a chickpea-flour batter, cooked slowly until the middle is just custardy. Good hot, better at room temperature.
Mediterranean · 50 min · Easy
Greek Lentil Soup
Fakes, the Greek lentil soup that's the gentlest way back to solid food. Brown lentils simmered soft with tomato, oregano and bay, then lifted at the end with a slug of red wine vinegar and good olive oil.
North American · 17 min · Easy
Blueberry Grilled Cheese
Blueberries cooked down with maple and thyme until they slump into a loose jam, spread under melting vegan cheese and griddled in butter until the edges go lacy and brown. Sweet against salt, the way fruit and cheese have always worked.
North American · 45 min · Easy
BBQ Jackfruit Sandwich
Shredded jackfruit cooked down in smoky barbecue sauce until sticky, piled into a soft roll with a sharp vinegar slaw. The slaw is what stops it being too rich.
East Asian · 45 min · Easy
Tofu Fried Rice
The Sunday-night clear-out-the-fridge dinner, done properly: cold rice, a screaming-hot pan, and tofu crisped until golden. Ready before the takeaway would even arrive.
South Asian · 30 min · Easy
Red Lentil and Coconut Dal
Red lentils collapsed into coconut milk with cumin and ginger. No soaking, no technique, and it thickens itself while you set the table.
South Asian · 35 min · Easy
Potato Cauliflower Curry
The classic dry curry of potato and cauliflower, steamed gently under a lid with turmeric and coriander, then finished uncovered so the edges catch and crisp. The side dish that quietly steals the plate.
Southeast Asian · 5 min · Easy
Vietnamese Lime Soda
Soda chanh: lime juice and sugar syrup in a tall glass, topped with soda water and stirred at the table. Three ingredients, correctly assembled.
East Asian · 15 min · Easy
Garlic Sesame Green Beans
Green beans blistered in a hot pan until they wrinkle and char in places, then tossed with garlic, soy and sesame. Ten minutes, one pan, and they disappear.
North American · 45 min · Easy
Vegan Jambalaya
A one-pot Louisiana classic, plant-based. The "holy trinity" of onion, celery and green pepper softened in oil, then rice toasted with Cajun seasoning and smoked paprika and simmered with tomatoes, kidney beans and stock until every grain is tender. Optional vegan sausage pushes the protein higher.
Caribbean · 40 min · Easy
Coconut Lentil Curry
Red lentils collapsing into coconut milk with Caribbean curry powder, thyme and sweet potato. Ready in half an hour and thick enough to eat with a fork.
African · 65 min · Medium
Egyptian Koshari
Egypt's national dish: rice, lentils and pasta layered together under a sharp spiced tomato sauce and a heap of crisp fried onions. Carbohydrate on carbohydrate, and completely justified.
Middle Eastern · 10 min · Easy
Classic Hummus with Veggie Sticks
Chickpeas, tahini, garlic and lemon blended smooth, loosened with aquafaba (the liquid from the chickpea can) so it stays creamy without extra fat. Served with carrot, cucumber and pepper sticks.
European · 5 min · Easy
Elderflower and Lemon Cooler
Elderflower cordial cut with lemon, cucumber and mint over a lot of ice. Barely a recipe, and the most refreshing thing in the book.
East Asian · 8 min · Easy
Edamame with Chili & Sea Salt
Frozen edamame pods boiled for five minutes and tossed with flaky salt, chili flakes and a little toasted sesame oil. One of the highest-protein snacks you can make from a freezer bag.
Latin American · 10 min · Easy
Watermelon Agua Fresca
Ripe watermelon blended with water and lime into something lighter and more drinkable than juice. Five minutes of work and it tastes like the middle of summer.
South Asian · 5 min · Easy
Salted Cumin Lemonade
Indian lemonade, made savory with black salt and roasted cumin. Sweet, sour, salty and faintly smoky. The fastest cure there is for a hot afternoon.
African · 40 min · Easy
Braised Collard Greens (Gomen)
Collards braised slowly with onion, garlic, ginger and turmeric until they turn silky and sweet. Mild, garlicky and green. The calm dish on an Ethiopian plate.
