Instant Pot Barbecue "Baked" Beans

Oh, how I love barbecue. And how I love a smoky, spicy-sweet side of beans to go with it.

Just in time for the 4th of July, here's my new favorite recipe for barbecue "baked" beans--"baked" because they aren't really, since I made them in the Instant Pot.

There are lots of recipes for "barbecue beans" or "baked beans"--not really sure what the difference is I put both in the name of this dish.

I've made this dish twice, and while it was good both times, the adjustments I made for the second time were a definite improvement. I didn't have any molasses on hand the first time, so I used 1/4 cup of maple syrup (the real kind). This worked fine, but I missed that deep sweetness the molasses adds. I also used Stubbs's Sweet Honey & Spice flavor barbecue sauce the first time, which I didn't like nearly as much as the Stubb's Hickory Bourbon I used for the second batch (for the record, my favorite variety of Stubb's barbecue sauce is Sweet Heat--so amazing).

In looking at ingredient lists of other recipes to develop this dish, the one I leaned on the most was "The Best Barbecue Beans Recipe" by Joshua Bousel for Serious Eats. The accompanying photos were exactly what I wanted my beans to look like, and I liked the combination of sweet ingredients (honey, brown sugar and molasses). I made quite a few changes, but it's worth checking out.

That Serious Eats recipe goes the more traditional route of soaking the beans first and baking them in the oven, so expect an overnight soak and about 6-7 hours of cooking time. By comparison, my recipe takes a little over 2 hours--not exactly "instant" but with no soaking or oven time, it's great for whipping up "baked" beans the day before (or even day-of) you want to enjoy them without heating up your kitchen on a hot day or having to remember to soak those beans.

Instant Pot Barbecue "Baked" Beans

Ingredients for cooking the beans:
1 lb. dried pinto beans (may use other similarly sized dried beans), rinsed and examined to remove any small stones
10 cups water
1/2 tsp. salt

Ingredients for cooking the dish:
1/2 lb. bacon, cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide strips
1 1/2 cup diced (about 1 large) yellow or sweet onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/4 cup barbecue sauce (I recommend Stubb's Hickory Bourbon)
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tbsp. mustard (any will do, I used a grainy Dijon)
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup brown sugar (I used light, but would've used dark if I had it)
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups low sodium chicken broth

Cook the beans:

1. Combine dried beans, water and salt in an Instant Pot. Lock the lid and set to cook under high pressure for 25 minutes. When cooking time is up, allow pressure to release naturally, which takes about 10-12 minutes. Total time for this step is 50-60 minutes.

2. When pressure is fully released, unlock the lid, drain the beans and set aside in the fridge until ready to use.

Cook the dish:

1. Using the Instant Pot sauté mode, cook the bacon until browned and crisp. Remove from the pot with a slotted spoon. Remove excess bacon fat, leaving about 2 tbsp. in the pot (I used a couple paper towels to soak it up).

2. Add the onion and garlic to the pot. Sauté until softened and lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes. Turn off the Instant Pot.

3. Into the pot with the cooked vegetables, add the cooked bacon, cooked beans, barbecue sauce, ketchup, mustard, vinegar, brown sugar, honey, molasses and chicken broth (in other words, all of the remaining ingredients). Stir to combine. Lock the lid and set to cook under high pressure for 15 minutes. When cooking time is up, allow pressure to release naturally, about 10-15 minutes (vent any remaining pressure after 15 minutes). Total time for this step is 40-45 minutes.

4. Unlock the lid and stir the mixture. If a thicker texture is desired, use Sauté mode (normal setting) to evaporate some of the moisture and thicken the beans--about 10 minutes is just right for me. Allow to cool and either eat or transfer to a container with a lid to store in the fridge.

Vegan Southwestern Spelt and Squash Bowl

It finally feels like fall, and after a week of vacation in Southern California, we were desperate for some healthy eating. This vegan grain bowl foots the bill perfectly, composed of chewy spelt, roasted butternut squash, onion, sage, pepitas and a kick of smoky chipotle chili powder. That's this dish is vegan was basically accidental--it dawned on me while we were eating it that it contained no meat or dairy ingredients. That said, some crumbled queso fresco or feta cheese would be good here, as would some dried cranberries.

Vegan Southwestern Spelt and Squash Bowl

1 cup spelt berries
Salt, to taste
16-20 oz. butternut squash (peeled and seeded), cut into 3/4-inch cubes
4 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 large or 3 medium celery stalks, halved and diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
Seasoned salt, to taste
1 tbsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. or more chipotle chili powder
2 tbsp. fresh sage, minced
15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup roasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
Juice from 1 lime

1. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan with a lid. Rinse the spelt and add to the boiling water with a pinch of salt. Reduce heat to simmer, covered, until the berries are tender but still chewy, about 40 minutes. Drain any excess water.

2. Preheat oven to 475 F. Combing cut squash with 2 tbsp. olive oil and 1/2 tsp. kosher salt. Spread in an even layer on an aluminum-foil-lined baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes. Use a spatula to flip the squash cubes over and continue roasting until lightly browned, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool slightly, the use the spatula to remove from the foil.

3. In a large steep-sided saute pan, heat 2 tbsp. olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, celery and garlic, season with seasoned salt, cumin and chipotle chili pepper, and sauté until softened, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in the sage and black beans and cook another couple minutes until fragrant and heated. Stir in the roasted squash, cooked spelt, pumpkin seeds (pepitas) and lime juice and turn off the heat. Serve in large shallow bowls.

Sausage and Green Bean Frittata

 Do you ever feel inundated with vegetables during the summer? While the season can deliver an embarrassment of riches for those who crave fresh produce, it can sometimes feel like overkill. What to do with all these vegetables? A happy problem for sure, but one an avid cook may face if they feel trapped into making the same-old same-old.

The frittata is one simple solution for what to do with summer produce. It's simple, flexible and satisfying. Basically, gently cook any mixture of vegetables, preferably with some onion and/or garlic, combine with eggs and cheese, cook briefly on the stove and finish in the oven. It's pretty simple and it's delicious. I made this frittata with green beans, shiitake mushrooms, scallions and sausage. The combinations are really endless here.

