Dairy Free

Chicken makes this ceremonial Aztec soup healthier than the pork-based original. While this does require some preparation, the extra time and effort pay off with an intense, flavorful entrée.

With only twenty-five minutes of active prep time, even a less-experienced cook can add this timeless chicken recipe to his or her repertoire. The simple dinner utilizes produce of southern France—olives, onions, and fennel—cooked in the same pan as the chicken and sauce. Substitute a combination of dried thyme, fennel, basil, and savory if you can’t find herbes de Provence. Serve this in the backyard with a baguette and a bottle of Côtes de Provence, and have yourself a true pique-nique français.

Epicurious member Neel N. Patel of Chicago was inspired to make this when a friend asked for lettuce wraps for a party. The resulting marriage of cuisines incorporates Asian aromatics and Indian spices and a Mexican staple in a fragrant dish with garam masala, cumin, coriander, garlic, and ginger. If spicy is how you like to roll, include some of the jalapeño seeds. And while romaine lettuce leaves are sturdy and flavorful, butterhead varieties such as Boston or Bibb are more pliable and lend a more tender bite.

This Thai-inspired noodle dish dovetails four essential flavors: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. Seek out Thai basil, which imparts clean, crisp notes of anise and mint.

Shrimp, scallops, crab, clams, and red snapper make up this 60-minute fish stew, a dish that sounds Old World Italian but most likely originated in the Italian-Portuguese neighborhood of San Francisco known as North Beach. Although the recipe may seem overwhelming at first, the ingredient list is in fact just made up of kitchen pantry staples and seafood. To cut costs, double up on the least expensive wild seafood and omit the priciest. Serve with a toasted baguette.

Sam Hazen, the former executive chef of New York celebrity hangout Tao, created this broiled fish dish seasoned with the Japanese trifecta of sake, mirin, and miso. A great riff on beef satay, this appetizer can be marinated up to a day ahead for a quick weeknight snack or full meal when served with rice. Avoid unsustainable Chilean sea bass; look for white sea bass from California, black cod, Pacific or Alaskan halibut, or striped bass.

Ice-cold ginger ale is just one of the secrets to chef Kevin Rathbun’s Asian-inspired shrimp appetizer. The woody and fragrant kaffir lime leaf is another and can be found in the freezer section of Asian or Thai grocery stores. Rathbun’s restaurant in Atlanta also serves this dish with chicken or tofu in place of the shrimp.

A great recipe is like a strong friendship—it gets better with age. Epicurious member Sooz Wolhuter of Laguna Beach, California, crafted this cabbage salad years ago, riffing on a coleslaw recipe. The blend of ribboned cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, and green onions mixed with spicy soy and chile garlic is perfect for large gatherings. If peanuts aren’t enough protein for you, add some seared Ahi tuna or grilled sliced chicken to bulk it up.

This healthy sprightly salad has a distinctly Asian kick to it. One of the best things about it is you can add just about any veggies you have—just be sure to cut them up into bite-size pieces. The dressing also makes a terrific marinade for fish or chicken.

This recipe is a peek inside the magic hat of cookbook author and New York City caterer Serena Bass. There’s nary a tea leaf in sight of this spicy and refreshing “tea”—rather, it’s made from a fragrant combination of apples and cardamom spice. Be sure to use high-quality juice, not from concentrate, such as Adam and Eve apple juice or cloudy, fresh-pressed apple juice.

I love a recipe like this, in which one familiar item (balsamic vinegar) combines with something else very familiar (in this case, the elements of a homemade barbecue sauce) to form something entirely new. The end result, which gets slathered all over spareribs that have been slow-roasted in the oven and baked at a high temperature until the two entities combine, makes for a sticky, tangy, unforgettable take on good old-fashioned ribs. If you're feeding a crowd, the oven is your best bet for that final step; if you have the time, though, try broiling the ribs with the glaze on top. The rib and the glaze fuse together and, if you take it far enough (just before it turns black), you get a crispy, sweet, and succulent rib that'll be your new standard from now on.

Some famous French hostess supposedly started the fashion for the recipe below and created a sensation in her salon. I am sure a reputation and a leading position in any town can be built up if you serve enough of them for they are as contagious as measles. A good friend of mine can eat a dozen of them at one sitting. Not only is this delicious, but it is one of the most decorative canapés you can make, for an edging of brilliant green enhances the golden yellow of the brioche and makes a most appetizing tidbit.

Editor's note: Use this chive oil to make White Bean Soup with Chive Oil from Kim Severson and Julia Moskin's cookbook, CookFight.

I am a big fan of rugelach made with cream cheese, so I used soy cream cheese to make these. There are so many different fillings for rugelach; my favorite is apricot jam or chocolate. It is fun to make different flavors so that when you place them on a platter, you see rows of different color swirls. In my baking classes, I give the students a buffet of choices so they can create their own combinations. Here I've given you three fillings to choose from. If you prefer to make one type, simply double one of the filling recipes (each filling amount is enough for half the dough). Or you can divide the dough into four and make four types—any flavor of jam, coconut, raisins, currants, or any kind of chopped nuts make great fillings.

Here's a traditional spice blend from Yemen, where it's called hawayil. Add to onions and celery when making chicken soup; sprinkle on carrots before roasting; or rub into steaks before searing.

You will find that the garlic has been tamed in the cooking and acquired a delicious buttery quality. Serve with hot toast or thin slices of pumpernickel—to be spread with the garlic sauce.

Chef Kris Wessel of Florida Cookery in Miami Beach, Florida, shared this recipe as part of a Palm Tree Christmas menu he created exclusively for Epicurious. It showcases Florida oranges and grapefruits, which are at their peak during December.

Omega-3 fatty acids in salmon may alter certain gene expressions in your body to tell it to melt fat, not store it. Eat up and burn, baby, burn!