Budget
48 recipes
West African Peanut Stew
Groundnut stew of tomato, peanut butter, sweet potato, and collard greens, simmered until it is thick enough to mound on a spoon. A whole habanero adds perfume without much heat.
Vegetarian Black Bean Chili
Black beans simmered with toasted cumin, chili powder, and chipotle until the liquid thickens around them and a spoon stands up in the pot. It costs little and freezes well.
Turkish Red Lentil Soup
Red lentils cooked soft with onion, carrot, and tomato paste, blended smooth and finished with dried mint bloomed in olive oil. Lemon at the table does the rest of the work.
Tortilla Espanola
The Spanish potato omelette: potatoes and onion poached soft in olive oil, drained, then bound in beaten egg and set in a skillet into a thick round with a barely creamy center.
Tomato Rasam
A thin South Indian broth of tamarind and tomato seasoned with black pepper and cumin, finished with a hot tempering of mustard seed and curry leaf. Sip it from a cup or spoon it over rice.
Tabbouleh
A Lebanese parsley salad, not a grain salad: chopped flat-leaf parsley and mint far outweigh the fine bulgur, with tomato, lemon, and olive oil in support.
Sundubu Jjigae Soft Tofu Stew
Silken tofu spooned into a kelp and shiitake broth built on a quick gochugaru chile oil, with onion and scallion. It arrives at the table still bubbling and comes together in under half an hour.
Southern Braised Collard Greens
Collards braised low and slow with a smoked ham hock, onion and red pepper flakes until the leaves go soft and the pot likker turns rich. Cider vinegar goes in at the end to cut the fat.
Skillet Cornbread
Unsweetened Southern cornbread, all cornmeal and no wheat, poured into a preheated buttered cast iron pan so the crust sets on contact and comes out crunchy.
Shakshuka
Eggs poached directly in a thick, cumin-and-paprika spiced tomato and pepper sauce. Everything happens in one skillet, and the dish goes to the table in the pan.
Ribollita Tuscan Bread Soup
Cannellini beans, cavolo nero and stale bread simmered together until the bread dissolves and the soup turns thick enough to eat with a fork. Mashing some of the beans does the thickening.
Puff Puff
West African fried dough made from a loose yeasted batter left to bubble, then dropped into hot oil in rough spoonfuls that puff into round, chewy, faintly nutmeg-scented balls.
Provencal Vegetable Tian
Thin rounds of zucchini, eggplant and tomato shingled over a bed of slow-cooked onion and garlic, baked with olive oil and herbes de Provence until the edges brown and the vegetables collapse.
Patatas Bravas
Potato cubes parboiled then fried until the shells crackle, served under a smoky sauce of sweet and hot pimenton, tomato and sherry vinegar. The sauce is thickened by reduction, not flour.
Panzanella
Day-old country bread torn into ripe tomatoes and their salted juices, with red onion softened in vinegar and torn basil. The bread should end up soft in places and chewy in others.
Pancit Bihon with Shrimp
Thin rice noodles stir-fried with shrimp, cabbage and carrot, then finished by letting them drink up a soy-and-broth sauce. Squeezed citrus at the table is what pulls it together.
Pajeon Scallion Pancake
A Korean scallion pancake built on whole lengths of scallion in a thin flour-and-cornstarch batter, fried until the edges shatter, with a sharp soy and vinegar dipping sauce.
Onigiri Rice Balls
Hand-formed triangles of salted short-grain rice with a pickled plum center and a strip of nori. They hold at room temperature for hours, which makes them a practical packed lunch.
Nordic Rye Porridge with Berries
Cracked rye simmered with salt until it turns thick and creamy, topped with a tart berry compote cooked in the same pan. Earthier and chewier than oat porridge, and it holds you all morning.
Moroccan Carrot Salad with Cumin
Carrot coins simmered just tender, then marinated while still warm in cumin, paprika, garlic, lemon and olive oil so the dressing soaks in rather than sitting on top.
Mercimek Koftesi Red Lentil Patties
Turkish red lentil and fine bulgur patties worked with softened onion and red pepper paste, then shaped by hand and eaten cold in lettuce leaves with lemon. The lentils are cooked dry so the bulgur can absorb what is left.
Menemen
Turkish eggs stirred loosely into softened green peppers and cooked-down tomato until just set. It is served in the pan it was made in, soft and loose rather than firmly scrambled.
Masala Peanuts
Raw peanuts jacketed in a spiced chickpea-flour batter and fried until the coating shatters. A standard Indian tea-time snack that stays crisp for a week.
Masala Dosa
A naturally fermented rice-and-urad-dal batter spread paper-thin on a hot griddle until crisp, then folded around a soft turmeric potato filling. The overnight ferment does most of the work.