Sausage and Green Bean Frittata

2 cups fresh green beans, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
8 oz. mild Italian chicken sausages, casings removed
1 bunch of scallions, white and light green parts chopped
8 oz. shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps sliced into 1/4-inch strips
Salt, to taste
1 tsp. Aleppo pepper flakes
2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
2 tsp. fresh chopped rosemary
8 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

1. Preheat oven broiler with rack about 4-5 inches from the broiler.

2. Insert a steamer insert into a medium saucepan and fill with water below the insert. Heat over medium-high heat until the water boils. Add the beans, cover and steam for 3 minutes until tender. Set beans aside.

3. Heat olive oil over medium heat in an oven-safe 12-inch nonstick frying pan. Add sausage and cook, breaking up with a spoon, until cooked through and lightly browned. Remove sausage from pan, transfer to a cutting board and chop into smaller pieces.

4. Add scallions and mushrooms to the pan, season with salt, Aleppo pepper, rosemary and thyme, and sauté until the onions are softened and the mushrooms are lightly browned, about 6-8 minutes. Add the cooked green beans and sausage to the pan, stir to combine with the other ingredients and, using a spatula, smooth the ingredients into an even layer in the pan.

5. Stir half the cheese into the beaten eggs, then pour the egg mixture into the pan so that it is evenly distributed around the ingredients in the pan. Keep cooking on the stove without disturbing the ingredients to set the bottom of the egg. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Transfer the pan to the broiler and broil for 4 minutes until the frittata is cooked through, a bit puffy on top and lightly browned. Cut into wedges and serve.

Bacon and Roasted Bean Salad

Roasted chickpeas are a wonderful thing. The little round legumes, when tossed with olive oil and cooked in the oven until their edges dry out and crisp, make a wonderful snack or salad addition (see related recipes below for links to dishes where I've used them).

Turns out you can achieve a similar effect with other types of canned legumes. I got the idea from a recipe by Kay Chun for Warm Escarole-and-Shiitake Salad with Crispy Beans in the latest issue of Food & Wine. For this salad, I drained and rinsed a can of red kidney beans, tossed them with olive oil and seasonings and roasted them until they split open and dried out. They were amazing! I really love their texture and taste. Just like the chickpeas, they would make a great snack or salad topping.

Because canned beans are a little softer than canned chickpeas, they can be roasted at a lower temperature. They're done in about a half hour. If you think about it, give them a stir halfway through to promote even cooking. Check them after half an hour and give them an extra 5 minutes or so in the oven if it seems like some of the beans might still be soft.

This salad is actually inspired by one of my favorite winter soups, Smoky Pinto Bean, Red Wine and Bacon Soup, a recipe from New York Times recipe columnist Melissa Clark. Here, I've taken many of that recipe's ingredients--the bacon, onion and celery, rosemary, the beans, of course, and even the red wine (in the vinaigrette)--and translated them into a salad. If you're getting tired of winter soups, this is great way to put something on the table with similar ingredients but a lighter, fresher profile.

I'm interested in roasting other types of canned beans, possibly with other seasonings. I wonder what roasted black beans tossed with ground cumin and chili powder would be like. Although hominy isn't a bean, this similar treatment for canned hominy, roasted with garlic and chili powder, also sounds tasty. Any other ideas for roasted beans? Please share them in the comments.

Bacon and Roasted Bean Salad

Serves 2

15 oz. can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

4 oz. thick-cut hickory-smoked bacon (I recommend Benton's, available online)

3-4 cups of torn green-leaf lettuce leaves

1/3 cup finely diced red onion

2 celery ribs, cut on an angle into 1/8-inch-thick slices

2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary

1 1/2 tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. honey

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Combine beans with 1 tbsp. olive oil, salt and pepper in a medium bowl and toss to coat. Spread beans in an even layer on a baking sheet (lined with aluminum foil if desired for easy clean-up) and roast until the beans have split open and dried out, about 30-35 minutes. Set aside to cool.

2. Cook the bacon in a frying pan over medium heat until browned and crisp. Set aside to cool and drain on a paper-towel-lined plate. Chop into bits.

3. Combine lettuce, onion, celery, rosemary and bacon bits in a large bowl. Whisk together the vinegar, mustard and honey, then whisk in the remaining 2 tbsp. of olive oil. Pour over the salad and toss to combine. Divide the salad onto two plates and serve topped with a generous handful of the roasted beans (serve any remaining beans on the side--they make a great snack).

Related

Smoky Pinto Bean, Red Wine and Bacon Soup

Parsnip-Carrot Soup with Tahini and Roasted Chickpeas

Crispy Kale and Roasted Chickpea Salad

Snap Pea and Bacon Salad with Ricotta and Roasted Chickpeas

Reconstructed Hummus Salad

Roasted Chickpea "Potato" Salad

8-2-Eat: Winter Bean Recipes

8-2-Eat is my food-focused list series. A perfect Friday distraction. Beans taste particularly good in the winter, when they can be simmered and flavored as a main star or side to a number of ingredients. Here are 8 ways that I like to enjoy them.

Smoky Pinto Bean, Red Wine and Bacon Soup. This recipe, from the New York Times' Melissa Clark, is the best bean soup I've ever had. It's absolutely incredible. Splurge for Benton's Smoked Country Bacon for this one and you won't be disappointed.

Apple-Fennel Soup with Beans and Sausage. It's not the cannellini beans the broth that really makes this soup, a puree of apple, fennel, onion, garlic, celery, ginger and sage.

Pasta e Fagioli Soup

Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta and Bean) Soup. Adapted from a recipe by the late and ever so talented Italian cook Marcella Hazan, this soup, which uses cranberry beans, is much better than what you'll get at that "Italian" chain restaurant.

Spicy Beans and Pepperoni on Toast with Fried Eggs. A delicious and easy way to incorporate navy beans into breakfast.

Spelt Soup with Escarole and White Beans. Beans, greens and grains are a perfect winter soup trio. Here, cannellini beans team up with the heirloom wheat-grain spelt and bitter green escarole.

