Dairy Free

Slather on sandwiches, and serve alongside ham or sausages.

Epicurious member Benjamin Tevelow of Woodside, New York, offers this easy and delicious vegetarian chili, which will satisfy even those who live for bacon. To simplify the recipe, throw this hearty chili in a slow-cooker. Simply sauté the onion, garlic, and spices in a pot, transfer that plus the other ingredients to the cooker, and cook for four hours on medium heat. Green onions, cilantro, sour cream, and grated Cheddar cheese combine for a tasty garnish.

Crisp, tender asparagus spears get friendly with hearts of palm, cherry tomatoes, scallions, and avocado in this lovely starter salad from Epicurious member Theonike. A simple mustard-and-garlic-infused vinaigrette serves as dressing, while a sprinkle of toasted pine nuts gives this dish some crunch. Use soft, ripe avocados but wait to peel and dice them until just before serving so they retain their beautiful pale green hue.

With tender acorn squash, salty pancetta, a pungent and tart vinaigrette, and bitter chicory, this hearty salad is layered in flavor and texture. It will take you through all of winter, and would fit perfectly on most holiday buffets. You can use other winter squashes, including butternut, and bacon or prosciutto can easily stand in for the pancetta.

A homemade chicken stock spiced with a Scotch bonnet or habanero chile lays the foundation for this tropical dish. Coconut powder and sweet potatoes add to the island feel. “It’s a sweet soup and is more appropriate as an appetizer than an entrée, though I have to admit I’ve indulged in several bowls for dinner,” Epicurious member JTucci says. Although Tucci calls it a soup, the coconut chicken broth will be scant—just enough to cover the chicken and cabbage at the bottom of the bowl.

Chances are if you’ve ever eaten at a Korean restaurant, you’ve already had a variation of this specialty served to you as one of the banchan, or small dishes that accompany your meal. Traditionally, the tofu is lightly fried, but gentle simmering preserves the soft tofu’s smooth delicacy. Using firm tofu won’t yield the same texture, but the slices will maintain their shape a bit better. Considering how easy this dish is to prepare, it’s amazing that such complex tastes abound. Serve with a hot bowl of rice for a simple meal.

Can’t believe that bacon could get any better? Brown sugar and a pinch of cayenne add both sweet and hot components to the meat’s smoky flavor. As the bacon sizzles in the oven, the spicy mixture forms a glaze over each strip, packing even more flavor and crunch. Serve this traditionally, with scrambled eggs and an English muffin, or go rogue and pile this crispy treat onto a club sandwich with turkey and avocado for an extra-special lunch break.

A sweet blend of ripe bananas, brown sugar, and nutmeg that only tastes decadent, this dairy-free, low-calorie smoothie uses almond milk to pump up the protein. Add a touch of almond extract to increase the flavor, or use chocolate almond milk and a tablespoon of peanut butter.

Rich chocolate brownies get jazzed up with fresh or canned pumpkin. Epicurious member Sharon Perry Murphy of Fort Knox, Kentucky, often bakes hers with fresh pumpkin, which is runnier. (To achieve the desired consistency with fresh pumpkin, Murphy recommends adding a little extra flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, or substituting 1 egg for 1/4 cup pumpkin.)

With a recipe that is simple enough for beginners yet customizable for experienced bakers, this bread will end the days of buying overpriced loaves. Choose your favorite 7- or 10-grain cereal and then experiment with your own mixture of seeds and nuts to determine the taste and texture that suit you. This loaf is special enough to be a gift but requires less than an hour of active prep time. Use it for sandwiches or eat it toasted with a smear of butter or jam.

Think of this dish from Epicurious member WCASS, from Toronto, as an Asian-style ratatouille. The key to this recipe is speed: the vegetables need little more than a quick toss in a wok or large sauté pan to cook. Look for Chinese eggplants and Thai basil, but small Italian eggplants and regular basil will do. If you like spicier food, you can leave in the chile ribs and some or all of the seeds, and complement the Asian flavors with some sriracha and a mung beangarnish.

This zinger of a pesto sauce breathes new life into a nutritious winter staple, and works well with acorn and kabocha squash, too.

The cherry-cranberry combination achieves the perfect balance of flavors alongside a roasted turkey or ham—or drizzled on vanilla ice cream. If cherry cider is hard to find, substitute a sweet-tart fruit juice such as cranberry or pomegranate.

This recipe is flexible enough that you can add whatever vegetables you have on hand; root vegetables and winter squash are ideal candidates. And as with many one-pot dishes, the stew will taste better the next day, so plan accordingly.

Forget going out for dinner, this sea bass is dressed to impress in less than 20 minutes. The sauce begs to be scooped up, so be sure to serve this dish with fluffy basmati rice. Sauté snow peas or green beans in sesame oil and serve them alongside. And by all means, invite friends, as this dish can easily be doubled. (Most halibut, trout, salmon, cod, or tuna can take the place of the sea bass, so buy whatever is freshest and avoid the endangered Chilean sea bass.)

This unbelievable stir-fry is a cut way above your average one-wok wonder. Epicurious member Thomas Spears of Worcester, Massachusetts, puts his own spin on a classic combination of Southeast Asian flavors—lemongrass, turmeric, and fish sauce—with the richness of caramelized sugar. Feel free to temper the heat by using fewer Thai chiles. The quality of the fish sauce makes all the difference here. Spears notes, “I prefer the brand Thanh Ha Chanh Hieu Phu Quoc nuoc mam, based on its lower salt content and what I believe to have great flavor.” Another tip: when slicing the lemongrass, flatten it with the back of your knife to release some extra flavor.