Soup/Stew

For easy, hands-off dinner prep, throw chicken thighs, green chiles, white beans, and a flurry of spices into your slow cooker and come home to a hearty, flavorful meal.

Radiating the aromas of toasted cumin and coriander, and spiked with the salty-sour pucker of cured lemons and olives, this chicken stew produces a heady effect. If you can’t find preserved lemons in your local food markets (high-end stores usually stock them), you can order them or make them yourself.

This brothy beans-and-greens stew is all about the spicy chile-herb "smash" that gets scattered on top.

The chicken should be falling-apart tender; if it starts to shred when you plate it, that’s a good sign!

Keep frozen shrimp in your freezer and a few staples like rice and coconut milk on hand and you can whip up this one-pot dinner any night of the week.

Unlike most legumes, dried lentils cook quickly, which means this satisfying soup is fast enough for a weeknight supper. Make a double batch and pack up individual servings for lunches.

You won't miss the meat in this hearty vegan soup inspired by stuffed peppers. Cut day-of prep time by making a big batch of rice in advance and using it in multiple meals.

Smoked paprika gives an almost bacon-like flavor to meatless meals like this vegan chili.

Tamarind gives this hearty stew a pleasant sweet-sour pucker.

There's a time for a 20-ingredient, four-hour curry, and it's not 5pm on Thursday. This shortcut version yields a hearty crowd-pleaser.

Sometimes all your body wants is a vacation from intense eating. That's where this feel-good (but fill-you-up) broth comes in.

Make any modifications that suit you and the preferences of your eaters: Onions in place of shallots; carrots for fennel; add garlic; omit the cayenne; a splash of cream instead of butter, as you wish.