Quick Black Bean Soup. This is a longtime favorite. Although the version that requires an overnight soak and simmers all afternoon is wonderful, this much quicker version that uses canned black beans is good too and ideal for a weeknight dinner.

Salmon with Beans, Kale and Bacon 

Broiled Salmon with White Bean, Kale and Bacon Ragout. There are a lot of soups on this list, but beans can be used in other ways. Here, cannellini beans, bacon, garlic and kale form a side for broiled salmon.

Chili. Whether chili should contain beans is a subject of debate. Sure, if you're making a traditional chili con carne, perhaps not, but there are lots of other types of chili where I saw beans are more than welcome to join the party. Try them in BBQ Turkey Chili, Cincinnati Chili or Thai-Style Chili, a mashup of chili and tom kha gai soup.

Black Eyed Peas with Bacon and Chard

Do you believe in luck? Many people don't; I don't really--except that I sort of do. Like a lot of people, I know that many things in life happen by chance. I believe "luck" is when those are things you want to have happen. Like winning a contest, unexpectedly running into an old friend or being the last person to snag something special.

Certainly the number of things we do for luck attests to our belief in it. We kiss the Blarney stone, knock on wood and hunt for four-leaf clovers.

Then there's the practice of eating black eyed peas on New Year's Day. It's a tradition many Southerners observed, which I hadn't heard of until just recently, having read an article about it in the New York Times Food section.

There are quite a few explanations for the practice, many of which date back to the Civil War and some go back to ancient times.

Although it's not a tradition I'm tied to, I'm certainly not one to turn down a good bowl of pork and beans with greens, which is what I made, inspired by the accompanying recipe by Kim Severson, as well as another Times recipe by David Tanis, I made my own version of the dish. Their dishes call for using dried or fresh peas, as well as ham hocks. They cook for several hours, which I'm sure is delicious, but I wanted a faster recipe--something you could make midweek to enjoy black eyed peas any day of the winter, not just on New Year's Day. So I use canned black eyed peas and bacon, specifically the hickory-smoked bacon from Benton's that I love so much.

Black Eyed Peas with Bacon and Chard
Inspired by recipes by Kim Severson and David Tanis for Black Eyed Peas

1/2 lb. thick-cut hickory-smoked bacon, cut into 1/2 pieces
1 large sweet or yellow onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. red chili pepper flakes (use more or less depending on your taste for heat)
1 bunch (about 1 lb.) Swiss or rainbow chard, leaves removed and cut into 1-inch wide strips, stems discarded
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
15 oz. can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1 bay leaf

1. Cook the bacon in a Dutch oven or other large soup pot over medium heat. When browned and crisp, remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate. Reserve 2 tbsp. of the hot bacon fat in the pot (use the rest for something else, like thin and crispy cornbread).

2. Add the onion to the pot and cook until softened, about 8 minutes. Ad the garlic and chili pepper flakes and cook another couple minutes until the garlic is fragrant. Add the chard leaves, season with salt and pepper and stir to mix with the other ingredients. Allow the chard to wilt a bit, then add the cooked bacon, black eyed peas, chicken stock, allspice and bay leaf. Increase heat to bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer for about 15 minutes.

3. Ladle the soup into shallow bowls and serve with cornbread and an old fashioned (recipe below).

Old Fashioned Cocktail

2 oz. bourbon whiskey
1/4 oz. simple syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Orange peel garnish
Maraschino cherry garnish

Combine whiskey, simple syrup and bitters in a cocktail mixing glass with ice. Stir until very cold, then strain into a rocks glass with a single large ice cube. Squeeze the orange peel over the drink, rub it around the rim of the glass and drop it in. Add the cherry and serve.

Green Bean Salad with Almonds and Quinoa

It's no secret that a traditional Thanksgiving dinner isn't exactly a paragon of healthy eating. There are a lot of carbs and a lot of fat. It's the only meal of the year where I literally go through pounds of butter.

While I'm not about to ditch all the traditional favorites--I believe that a rich Thanksgiving dinner can balance with normal healthy eating--that's not to say that a low-calorie side dish isn't welcome to the party.

Enter this Green Bean and Quinoa salad, adapted from a recipe I found from the Wandering Spice blog. This is simple, vegetarian side that adds a nice bright and green element to the Thanksgiving table.

Green Bean Salad with Almonds and Quinoa
Adapted from Quick Green Bean and Quinoa Salad with Toasted Almonds and Lemon-Yogurt Dressing by Wandering Spice

Note: You'll only need 1/3 cup of pre-cooked quinoa. I usually make a cup, use 1/3 for this recipe and save the rest for salads, as a base for stews, or mixed into brothy soups. You'll also end up with extra yogurt dressing, which is the perfect match with raw veggies.

1/3 cup cooked quinoa
400g (roughly a little more than 3/4 lb.) green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1/3 cup sliced almonds, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup Greek yogurt
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. chopped fresh dill
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Prepare quinoa according to package instructions. Add 1/3 cup of the cooked quinoa to a large bowl; save the rest of the quinoa for other uses (see note above).

2. Place a steamer basket in a medium saucepan with 1 inch of water (make sure the bottom of the basket doesn't touch the water) and set over high heat to bring to a boil. Once the water boils, add the green beans and steam until they are tender, about 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the beans from the steamer and rinse with cold water until chilled. Transfer to the large bowl.

3. Toast the chopped almonds in a small frying pan over medium-low heat until they begin to brown, then remove from pan and add to the large bowl with the green beans and quinoa.

4. Combine the yogurt, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, fresh dill, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Pour over the green beans and quinoa mixture and toss to combine. Serve immediately.

Turkey Shepherd's Pie

Often when I hit my neighborhood farmers market on Saturday morning, I have a plan for what I want to get and what I'll make with it during the following week. On a recent Saturday, however, I was struggling. I couldn't decide what I wanted to make! So, I set out for the New Morning Farm Saturday market at Sheridan School with the hope that the ingredients I found there would inspire my direction.

