Lunch

Mashing peas with the back of a spoon just won’t cut it. Think potato masher + elbow grease if you want to bring out their natural creaminess.

Sabich, a popular Israeli street food, is a pita-busting combination of a bunch of great appetizers.

Maybe you’ve never thought to cook romaine before, but just think of it like any other leafy green and give it a try.

If you have a wok, gold star goes to you! Use it!

Shaoxing wine, a Chinese fermented rice wine, is the secret sauce that makes this recipe sing.

We love homemade vinegar, but, yes, you can use supermarket stuff for this, and it will still be awesome.

What makes this salad special is the miso ranch dressing and the pulverized nori.

Since finding fresh masa in the U.S. is hit or miss, we call for fresh corn tortillas, which technically makes this a tostada.

Seek out a tortilleria if possible; it makes a difference.

Savory fruit salads are officially a thing. (And, for the record, cucumber is a fruit.)

If you opt for canned instead of dried beans in this recipe, they won’t be quite as creamy, but you’ll save yourself some time.

Once butterflied, the breast will be much larger than the bun, but letting all that crispy goodness hang out (literally) is part of the appeal.

King’s Highway diner in Palm Springs, CA, gave us the recipe for their mushroom chorizo and creamy sauce, and our tacos will never be the same.

The shrimp is even better when it’s grilled.

It isn’t often we demolish an entire bowl of something without once suspecting that it was vegan.

Because of course you're dying to know

If you don’t want or didn’t have time to soak the black-eyed peas overnight, just power-soak them.

What makes a wine a lunch wine? Light body, low alcohol, and high acidity.

The noodles and chard are silky, which begs for the salty crunch of the breadcrumbs.

Nduja is a spreadable, spicy pork salami that grounds all of the other ingredients, but you’ll get heat from the mustard greens, as well.

When you have some herbs threatening to go past their prime in the crisper drawer, preserve them by making herb butter, which just happens to be an excellent landing pad for a perfectly fried egg.

Squeezing the excess liquid from the potato will ensure it gets extra crunchy when cooked.

For the best springy texture that won’t fall apart when tossed, look for soba noodles that contain a blend of wheat and buckwheat.

Rye berries are sold with their hull intact, which means they’ll take a bit longer to cook than other grains but will reward your patience with al-dente chewy nuttiness.