Middle Eastern · 30 min · Easy
Fattoush Salad
A crunchy chopped salad of tomato, cucumber and herbs with shards of toasted pita, dressed in lemon, sumac and pomegranate molasses. Sharp and refreshing.
East Asian · 60 min · Easy
Baked Matcha Mochi
Chewy, dense squares of glutinous rice flour and coconut milk, baked rather than pounded, with a clean bitter edge from good matcha.
Caribbean · 45 min · Easy
Coconut Drops
Chunks of fresh coconut boiled in ginger sugar until the syrup thickens, then dropped in spoonfuls and left to set hard. Chewy, sticky and very Jamaican.
Middle Eastern · 10 min · Easy
Frozen Mint Lemonade
Lemon juice and a whole bunch of mint blitzed with ice into a pale-green frozen slush. The drink of every Levantine summer street.
European · 40 min · Easy
French Lentil Salad
Firm green lentils dressed while warm in a sharp Dijon vinaigrette, with plenty of shallot, herbs and walnuts. Good hot, better after an hour, excellent from the fridge.
North American · 5 min · Easy
Berry Chia Pudding
Chia seeds left to swell in vanilla-sweetened plant milk until thick and spoonable, layered with crushed berries. Five minutes of work the night before.
South Asian · 45 min · Easy
Yellow Dal (Dal Tadka)
Soft yellow lentils finished with a tadka: whole spices bloomed in hot oil and poured over at the last second, so it hits the surface and sizzles.
Middle Eastern · 50 min · Easy
Baba Ganoush
Eggplants burnt black over a flame until the flesh collapses, then beaten with tahini, lemon and garlic. Smoky, loose and nothing like a puree of raw eggplant.
North American · 10 min · Easy
Chocolate Avocado Mousse
Five minutes, one blender, no cooking. Ripe avocado and cocoa whipped into a mousse so dark and silky nobody will guess the base. Chill it and it sets like the real thing.
Middle Eastern · 35 min · Easy
Sesame Pistachio Cookies
Thin, snapping Syrian cookies, sesame-crusted on one face and pistachio on the other. They crisp entirely as they cool.
Latin American · 40 min · Medium
Arepas with Black Beans and Avocado
Griddled corn cakes with a crisp shell and a soft, steamy middle, split open and stuffed with cumin-spiked black beans and mashed avocado.
Middle Eastern · 75 min · Easy
Baklava
Layers of phyllo and chopped nuts baked until shattering, then flooded with lemon syrup while still hot. The sound when you cut it is the point.
South Asian · 60 min · Easy
Carrot Pudding (Gajar Halwa)
Carrots grated fine and cooked down slowly in sweetened plant milk until the whole pan turns glossy and orange, with chopped cashews and raisins folded all the way through. Deeply sweet, faintly floral, and better the next day.
Middle Eastern · 55 min · Easy
Lemon Semolina Cake
A dense, damp semolina cake soaked in lemon syrup, cut into diamonds with an almond on each. Sweet and grainy in the best way.
European · 45 min · Easy
Creamy Leek and Potato Soup
Sweet, slowly-sweated leeks and floury potatoes blended into a thick, comforting soup. No cream needed: the potato does all of it.
Caribbean · 40 min · Easy
Coconut Rice and Red Beans
Rice cooked in coconut milk with kidney beans, thyme, allspice and a whole chili left in for perfume rather than heat. The side dish that turns any plate Caribbean.
East Asian · 15 min · Easy
Chrysanthemum and Goji Cooler
Dried chrysanthemum flowers and goji berries steeped into a pale gold, honeyed-floral tea, served cold with the softened berries still in the glass.
North American · 45 min · Easy
Banana Walnut Baked Oatmeal
Oats, mashed banana and toasted walnuts baked into a soft, sliceable breakfast that keeps all week. Sweet enough from the fruit that it barely needs syrup.
Middle Eastern · 45 min · Medium
Baked Falafel Bowl
Herby, crisp-edged falafel baked instead of fried, piled into a bowl with salad and a swoosh of tahini. All the flavor, none of the pan of hot oil.
European · 25 min · Easy
Creamy Tomato and White Bean Soup
Canned tomatoes and white beans simmered with garlic then blended smooth, so the beans do the work of cream. Fifteen minutes of cooking and almost nothing to chop.