Sure enough, after picking up corn, a sweet onion, a couple carrots and a good handful of green beans, I decided to make Shepherd's Pie, the classic Irish dish of diced or ground meat, vegetables and gravy sealed with a layer of mashed potatoes and baked until the potatoes brown a bit on top. According to The Food Lover's Companion, the dish originated as a way to use leftovers from the "Sunday roast." I think it can be just as useful as a showcase for summer vegetables.

I used Alton Brown's recipe as a template for this Shepherd's Pie, but made some key changes. I used ground turkey instead of ground lamb, upped the ratio of vegetables-to-meat in the filling by adding corn, celery and green beans and omitted the egg from the potato topping, as it just didn't seem needed. This makes my version a little lighter and more "summery" than Brown's recipe.

Turkey Shepherd's Pie
Adapted liberally from Shepherd's Pie by Alton Brown for Food Network

1 1/2 lb. russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup half-n-half
Salt and freshly ground white pepper, to taste
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery ribs, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
8 oz. green beans, ends trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 lb. ground turkey (dark meat recommended)
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
1 tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Corn kernels cut from 1 ear of corn

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.

2. Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with 1-inch of water. Place on the stove and bring to boil. Cook the potatoes until tender, then drain. Transfer potatoes to a large bowl. Add the butter and mash the potatoes with a potato masher or the back of a large spoon. Warm the half-n-half in the microwave and stir it into the potatoes along with salt and freshly ground white pepper.

3. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and green beans and sauté until the ingredients have softened, about 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Add ground turkey to the pan and cook, breaking up with a spoon, until browned. Sprinkle the meat with the flour, toss to coat and cook for another minute. Add back the cooked vegetables, then add the tomato paste, chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer covered for about 10 minutes to thicken the gravy. Stir in the corn and turn off the heat.

4. Transfer vegetable-gravy mixture to a 9 X 9 glass baking dish. Spread the mashed potatoes on top, making sure to "seal" the potatoes against the edge of the baking dish. Smooth the top with a spatula. Place the baking dish on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and bake until the potatoes begin to brown, about 25-30. Remove from oven and set on a cooling rack to cool for about 15 minutes before serving.

Loaded Quinoa Bowl

If you live in Washington, D.C., I hope you've gotten to try Beefsteak, José Andrés' vegetable-focused fast-casual restaurant located on the George Washington University campus. Shortly after I visited it a few months ago, I was inspired to make a sugar snap pea salad. More recently, after seeing Andrés quinoa bowl recipe in Food & Wine magazine, I was inspired again to revisit the Beefsteak approach.

What I like about the Vegetable Quinoa Bowls with Garlic Yogurt recipe is the combination of lightly cooked and raw ingredients tossed together with a grain (or seed, in this case, since the base is quinoa). I used a similar combination of ingredients but added a few of my own and left out the lettuce and garlic yogurt--my bowl had enough going on with the honey-lemon dressing.

I also used a combination of white and red quinoa--mostly because I had just a little bit of red left in a bag I wanted to use up--but I like the resulting color contrast. Feel free to use just one color.

Loaded Quinoa Bowl
Inspired by Vegetable Quinoa Bowls with Garlic Yogurt by José Andrés, Food & Wine

Kale chips:
12 kale leaves, thin part removed from stem (stems discarded) and torn into 2-inch pieces
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Seasoned salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste

Quinoa:
3/4 cups white or red (or a mix) quinoa, rinsed (it's okay if it's still a little damp from rinsing; it will dry out quickly in the hot pan)
1 cup water

Cooked ingredients:
1/2 lb. green beans, ends trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 zucchini, cut into 1/8- to 1/4-inch slices

Raw ingredients:
1 beefsteak tomato, cut into 1/4-inch thick pieces
1 cucumber, partially peeled, seeded and sliced into 1/4-inch thick pieces
1 avocado, peeled, seed removed and sliced into 1/4-inch thick pieces
2 tbsp. unsalted toasted pumpkin seeds

Dressing:
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. honey (substitute agave nectar to make the recipe vegan)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Roast the kale chips: Preheat oven to 250 F. Spread kale leaves evenly across two baking sheets. Toss or spray with olive oil. Season with seasoned salt and pepper. Bake until dried and wilted, about 30 minutes. Set aside to cool.

2. Cook the quinoa: Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the quinoa and toast, stirring frequently, until the quinoa is fragrant and makes a popping sound almost continuously, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the water and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the seeds are just tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow pan to sit covered for 5 to 10 minutes.

3. Cooked ingredients: Bring a medium saucepan half-filled with water to boil. Add the green beans and cook until tender, about 3-5 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water to cool and set aside. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan or sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and zucchini, and sauté until softened and lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes.

4. Combine ingredients: In a large bowl, combine the kale chips, quinoa, green beans, onion, garlic, zucchini, tomato, cucumber, avocado in  large bowl. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over the vegetable-grain mixture. Toss to combine. Serve in large bowls.

Related

No Beef with Beefsteak

Crunchy Sugar Snap Pea Salad

Black Bean and Avocado Tacos

Aren't tacos just the best? Pretty much anything tastes good wrapped in a warm corn or flour tortilla, whether it's something traditional like Carnitas Tacos of the delicious fusion of Korean tacos (or the wacky but lovable Ramen Noodle Pork Tacos).

Every taco dish I've featured to date has included some kind of meat: beef, pork, turkey, chicken or salmon. But tacos can be made vegetarian too, and for a week-night, it also makes them easier to prepare. Carnitas tacos are wonderful--if you have all day to make them. These Black bean and avocado tacos come together in just a few minutes.

Since the black beans are the star, I wanted to enhance them a bit with onion, garlic, cumin, oregano and smoky chipotle chili powder. I also thought melting the cheese instead of sprinkling it on top would be nice, so I placed a handful of shredded cheese on the tortillas while they warmed on the griddle pan. The tacos are finished with a simple guacamole (gotta have it) and sprinkle of cilantro.

Black Bean and Avocado Tacos

2 ripe hass avocados, peeled, cut up and seed removed
1/2 lime
Salt, to taste
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. chipotle chili powder, plus more as desired
6 small flour tortillas (or corn, store-bought or homemade--see Related recipes below for homemade)
1 1/2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese
Hot sauce (optional)

1. Make a simple guacamole: Place the avocado in a medium bowl. Squeeze the half-lime over the avocado, sprinkle with salt and, if desired, a little chipotle chili powder. Stir in a couple tablespoons of the chopped cilantro.

2. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until softened and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the black beans, cumin, oregano and chili powder and cook about 5 minutes, then add a couple tablespoons of water, and cook another 5 minutes until the beans are a bit soft. Vigorously stir the mixture to break up some of the beans.

3. Heat a flat griddle over medium heat. Place two (or more if they'll fit) tortillas on the griddle and top with a handful of shredded cheese. Cook until the bottom of the tortilla is a bit crisp and the cheese has melted, about 2 minutes. Serve immediately topped with black bean mixture, a dollop of the guacamole, a sprinkle of fresh cilantro and, if desired, a dash of hot sauce.

Related

Carnitas Tacos

Chicken and Apple Tacos

Ramen Noodle Pork Tacos

Salmon Tacos

Korean Tacos

Thanksgiving Leftovers Tacos

Corn Tortillas

Flour Tortillas

District Taco

Quick Black Bean Soup

Black Bean Soup is my favorite winter soup. It's something I've been making for over 20 years, having discovered the Silver Palate Cookbook recipe when I was a teenager learning how to cook.

Back then, I made the recipe faithfully, including using a full cup of olive oil for sautéing the 3 cups of diced onions (which, I'll agree with my mother now seemed a bit excessive). Today, I do a few things a little differently, such as using kielbasa instead of a ham bone (and a lot less oil). You can read that recipe here. It's a wonderful soup, but it takes overnight to soak the beans and about 2 hours of cooking time. That works great for the weekend, but it's a stretch for a typical weeknight.

As an alternative, I came up with this "quick" black bean soup recipe. It's similar to the Basic Black Bean Soup but cooks in a fraction of the time. In fact, from the moment I set the Dutch oven on the stove to the moment I turned it off and dished up the soup took just 35 minutes. That's not bad for a hearty, flavorful homemade bean soup.

Of course using canned beans is essential to the reduced cooking time. And yes, canned beans aren't as tasty as dried ones, but they aren't bad. I'm a big fan of the Goya brand, and the larger 28-oz. can is just right for this soup. And homemade soup with canned beans is still tastier than a not homemade canned soup, in my opinion (channeling Ana Gasteyer's Good Wife judge there). This soup is just as good if not better on the second day, so I recommend making enough for leftovers.

Quick Black Bean Soup

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
Salt or seasoned salt, to taste
1 smoked turkey kielbasa, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
1 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tbsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/2 tsp. chipotle chili powder (or more if you want it hotter)
28 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. dry sherry

1. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic. Season with salt and sauté until the onions have softened, about 6-8 minutes.

2. Add the kielbasa, stir to combine and cook another couple minutes. Add the cumin, oregano, paprika, chili powder, black beans, chicken stock and bay leaf. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Add the brown sugar and sherry and simmer another 5 minutes. Serve hot in bowls.

Related

Basic Black Bean Soup

North African Green Bean and Sweet Potato Couscous Salad

Grain salads make nice Thanksgiving sides, serving as counterpoints to both stuffings and other vegetable dishes.

This year I've become interested in African flavors. I particularly like the spice combinations of northern African cuisine, which I used in the Moroccan-Spiced Meatloaf I made earlier this year. Similar flavors show up in this couscous salad. It's a marriage of north African flavors and traditional Thanksgiving vegetables--green beans and sweet potatoes.

Couscous was a fad food for awhile. I remember dinners in the early 2000s frequently featuring one of those simple flavored couscous sides from the box. I don't see it as a "trendy" food anymore, which is perhaps good. It can go back to its Mediterranean roots.

The first time I ever ate couscous was in 1994. I was in high school having lunch with a friend at Zefiro, the trend-setting Portland restaurant that many say was the template for the modern age of Portland dining. I had Algerian-marinated chicken skewers with couscous, a vibrant, spicy dish that I absolutely loved.

With this salad, I hope to honor couscous' North African roots while also positioning it as an ideal Thanksgiving side. It's a simple, versatile thing that could easily work well with other Thanksgiving vegetables (wouldn't it be great with roasted Brussels sprouts and bacon?).


North African Green Bean and Sweet Potato Couscous Salad

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2 cubes
3 tbsp. olive oil
Salt, to taste
1 lb. green beans, ends trimmed off and cut into 1-1/2 inch pieces
1 bunch of scallions, white and light green part chopped
2 tbsp. chopped fresh sage
16 oz. box couscous
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. turmeric
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Dressing:
Zest and juice from 1 lemon
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Put the diced sweet potatoes in a large bowl and drizzle with 2 tbsp. olive oil. Season with salt and toss to coat. Spread on a baking sheet and roast for about 10 minutes. Stir the potatoes and roast another 5 to 10 minutes until soft and lightly browned on some edges. Set aside to cool.

2. Bring a large (4 qt.) saucepan of lightly salted water to boil. Add the cut green beans and cook until tender (this is a matter of preference; for chewier beans, stop after 3 minutes or for more tender beans, cook up to 7 minutes). Remove beans and transfer to an ice water bath.

3. Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a small frying pan. Add the scallions and sage and cook about 2 minutes until the onions are slightly wilted and the sage is fragrant.

4. Cook couscous according to package directions.

5. In a large bowl, combine the roasted sweet potatoes, cooked green beans, scallions, sage, couscous and remaining ingredients through freshly ground black pepper. Whisk together the dressing and pour over the mixture. Toss to combine and serve.

Other Thanksgiving Recipes

Thanksgiving Central (all Thanksgiving recipes)

Wheat Berry Salad with Butternut Squash, Hazelnuts and Sage

Roasted Parsnip-Quinoa Salad with Shallot-Lemon Dressing

Green Bean Casserole with Bacon and Mushrooms

Green Beans with Bacon, Blue Cheese, Pecans and Dried Cranberries

Apple, Manchego and Pecan Salad

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Bourbon-Maple Glaze and Smoked Almonds

Sautéed Chicken Breasts with Tarragon-Lemon-Garlic Sauce

Chicken's well-known versatility makes a good partner for many different herbs. Tarragon works particularly well with chicken. It looks a bit like rosemary, except its leaves are more delicate and have a greener flavor in contrast to rosemary's bitter piney taste.

