Condiments, Sauces & Pastes

This slight riff on traditional miso soup is your shortcut to a flavorful, bone-warming snack when you need it most. Just pack a thermos with veggies, tofu, and miso in the morning, and when hunger comes knocking, all you need is a cupful of hot water and a couple of minutes. (Using homemade dashi instead of water, or adding instant dashi powder, brings it to the next level.)

The active cultures in kimchi and miso may also provide your body with an immunity boost. This recipe can also easily be halved.

This avocado toast recipe is endlessly customizable—thus why we don't include specific amounts.

Use one 2-pound mackerel if you can’t find smaller ones, or substitute arctic char or trout.

Fifteen years ago, Mark Overbay was in Zimbabwe, watching women use stones to grind peanuts into nut butter. Today, he's making some of the best nut butters in the country.

It may sound like the worst pairing since Kanye and Kim, but when you get your peanut butter in my beer, good things happen

The creamy sesame seed paste isn’t just for hummus: It’s the secret ingredient in these effortless confections.

Dates get even more Middle Eastern, dunked in tahini.

An unexpected way to revamp hot chocolate.

Massaging the dressing into the kale with your hands helps break down some of the fibers so the greens are more tender.

Warm spices and sweet dried fruit are a perfect pair for rich turkey meat.

Flip the script on a winter vegetable that’s usually stewed: Collards are great when briefly sautéed.

A colorful and spicy (but not fiery!) side breaks up all the heavy, rich dishes on the table.

Something totally unlike the big Thanksgiving meal: light, fresh, and full of Asian flavors.

Cream of tartar is optional, but it keeps the sugar from crystallizing, making this caramel foolproof.

Is it hot? Sure, it’s hot. But the bracing pickled cabbage, cooling fresh herbs, and sweet-tasting rice will help keep the flames in check in this incendiary dish from Thai-Kun.

This recipe from Thai-Kun makes a generous amount of sauce, which you may find yourself finishing (we won’t judge). Any leftover would be great on everything from white rice to noodles to…well, more bread.

Lamb shoulder has great fat content and rich (not gamey) flavor, which makes it ideal for this sweetly spiced, Mediterranean-inspired braise.

Chef Cassie Piuma of Sarma, in Somerville, MA, makes big batches of this bright North African sauce to minimize at-home chopping, then uses it all week.

Peanut allergies shouldn't leave fans of the famed PB&J sandwich hopeless. Here are six just-as-delicious alternatives.

You can pack the peanut butter in a plastic pastry bag, but a resealable plastic bag works just as well.

“Coating sweet grilled corn with miso butter brings nutty flavor to a classic.” –Brad Leone, test kitchen manager