Caribbean · 20 min · Easy
Caribbean Ginger Beer
A fierce, unfermented ginger beer: fresh ginger blended, steeped and strained into a syrup, then topped with soda water. All of the heat, none of the waiting.
Southeast Asian · 25 min · Easy
Lemongrass and Ginger Cooler
Bruised lemongrass and ginger simmered into a fragrant, faintly citrus syrup, then chilled and lengthened with lime. Clean and grassy rather than sweet.
South Asian · 30 min · Easy
No-Bake Cardamom Fudge Balls
Chickpea flour toasted in butter until it smells like biscuits, then rolled into sweet cardamom balls. No baking, no setting. Just patience at the pan.
Caribbean · 40 min · Easy
Coconut Stewed Greens (Callaloo)
Greens stewed down with coconut milk, thyme and okra until soft and glossy. Mellow, rich and green. The Caribbean answer to creamed spinach.
South Asian · 30 min · Easy
Green Mango Cooler
Green mango simmered soft, pulped, and spiced with cumin and black salt into a pale, tart-savory cooler. Drunk across North India specifically to survive the summer.
African · 15 min · Easy
Moroccan Iced Mint Tea
Gunpowder green tea brewed strong over a fistful of spearmint, sweetened hot and poured over ice. Bracing, fragrant and very sweet, as it should be.
African · 35 min · Easy
Smoky Chickpea Stew (Shiro Wot)
Chickpea flour whisked into a spiced onion base until it becomes a thick, smoky, deeply savory stew. One of the fastest genuinely great things you can cook from a cupboard.
Mediterranean · 20 min · Easy
Smoky Roasted Almonds
Raw almonds roasted low until fragrant, then tossed warm with smoked paprika, cumin and a pinch of cayenne. Filling and full of healthy fats. Portion them out.
South Asian · 45 min · Easy
Pistachio Kulfi
Plant milk cooked down with cardamom and pistachio, then frozen hard in molds. Denser and slower-melting than ice cream because it is never churned.
Middle Eastern · 40 min · Easy
Roasted Veggie Hummus Bowl
A tray of vegetables roasted hard, spooned over shop-bought hummus with lemon and parsley. Assembly more than cooking, and endlessly adaptable.
African · 55 min · Easy
Moroccan Harira
A fragrant tomato, lentil and chickpea soup thick with herbs and finished with lemon. Traditionally eaten to break the fast during Ramadan, and restorative at any time.
Mediterranean · 65 min · Easy
Baked Giant Beans (Gigantes)
Giant white beans baked slowly in a sweet tomato sauce with dill and plenty of olive oil, until the top catches and the beans turn to cream. Greek taverna cooking at its simplest.
North American · 20 min · Easy
Tofu Scramble Breakfast Burrito
Twenty minutes from fridge to foil. Black salt is what makes it taste unmistakably of eggs. Don't skip it.
Mediterranean · 20 min · Easy
White Bean and Kale Skillet
Garlicky white beans wilted down with kale and lemon in a single pan. Substantial, cheap, and on the table in twenty minutes.
East Asian · 55 min · Easy
Japanese Curry Rice
A thick, glossy, faintly sweet curry sauce over rice, with soft potato and carrot. Mild by design and deeply comforting. Japan's favorite home dinner.
East Asian · 15 min · Easy
Miso Soup with Tofu
A clear, savory broth with silken tofu, shiitake and seaweed. The one rule is never to boil it once the miso goes in: that is what turns it flat and grainy.
Latin American · 20 min · Easy
Watermelon and Mango Pico de Gallo
Watermelon and mango cut small and salted early so they give up their water in a colander rather than in the bowl, then tossed with red onion, chili, lime and cilantro. Sweet, sharp and hot at once, and it stays a salsa instead of collapsing into juice.
Southeast Asian · 32 min · Medium
Vegan Pad Thai
Rice noodles tossed in a sweet-sour-salty tamarind sauce with crisp tofu, beansprouts and a heap of crushed peanuts. Everything happens in about four minutes, so get organized first.
Southeast Asian · 50 min · Easy
Mango Sticky Rice
Warm coconut-sweetened glutinous rice with cold ripe mango and a salty coconut sauce poured over. The salt is what makes it.