I like this technique for lightly dredging chicken breasts before sautéing them. The thin layer of flour helps promote good browning with the full-blown crunchy layer you get with actual breading. It makes for a lighter dish that's perfect with a sauce like this one, a potent but summery blend of tarragon, garlic, lemon and white wine. It also doesn't take that long to cook; about 10 minutes for the chicken and another 10 for the sauce. Depending on the sides you choose, you could easily have this on the table in half an hour.

Roasted new potatoes.

Not being rushed, I opted for a side of roasted new potatoes and green beans sautéed with baby leeks. A smoky dose of paprika stands in for the usual bacon. The cooking time on the beans depends on your particular taste. I know there's a trend to cook green beans less these days, although I actually like them cooked a little bit longer. Six minutes in boiling water is a nice compromise between the almost-raw texture of a quick blanch and the falling-apart tenderness of beans cooked for a long time.

Tarragon-Lemon-Garlic sauce

Sautéed Chicken Breasts with Tarragon-Lemon-Garlic Sauce

2 tbsp. vegetable or canola oil
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. fine garlic powder
Seasoned salt, to taste
3 or 4 boneless-skinless chicken breast halves
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tbsp. minced garlic (about 3 garlic cloves)
1/2 cup dry white wine
Juice from 1 lemon
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. fresh chopped tarragon

1. Heat vegetable or canola oil in a frying pan over medium heat until almost smoking hot. Whisk together flour, garlic powder and seasoned salt in a shallow bowl. Pat chicken breasts dry with paper towels and dredge in the flour mixture, tapping off any excess. Add to the frying pan with the hot oil and sauté until browned on one side, turn over and brown the other side. Continue cooking until the chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165 F. Remove from pan.

2. Pour excess oil from pan. Add butter. When melted, add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add white lemon, lemon juice, mustard and tarragon and whisk to combine. Cook, whisking frequently, until reduced by about half, about 5-10 minutes. Serve chicken with sauce spooned over it.

Roasted New Potatoes

1 lb. new potatoes, well scrubbed, cut into quarters
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. fresh thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 375 F. Combine cut potatoes, olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Arrange potatoes on baking sheet in a single layer with cut sides down. Roast until potatoes are browned, about 40-45 minutes.

Sautéed Green Beans with Baby Leeks

1 lb. fresh green beans, ends trimmed off, beans cut into 1 1/2 to 2 inch pieces
Pinch of salt and pinch of sugar
2 tbsp. butter
4 baby leeks, green ends discard, white and light green parts cleaned and chopped into 1/4-inch pieces (see this video for cleaning leeks)
1 tbsp. minced garlic (about 3 garlic cloves)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tbsp. white wine vinegar

1. Heat a large saucepan of water over high heat until it boils. Add a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar. Add the green beans and boil for 6 minutes. Drain beans and set aside in a bowl.

2. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add butter and, when melted, add the leeks and garlic. Sauté until the leeks have softened, about 5 minutes or a little more. Add the green beans and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper and smoked paprika and cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in the vinegar and cook for 1 minute more.

Spicy Beans And Pepperoni On Toast With Fried Eggs

I came across this dish as part of Food Republic's recent series on recipes for making good use of leftovers. Since I'd just made pizza, it was perfect for using up the rest of a package of sliced pepperoni. 

The recipe comes from Sophia Wright's cookbook Cook on Shoestring: Easy, Inspiring Recipes on a Budget. Wright's recipe is meant to be flexible: while written for toast with fried eggs, it could easily be served over baked potato or, I think, rice would be a good partner. Don't have pepperoni? Use another sausage, pancetta or bacon. She also suggests that with more tomatoes and broth, the spicy bean topping could make a great soup. 

Spicy Beans and Pepperoni on Toast with Fried Eggs

Adapted from a Food Republic recipe from Cook on Shoestring by Sophie Wright

Serves 2

2 3/4 oz. sliced pepperoni, cut in half
2 garlic cloves, minced
Pinch of red chili pepper flakes
15-oz. can navy beans, drained and rinsed
15-oz. can diced tomatoes
Seasoned salt (or plain salt) and freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of sugar
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 eggs
Pinch of ground cumin
2 slices of bread
Butter, to spread on the toast
Coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1. Heat a medium nonstick frying pan over medium-low heat. Add the pepperoni and cook for a few minutes until it starts to render fat. Add the garlic and chili pepper flakes and cook for about a minute until the garlic is fragrant. Add the beans, season with seasoned salt and pepper and stir to combine, then add the tomatoes and sugar. Cook at a simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.

2. Heat vegetable oil in a medium nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, break the eggs one-at-a-time into the pan. Break the yolks if desired or leave them whole. Season with salt, pepper and cumin. After a couple minutes, flip the eggs over and cook another minute or so to desired doneness.

3. Toast the bread (nice easy step).

4. To serve: Butter the toast and put on a plate, top with half the pepperoni-bean mixture and place a fried egg on top. Sprinkle with cilantro.

Sautéed Garlic-Ginger Green Beans

For another variation on a green bean side dish, this Asian-style dish adds a dose of bright flavors. Although it seems trendy to leave fresh green beans whole, I like to cut them into 1 1/2-inch pieces so they're easier to eat.

Sautéed Garlic-Ginger Green Beans

1 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. minced fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
Pinch of chili pepper flakes
2 tsp. lemon zest
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. soy sauce
Sesame seeds (optional garnish)

1. Heat a large saucepan half filled with water over medium-high heat until boiling. Add beans and cook for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. In a medium frying pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add ginger and garlic and saute until softened but not browned, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle with chili pepper flakes. Increase heat to medium-high. Add drained beans to pan and sauté, stirring frequently, until lightly browned. Add lemon zest, lemon juice and soy sauce and stir to coat beans. Remove from pan and serve topped with sesame seeds.

