Lunch

Buy good grains and always soak them. They'll cook more quickly and evenly when hydrated, and the soaking liquid can be used in finished dishes.

Dunk cucumbers in this radish yogurt for a satisfying snack or starter. Or spoon some on a plate, throw a fried egg on top, and call it breakfast.

Just like the miso soup you get in restaurants, and we mean that in a good way.

Chicken soup is the ultimate comfort food. This healthy version packs spicy flavor, thanks to jalapeño. The squash and cabbage greens are bright and seasonal, but you can add whatever veggies you like.

Rather than being cooked in salted water, the pasta is treated like risotto—simmered in stock and stirred until cooked and creamy—which gives it plenty of time to pick up meaty flavors.

If you're ever cornered by a bland bowl of vegetables or whole grains, throw a handful of herbs on it. They instantly make the meal more beautiful and flavorful—without adding any salt, fat, or sugar. 

Smaller beets are ideal for this since the rounds will fit neatly on the end of a fork.

With sweet potato as a binder, quinoa for protein, and meaty mushrooms for depth, this veggie burger beats anything in the frozen foods aisle.

Like all good leafy greens, the giant pile of escarole leaves will wilt down dramatically as they cook.

Puntarelle refers to the bitter inner stalks of the Catalonian chicory (Belgian endive and radicchio are close cousins). Reserve the white stalks for another use—they’re great in a crunchy salad.

Salad, meet pizza. Pizza, salad. The key here is to get the crust as thin as possible when stretching it out.

Raisins?! In a grain salad?!? Sounds dubious, but their sweet and chewy demeanor is A+++ in this herbaceous and slightly spicy side.

Kohlrabi is underappreciated and misunderstood. But we’ve decided it’s got our favorite crunch: sweet, dense, and snappy (think broccoli stem). We can thank the duo behind L.A.’s buzzy restaurants Jon & Vinny’s and Animal for this one.

If you have a mandoline, use it to slice the radishes and shallot. If not, use a sharp knife.

Warning: A fork and knife (or a bib, at the very least) may be required to tackle this sandwich.

That parsley in your fridge is lonely! Let it hang with chiles and walnuts for your next weeknight pasta. 

Biscuits and gravy meet loaded nachos.

The best duck recipes around—for all those times you've just had enough of chicken.

You’re familiar with French dip, of course. In a stroke of holiday genius, you’ll use the turkey carcass to make a dark poultry stock with warming spices, a little sugar for lip-smacking goodness, and fish sauce for saltiness and “can’t-quite-put-my-finger-on-it” depth. Sandwiches never had it so good.

Thick slab bacon is key to this dish. Buy it packaged if you can find it or from the butcher.

If you can’t find labneh, use full-fat Greek yogurt, and thicken it by letting it sit in a strainer set over a measuring cup for an hour or two.

Who needs turkey? If you have a couple cups of leftover creamed greens and a loaf of crusty bread, you have lunch.

You can swap other greens, like spinach, for the chard in this bean soup recipe. It tastes even better after being chilled for a day or two.

Crunchy raw broccoli and brussels sprouts meet their match in a punchy triumvirate of olives, anchovies, and lemon juice.