Mediterranean · 10 min · Easy
Smashed White Bean Toast
Cannellini or butter beans forked into a chunky, garlicky spread with olive oil and lemon, piled onto good toast and topped with sliced tomato, herbs and chili flakes. Ten minutes, and far more filling than it looks.
European · 45 min · Easy
Baked Pears with Berries and Miso Cashew Cream
Pears roasted in maple and thyme until the cut faces caramelize, served with berries and a cashew cream sharpened with white miso. The miso is doing what a blue cheese does here: salt and funk against sweet fruit, which is the whole reason that pairing works.
East Asian · 35 min · Easy
Kimchi Stew (Jjigae)
A fiercely savory red stew built on well-fermented kimchi, tofu and gochujang. Sour, spicy and bubbling. The older your kimchi, the better this gets.
East Asian · 5 min · Easy
5-Minute Cold Silken Tofu
A block of chilled silken tofu turned out whole and dressed with soy, sesame oil, ginger and scallion. No cooking at all, and on the table in five minutes.
European · 75 min · Project
Mushroom and Lentil Shepherd's Pie
A proper Sunday project: a dark, savory lentil and mushroom base under a mash lid, browned hard on top. Feeds six and reheats beautifully.
Southeast Asian · 35 min · Easy
Indonesian Tempeh Satay
Marinated tempeh grilled until the edges blacken, served with a thick peanut sauce for dipping. Nutty, smoky and very high in protein.
East Asian · 30 min · Medium
Vegan Mapo Tofu
Numbing, savory and fast. Mushrooms stand in for the pork and nobody misses it. The chili bean paste and Sichuan pepper are doing the real work.
North American · 15 min · Easy
Peanut Butter & Date Energy Balls
Medjool dates blitzed to a sticky paste with peanut butter, oats, cocoa and chia, rolled into bites and chilled. Naturally sweet with no added sugar.
European · 120 min · Easy
Whole Roasted Celery Root
A whole celery root scored deep, rubbed with oil and thyme and roasted slowly until the outside goes mahogany and crackling and the inside turns sweet and custardy. It comes to the table whole and gets carved like a joint.
North American · 35 min · Easy
Lentil Sloppy Joes
Lentils and finely chopped mushrooms cooked down in a sweet, tangy tomato sauce until they hold together on a bun. Deliberately messy; that is the whole idea.
African · 55 min · Easy
Moroccan Chickpea Tagine
Chickpeas and sweet potato in a warmly spiced tomato sauce, with dried apricots melting into it for a sweetness that plays against the cumin and cinnamon.
East Asian · 17 min · Easy
Soba with Edamame and Greens
Soba, edamame and broccoli in a light soy-sesame dressing, served warm or cold. About as fast as dinner gets.
Mediterranean · 15 min · Easy
Chickpea and Olive Salad
No cooking, one bowl, fifteen minutes. Chickpeas, cucumber, tomato and kalamata olives tossed in a sharp lemon and red wine vinegar dressing, with plenty of parsley and mint. Holds its own as a light lunch or shrinks to a side.
South Asian · 25 min · Easy
Savory Semolina Porridge (Upma)
Semolina toasted until it smells nutty, then cooked into a soft savory porridge with mustard seeds, curry leaves, ginger and cashews. It comes together in one pan in under half an hour.
North American · 10 min · Easy
Hot Maple Drizzle
Maple syrup infused with chili and a little vinegar until it is sweet, hot and sharp all at once. The vegan answer to hot honey, and it goes on everything.
East Asian · 35 min · Easy
Gochujang Tofu Rice Bowl
Tofu roasted until firm and coated in a sweet-hot gochujang glaze, over rice with quick cucumber. Sticky, spicy and mostly hands-off.
North American · 75 min · Medium
Lentil and Walnut Meatloaf
A dense, savory loaf of lentils and toasted walnuts under a sticky ketchup glaze that caramelizes at the edges. It slices cleanly, which is most of the battle.
Middle Eastern · 40 min · Easy
Turkish Red Lentil Soup
A smooth, golden lentil soup finished with paprika butter and a hard squeeze of lemon. Cheap, fast, and one of the most comforting bowls there is.