Fresh Take on Green Bean Casserole

Fans of classic green bean casserole look away now. You're not going to like what I have to say about the drab, sodium-laden dish that graces far too many Thanksgiving tables every year.

I think the idea of cooking green beans with mushrooms and onions to produce a mixture of soft and crisp textures is wonderful. I just don't think the way most people do it--i.e. with canned cream of mushroom soup, canned green beans and canned fried onions (remarkable that you can get this canned) is the way to go.

With this recipe, I sought to reinvent classic green bean casserole with fresh ingredients and lots of flavor, while being true to the original recipe's principal ingredients: mushrooms, onions and, of course, green beans. I also made the recipe with no cans, everything is fresh, which improves the nutritional profile of dish considerably, especially the sodium, even though I made it with added bacon and cheese (more on that later).

Instead of cream of mushroom soup, I used mushrooms, specifically creminis, which I sautéed. I also used fresh green beans instead of canned (or frozen), which provide a brighter color and better texture. Substituting sautéed onions for the fried onions does mean a loss of crispiness. To compensate, I added a finishing coating of toasted panko. Additional flavor boosts came from the hickory-smoked bacon and the gruyere cheese, which I melted into a béchamel sauce, not too dissimilar from how you make a mornay cheese sauce for mac & cheese. A little white wine and a dash of nutmeg give the sauce a refined flavor.

Amazingly, despite being made with bacon and cheese, my dish has less than half the sodium content of the traditional version made with canned ingredients. Using a recipe calculator, I estimated that the Campbell's recipe if made with regular cream of mushroom soup, Green Giant brand canned green beans and French's french-fried onions, contains about 6,016 mg of sodium, or 1,003 grams per serving. Given that the recommended daily allowance is 2,300 mg for a healthy person, you're looking at nearly half of your daily sodium intake for a single serving. If you're on a low-sodium diet of 1,500 mg max, it's two-thirds of your daily intake.

In contrast, my dish has about 2,400 grams, or about 400 grams per serving. While I wouldn't describe that as "low salt," it's less than half the sodium content of the version made with canned ingredients. Obviously, there's still a good number of calories here, 274 per serving, to be specific.

Green Bean Casserole with Bacon and Mushrooms

1/2 lb. hickory-smoked bacon, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 sweet onion, diced
Seasoned salt, to taste
8 oz. cremini mushrooms, stems removed and caps thinly sliced
2 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 1/4-inch pieces
3 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. unsalted butter
3 tbsp. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup dry white wine (I used sauvignon blanc)
1 cup milk (skim is fine)
Dash of ground nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper
4 oz. gruyere cheese, shredded
1/2 cup panko crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Heat a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until browned and its fat has rendered. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon. Remove bacon fat in excess of 1 tablespoon (reserve the bacon fat). Add onion, season with salt and cook until softened. Remove from pan. Add a tablespoon of reserved bacon fat back to the pan. Sauté the sliced mushrooms until browned. Remove from pan and set aside in a large bowl with the cooked bacon and onion.

3. Meanwhile, bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Add the green beans and cook for 3 minutes. Remove the beans transfer to to an ice water bath. When cooled, add to the bowl with the bacon, onion and mushrooms.

4. In a large frying pan, melt butter over medium heat and add flour. Cook, whisking constantly, until lightly browned. Add white wine and whisk to combine. Add milk, season with nutmeg, salt, freshly ground black pepper and cayenne pepper and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add the shredded gruyere cheese and stir with a whisk until melted and combined.

5. While the sauce cooks, heat remaining 2 tsp. butter in a small frying pan over medium-low heat. Add panko, stir to coat with butter and toast lightly on low heat until (do not brown the crumbs).

6. Pour the cheese sauce over the cooked beans, bacon, onion and mushrooms and stir to combine. Transfer to a 9 x 13 baking dish. Spread the toasted panko evenly on top. Bake until heated through and the mixture bubbles a bit, about 20 minutes. If the panko topping isn't browned, heat the oven broiler and broil the casserole for about 30-45 seconds until lightly browned (watch carefully to prevent burning).

Chili Week Roundup

Whether your like your spicy bowl authentically Texan, Asian-influenced, Cincinnati-style or loaded with beans and vegetables there is a chili style for you. Here's a round up of the chili recipes I featured on the site last week.

Chili Con Carne. This is the smoky Texas original, a meat-forward recipe with fresh and ground chiles and no beans.

BBQ Turkey Chili-Stew. Loaded with vegetables, beans and lean ground turkey, this is a healthy version of a hearty chili with a good dose of smoky flavor.

Cincinnati Chili. Drawing on Tex-Mex, Italian and Middle Eastern influences, this is the midwestern classic.

Thai-Style Chili. Inspired by Tom Kha Gai, my favorite Thai soup, this chili is a fusion of Eastern and Western flavors.

Shutdown Survival Cooking

Most of the recipes I write about on Cook In / Dine Out can be made in less than an hour. While I'm not aiming to write a convenience cooking site, it's just a practical matter: I work full-time and I don't have time to make elaborate meals during the week. When you do see longer recipes on my site, they're probably ones I made on a weekend.

With the federal government having shut down, many home cooks may find themselves with extra time to explore midweek cooking that's more involved than usual. Seize the opportunity to make something special for your family, your sweetie or just yourself. Besides filling time, a tasty cooking project can nourish your body and your soul. Plus, it provides the satisfaction of accomplishing something.

Below are some of the more time-intensive recipes I've featured, sorted by category. I've also discussed ways to cut costs on some of the recipes, since, non-pay status makes splurging on luxury food items feel like, well, a luxury. By their nature though, a lot of recipes that take a long time to cook don't use expensive ingredients. It's the time and care that bring out their good flavors.

Bolognese lasagna, from Marcella Hazan's recipe, is a great afternoon cooking project with common ingredients.

Meats

The complex flavor of bolognese sauce comes from slowly cooking it over the course of the afternoon. This Bolognese-Style Lasagna takes the better part of the day to make, given the time for the sauce, assembling the dish and baking it. The recipe is from Italian-food cook Marcella Hazan, who died this week. Cost savings: nothing in this recipe is particularly expensive except possibly the tomatoes if you buy an imported brand.

Spice-Brined Roast Chicken will easily fill up several days, since it requires an overnight brine, drying time and the actual roasting. Cost savings: there's no getting around the cost of the chicken, although if you substitute whatever spices you have on hand for the brine, that's really the only cost in this dish.

Slow-cooking meats is the sort of day-long process I usually only have time for on the weekend. Slow cooking is a great way to treat pork shoulder which, in the Carnitas Tacos, gets an additional broil in the oven to crisp it up a bit. Although the pork has many hours of inactive cooking, this recipe will fill that time as you prepare the homemade corn tortillas and corn salsa, refried black beans and guacamole garnishes. Cost savings: the pork shoulder is the only major cost of this dish; the masa harina, while seemingly exotic to some, is less expensive (and way tastier) than store-bought corn tortillas. If you don't have a tortillas press, roll the balls of dough out between two sheets of plastic wrap or parchment to about 1/8-inch thickness.

Jacques Pepin's Beef Stew in Red Wine Sauce gets a good long roast in the oven.

Stews

The very word "stew" implies something that is cooked slowly over a period of many hours. I've made two really incredible stews this year that are well worth their time. Jacques Pepin's Beef Stew in Red Wine Sauce is about the best Beef Bourguignon I've ever had. The meat is first browned on the stove and then roasted in the oven with the wine for a long time. The vegetables are cooked separately and then combined in the end. Cost savings: use less-expensive beef chuck in place of flatiron steak; any red wine will work, although make sure it's one you would also drink (don't substitute a so-called "cooking wine"). 

Smoky Red Wine, Pinto Bean and Bacon Soup, an absolutely wonderful recipe by New York Times writer Melissa Clark, still takes hours to prepare, despite the time I shaved off by cooking the beans with a faster method. If you love beans and bacon, this is the best way I've ever had them together. Cost savings: using dried beans is more economical than canned; use any red wine you have on hand, but don't substitute a bad wine or that will be reflected in your dish.

Sweet Corn Agnolotti, from a recipe by Mike Isabella, takes time to prepare the filling, sauce and assembly.

Homemade Pasta

It's so easy to open a box of dried pasta and boil it. It's another thing to make your own. Fresh pasta has a flavor and texture that dried pasta just cannot beat. For something simple, try Fresh Pasta with Homemade Ricotta and Roasted Tomato Sauce (homemade ricotta is another good cooking project). For something more involved, try Toasted Fazzoletti with Mushrooms and Hazelnuts or, if you're really up to a challenge, Sweet Corn Agnolotti with Mushrooms, from a recipe by Mike Isabella of Graffiato and Top Chef. Cost savings: Although pasta (semolina) flour is often recommended, you can make pasta with standard all-purpose flour. Substitute sauce ingredients as needed. 

Homemade gnocchi is worth the effort as it's much better than store-bought.

Gnocchi

Gnocchi dishes come together in a snap if you use store-bought gnocchi. Making your own takes time, but I think you'll find it's worth it. You can get much lighter, tastier dumplings if you make them yourself. Although potato is traditional, such as in Gnocchi with Sausage-Mushroom Ragu, using other root vegetables like sweet potatoes (Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Sage) or beets (Beet Gnocchi with Walnut-Sage Butter) are more flavorful. Cost savings: at their most basic, gnocchi are just potato, flour, egg, salt and water, so they're pretty inexpensive; it's the sauces that may set you back more, so feel free to experiment and substitute with what you have on hand.

At the tail end of tomato season, it's the perfect time to roast tomatoes and use them in something like this panzanella.

Roasted Tomatoes

It takes a good 2 1/2 to 3 hours to roast tomatoes, so any of the dishes I've made with them will take at least the afternoon to prepare. Homemade roasted tomatoes are amazing--such a depth of flavor. Recipes include Creamy Roasted Tomato Gazpacho, Roasted Tomato Risotto, Tomatoes Two-Ways Pasta, Pizza, Roasted Tomato Panzanella and even Roasted Tomato Cocktails. Cost savings: although I strongly recommend using fresh, seasonal tomatoes, even grocery-store tomatoes will improve with roasting.

Making your own broth, such as roasted tomato broth, greatly enhances the flavor of this risotto over a store-bought substitute.

Stock

For lots of recipes, I turn to the 2- or 4-cup boxes of premade stocks and broths, which is an enormous time-saver for midweek cooking. But if you have the time, homemade stock is worth it. I've made two vegetable stocks that I really like: one for Navy Bean Soup with Kielbasa and another with Roasted Tomatoes that I used for making risotto. Cost savings: As money-saving dishes go, stocks are one of the best, since you can use whatever vegetables (including scraps) and seasonings you have on hand.

Blackberry-Vanilla Ice Cream Pie with Corn Cookie Crust requires first making two separate recipes and putting them together into a delicious final product.

Desserts

The fastest way to slow down a dessert is to add multiple stages. Ice cream pies, for example, require first making cookies and pulverizing them to form the crust ingredients, plus making the ice cream, before forming the crust, spooning in the ice cream and freezing it. It's a great way to showcase unique flavor combinations. Check out Cereal Milk Ice Cream Pie with Compost Cookie Crust or Blackberry-Vanilla Ice Cream Pie with Corn Cookie Crust. Cost savings: for the corn cookies, substitute either corn flour or a mix of fine corn meal and flour for the ground freeze-dried corn. Ingredients in the compost cookies can be substituted for whatever snacky things you have on hand--various chips, nuts, etc. 

In addition to being a multi-stage dessert, Cereal Milk Baked Alaska with Brown Butter Cake requires extra time in the freezer between steps (very important time, by the way; the first time I made Baked Alaska I skipped some freezer time and really regretted it). Caramelized Parsnip Layer Cake requires extra time to first prepare, roast and mash the parsnips. Cost savings: for the cereal milk ice cream, substitute any flavorful sugary cereal for the Cinnamon Toast Crunch if you don't have that (Honey-Nut Cheerios would be good, I bet); carrots could be used instead of parsnips in the cake.