European · 25 min · Medium
Seared Mushroom Scallops
Thick discs cut from king oyster stems, scored in a crosshatch so they drink up a nori and miso brine, then seared hard until the cut faces caramelize. The sea flavor comes from the brine, not the shape, which is the step most versions leave out.
African · 35 min · Easy
South African Chakalaka
A spicy vegetable relish of onion, pepper, carrot and beans in a curried tomato base. Served hot or cold alongside almost anything, and better the next day.
Latin American · 55 min · Easy
Peruvian Lentil Stew
A thick, gently spiced lentil stew softened with squash-sweet carrot and finished with a hard squeeze of lime. Everyday Peruvian home cooking: cheap, filling and quietly excellent.
Middle Eastern · 25 min · Easy
Tabbouleh
A parsley salad first and a grain salad second: bright, lemony and green, with just enough bulgur to give it body. The kind of thing that makes everything else on the table taste better.
North American · 20 min · Easy
Cashew Queso
Pourable, molten and properly cheesy, with enough jalapeno to keep it interesting. It sets as it cools and loosens again with a splash of water.
Southeast Asian · 80 min · Medium
Vietnamese Pho
A clear, aromatic broth built by charring onion and ginger and steeping it with star anise and cinnamon, poured over rice noodles and tofu with a plate of herbs to add at the table.
East Asian · 20 min · Easy
Miso Mushroom Udon
Mushrooms browned hard, then a quick miso broth poured over thick udon. Deeply savory for something that takes twenty minutes and five ingredients.
Southeast Asian · 30 min · Easy
Bananas in Coconut Syrup
Bananas simmered in coconut milk with palm sugar and pandan until the syrup goes thick and caramel-brown. A bowlful of warm comfort.
East Asian · 50 min · Medium
Scallion Pancakes
Chewy, flaky layered flatbreads shot through with scallion, fried until blistered and served with a sharp dipping sauce. The rolling technique is what makes the layers.
North American · 30 min · Easy
Marry Me Tofu
Crisp cubes of tofu in a sun-dried tomato cream sauce that tastes like it took an hour. It takes half of one, and that is the reason people keep making it.
Southeast Asian · 40 min · Easy
Thai Green Curry
Green curry paste fried in thick coconut cream until it splits and turns fragrant, then loosened into a fresh, hot, herby curry with eggplant, beans and tofu.
North American · 5 min · Easy
Chipotle Aioli
Smoky, garlicky and the color of terracotta. Five minutes of work that makes fries, burgers and roast vegetables taste like somebody planned ahead.
North American · 35 min · Easy
Kansas City BBQ Sauce
Thick, dark and sweet, with molasses behind it and enough vinegar to keep it from cloying. The kind that goes on in the last five minutes so it does not burn.
Latin American · 10 min · Easy
Horchata
Rice and cinnamon soaked overnight, blended and strained into a cloudy, faintly sweet, milky drink. Served very cold, it is the standard partner to anything spicy.
African · 50 min · Easy
Red Lentil Stew (Misir Wot)
The Ethiopian red lentil stew. Almost nothing in it, and yet the berbere and a genuinely long onion cook do all the heavy lifting.
North American · 30 min · Easy
Mushroom Gravy
Deep brown, glossy and savory enough to stand up to anything you pour it over. Built on properly browned mushrooms rather than on a stock cube.
Mediterranean · 55 min · Easy
Lentil Rice with Crispy Onions
Lentils and rice cooked together under a heap of deeply caramelized onions, warmed with cumin, coriander and a whisper of cinnamon. The most filling plate in the set: the lentils make it stick with you far longer than rice alone.
North American · 90 min · Easy
Cranberry and Apple Twice-Baked Sweet Potato
Sweet potatoes baked until they slump, scooped out and whipped with butter, maple and cinnamon, then folded through with sharp apple, cranberries and toasted walnuts and sent back into the oven until the tops catch. The second bake is what makes it worth doing.
Middle Eastern · 25 min · Easy
Tahini Halva
Sesame paste and hot sugar syrup worked together until it sets into a dense, flaky slab that melts on the tongue. Three ingredients, one critical temperature.
European · 60 min · Medium
Ratatouille
The Provençal summer-vegetable stew, cooked the honest way: each vegetable browned so it keeps its character, then folded together to melt into a glossy, herby whole.
Southeast Asian · 45 min · Medium
Indonesian Gado-Gado
A composed salad of blanched vegetables, potato, fried tofu and tempeh under a thick, sweet-savory peanut sauce. Substantial enough to be dinner.
Latin American · 25 min · Easy
Chilaquiles Verdes
Tortillas crisped in a pan and then folded through warm salsa verde just long enough to soften at the edges without collapsing. Topped with black beans, avocado, onion and lime.
Southeast Asian · 25 min · Medium
Chickpea Tofu (Shan Tofu)
Shan tofu: chickpea flour whisked into water, cooked until it thickens like polenta, then poured out to set into a silken, faintly yellow block. No soy, no coagulant, no pressing. Sliced and dressed, it is nothing like the tofu you know.
Southeast Asian · 30 min · Easy
Thai Red Curry with Tofu
A fragrant, coconut-rich curry that comes together in the time it takes to cook rice. Sweet, salty, sour and hot, all balanced in one pan.
European · 10 min · Easy
Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats
Oats soaked overnight in plant milk with grated apple, lemon and raisins, then loosened with yogurt in the morning and topped with almonds. Five minutes of work the night before, and breakfast is already made.
North American · 20 min · Easy
Cashew Alfredo Sauce
Silky, garlicky and thick enough to coat every strand of pasta. Blended rather than cooked, so it takes about as long as boiling the water.
Middle Eastern · 15 min · Easy
Lemony Fava Bean Mash
The Egyptian breakfast: fava beans warmed through and crushed roughly in their own liquid, sharpened with lemon and garlic, then flooded with olive oil and scattered with tomato and parsley. Eaten with bread, out of the same bowl.
Middle Eastern · 40 min · Easy
Tofu Shakshuka
A smoky red pepper and tomato sauce, simmered down until it is thick enough to hold a hollow, with seasoned crumbled tofu nestled into the wells where the eggs would go.
North American · 45 min · Medium
Biscuits and Sausage Gravy
Tall, flaky biscuits under a peppery white gravy full of browned sausage. The Sunday breakfast that ruins the rest of the day, in the best way.
South Asian · 20 min · Easy
Savory Rice Flake Bowl (Poha)
Flattened rice rinsed until it softens, then tossed through a quick tempering of mustard seeds, curry leaves and turmeric with onion, potato and peanuts. Light, fast, and the standard weekday breakfast across much of western India.
North American · 5 min · Easy
Peanut Butter and Banana Overnight Oats
The five-minute-tonight, grab-and-go-tomorrow breakfast. Oats soften in the fridge overnight into a creamy, spoonable pot that tastes like a peanut butter and banana sandwich.
Mediterranean · 40 min · Easy
Cinnamon Doughnut Puffs
Greek yeast puffs fried until hollow and crisp, then rolled in syrup, cinnamon and walnuts. Best eaten standing at the stove.
Southeast Asian · 30 min · Easy
Vietnamese Noodle Salad
Cool rice noodles under a pile of herbs, raw vegetables and crisp tofu, with a sharp lime-and-chili dressing poured over just before eating. A hot-weather dinner that never feels heavy.
North American · 40 min · Easy
Banana Peel Pulled Pork
The peels people throw away, scraped clean, forked into strands and cooked down with smoked paprika and barbecue sauce until they go dark, sticky and unnervingly meaty. It costs nothing and it convinces almost everybody.
Caribbean · 10 min · Easy
Pineapple Ginger Punch
Fresh pineapple blended with ginger and lime into a thick, golden punch. Sweet, sour and hot all at once, and it takes ten minutes.
North American · 45 min · Easy
Green Bean Casserole
Green beans in a proper mushroom cream sauce made from scratch, under a lid of crisp fried onions. No condensed soup anywhere near it.
East Asian · 20 min · Easy
Sesame Soba Noodles
Cold buckwheat noodles in a nutty sesame dressing, loaded with edamame and crunchy raw vegetables. Fifteen minutes, and it is better after an hour in the fridge.
North American · 60 min · Medium
Chickpea Pot Pie
A creamy vegetable and chickpea filling under a lid of puff pastry that shatters when you cut it. Everything about it is comfort, including the smell.
Caribbean · 25 min · Easy
Jamaican Sorrel Drink
Hibiscus steeped with ginger, clove and orange peel. The Caribbean Christmas drink, deep red and warmly spiced rather than simply tart.
European · 35 min · Easy
German Potato Salad
Warm waxy potatoes, sliced into thick rounds and dressed while still hot in a sharp mustard-and-vinegar dressing loosened with stock, sharpened with finely diced yellow onion. No mayonnaise anywhere near it.
Southeast Asian · 10 min · Easy
Peanut Sauce
Salty, sour, sweet and hot in roughly equal measure, loosened to a pourable cream. It takes five minutes and improves almost anything it lands on.
European · 55 min · Easy
Pears Poached in Red Wine
Whole pears simmered in spiced red wine until stained crimson to the core, then served in their own reduced syrup. Almost no work and looks like a great deal of it.
North American · 30 min · Easy
Southwest Sweet Potato Hash
A hearty one-skillet breakfast: sweet potato diced small and browned until tender, then folded through smoky paprika, cumin and black beans. High-fiber, high-protein, and it holds you well into the afternoon.
African · 25 min · Easy
Harissa Bean and Pepper Skillet
Peppers and onions softened down with harissa and white beans until jammy. One pan, big flavor, and almost entirely from cupboard and freezer.
East Asian · 45 min · Medium
Korean Bibimbap Bowl
A warm rice bowl with each vegetable seasoned separately, crisp pan-fried tofu, and a sweet-sharp gochujang sauce stirred through at the table. The point is the contrast: you mix it all together yourself.
African · 15 min · Easy
West African Ginger and Lime Juice
Gnamakoudji: raw ginger blended, steeped and strained, then sharpened with lime and sweetened. Sold ice-cold on every roadside from Bamako to Abidjan.
European · 25 min · Easy
Tiramisu
Coffee-soaked sponge layered with whipped cashew cream and a heavy dusting of cocoa. Assembled in twenty minutes, transformed by a night in the fridge.
Latin American · 15 min · Easy
Black Bean Breakfast Tostadas
Tortillas toasted flat until they snap, spread with warm cumin-spiked black beans and topped with avocado, red onion and lime. Fifteen minutes, mostly from the cupboard.
South Asian · 70 min · Project
Vegetable Biryani
Spiced vegetables and part-cooked basmati layered in a pot and steamed together so the rice takes on the masala from below while staying separate and fragrant on top.
South Asian · 40 min · Easy
Cardamom Shortbread
Indian cardamom shortbread, sandy and crumbling from chickpea flour and semolina, split across the top and studded with pistachio.
Caribbean · 15 min · Easy
Sweet Fried Plantains
Very ripe plantains fried until the sugars caramelize into dark, sticky edges and the middles turn to custard. Three ingredients and about ten minutes.
South Asian · 5 min · Easy
Mango Lassi
Ripe mango blended with plant yogurt and a pinch of cardamom into a thick, cold, barely-sweet drink. The traditional partner to anything fiery.
Caribbean · 45 min · Easy
Jamaican Curry Chickpeas and Potato
Curry powder bloomed in oil until it perfumes the whole kitchen, then chickpeas and potato simmered in coconut until soft and golden. Warming, cheap and quietly fiery.
South Asian · 45 min · Medium
Creamy Spinach Tofu Curry
A silky, deep green spinach curry with cubes of golden pan-fried tofu folded through it. All the comfort of palak paneer with none of the dairy.
Middle Eastern · 15 min · Easy
Rose and Lemon Sharbat
A pale, fragrant cordial of lemon, sugar and rose water, diluted to order. Floral and cold and old-fashioned, and it keeps for weeks.
Caribbean · 80 min · Easy
Sweet Potato Pudding
Grated sweet potato baked slowly with coconut milk and warm spice into a dense, sliceable pudding with a dark, sticky top.
North American · 10 min · Easy
Vegan Ranch Dressing
Cool, herby and thick enough to cling, with the sharpness that makes ranch worth having. Better after an hour in the fridge, and better still the next day.
South Asian · 25 min · Easy
Savory Chickpea Pancakes (Besan Chilla)
Thin, lacy gram-flour pancakes studded with onion, tomato, chili and cilantro. High-protein, naturally gluten-free, and on the plate in twenty-five minutes.
European · 40 min · Easy
Mushroom Stroganoff
Deeply browned mushrooms in a creamy, smoky, mustard-sharpened sauce over pasta. The whole dish turns on getting real color on the mushrooms first.
North American · 40 min · Medium
Nashville Hot Tofu
Fried tofu dragged through a cayenne paste made with the frying oil itself, so the heat goes on hot and stays glossy. Served the proper way, on soft white bread with pickles.
Middle Eastern · 15 min · Easy
Red Pepper Walnut Dip (Muhammara)
The Aleppan red pepper and walnut dip. No cooking at all. Everything goes in the food processor, and it tastes better after an hour in the fridge.
North American · 15 min · Easy
Strawberry Basil Lemonade
Strawberries crushed into lemonade with a handful of basil. The basil sounds odd and is the entire reason to make it.
South Asian · 45 min · Medium
Kidney Bean Curry (Rajma)
The North Indian kidney bean curry that's built for batch cooking: onions taken deep golden, tomatoes cooked until the oil separates, and a few beans mashed against the pan for a thick, creamy gravy without a drop of cream.
North American · 17 min · Easy
Vegan Smash Burger
A patty pressed thin against a screaming hot pan until the whole underside turns to lace and crust. Cheese, pickles, and a bun that has seen butter.
North American · 30 min · Easy
Buffalo Chickpea Dip
Hot sauce, chickpeas and something creamy, baked until it bubbles at the edges. The thing that vanishes first at every gathering it turns up to.
Southeast Asian · 35 min · Medium
Lemongrass Tofu Noodle Bowl
A cold-noodle bowl built for lunch: crisp lemongrass tofu, rice noodles, herbs and a sharp lime dressing. Assembles from the fridge in minutes once the tofu is done.
East Asian · 50 min · Easy
Congee with Ginger and Scallion
Rice simmered far past the point of holding its shape, until the grains collapse into a loose, savory porridge. Ginger goes in at the start and scallions at the end, and every bowl is finished with soy and a few drops of sesame oil.
Latin American · 55 min · Medium
Pozole Verde
A tangy green broth built from blistered tomatillos and chilies, poured over chewy hominy and white beans. The raw garnishes (cabbage, radish, lime) are half the dish, not decoration.
Southeast Asian · 45 min · Easy
Coconut Mung Bean Porridge
Split mung beans simmered soft, then finished with coconut milk and a little sugar until the whole pot turns creamy. A sweet, gentle breakfast eaten across Southeast Asia, warm or at room temperature.
North American · 25 min · Easy
Peanut Butter Cookies
Dense, short and deeply peanutty, marked with the traditional fork crosshatch. The fastest cookie here: there is no butter to cream.
European · 85 min · Medium
White Bean Cassoulet
White beans and vegan sausage baked slowly under a breadcrumb crust until the top is golden and the beans beneath have gone completely creamy. A weekend pot.
East Asian · 35 min · Easy
Teriyaki Tofu with Broccoli
Cornstarch-dusted tofu fried until the edges shatter, then tumbled in a glossy teriyaki glaze that thickens around it in seconds. Steamed broccoli and rice make it dinner.
South Asian · 10 min · Easy
Spiced Cumin Cooler
A dark, herby, aggressively savory spiced water: mint, cilantro, tamarind and roasted cumin. Drunk as an appetiser, and it genuinely works as one.
North American · 35 min · Medium
Vegan Patty Melt
Buttered rye griddled around a plant burger, melting vegan cheddar, deeply caramelized onions and a tangy special sauce. Full indulgence. The diner classic, done plant-based.
Mediterranean · 70 min · Medium
Stuffed Peppers with Rice and Herbs
Sweet peppers packed with a lemony rice, pine-nut and herb filling and baked until they slump and blister. As good at room temperature as they are hot.
Southeast Asian · 15 min · Easy
Peanut Noodles with Cucumber
A no-cook peanut, lime and soy sauce whisked in the bowl, tossed through noodles with cold cucumber ribbons. Fifteen minutes, and better slightly under-dressed than over.
