This satisfying soup is an excellent one-pot dinner to come home to after a long day. It takes only 10 minutes to throw it together in the morning and 10 minutes to finish it in the evening. If you plan to be away for eight hours or more, set the cook time for four hours, then set the slow cooker to auto-switch to warm for the remaining time. (This prevents overcooking.) If you’ll be home when the soup is done and can remove it from the heat, it’s best to cook the chicken for five to six hours. Add only the tortellini you will eat right away. Leftover tortellini will get mushy.
While you’re at the beach, at work or doing anything at all, these bright, light, brothy meatballs can be stewing in the slow cooker. They are made in the style of kofte (from the Persian word meaning “grind”), in which ground meat is combined with lots of herbs and ground spices. Yogurt adds moisture and tang, but you don’t need another binder or to brown the meat first. As the meatballs slowly cook, their juices mingle with the tomatoes to create a rich but tart broth. Eat with grains (bulgur wheat, farro, rice), couscous, noodles or pita. For a stovetop version, see the Tip.
When fennel is kissed by an oven’s fiery heat, its strong anise flavor is toned down and replaced by a mellow char and sweetness. Similarly, roasting grapes intensifies the fruit’s juices, deepens its flavor and takes off the acidic edge, giving way to more of a dark, almost winelike character. Together, the roasted fennel and grapes make a lovely warm winter salad, enhanced by a zingy shallot-citrus vinaigrette. The whole lot gets topped off with crunchy, toasted walnuts and a generous shower of Manchego cheese, which lend texture and heft. (You can sub in any sharp and tangy sheep’s milk cheese.)
This simple weeknight red curry relies on jarred or canned red curry paste for flavor, which you can find at larger supermarkets and specialty markets. Transfer leftover canned curry paste to a jar, top it with a little oil and store in the refrigerator for up to a month. Or freeze for longer storage. Feel free to substitute other vegetables for the mushrooms and snow peas, though you might have to increase the cooking time slightly if using something dense like carrot or cubed winter squash.
This tumble of crisp tofu, charred cabbage and citrusy coriander includes a couple tricks you’ll want to employ in other dishes. The flavor of the stir-fry is propelled by using the coriander plant multiple ways: Combining coriander seeds with fresh stems and leaves — also known as cilantro — creates a range of complex but related flavors. Then there’s what might be the quickest — and your new favorite — way to cook cabbage: When large pieces of cabbage are cooked undisturbed in a hot pan, they don’t have a chance to turn to mush. Instead, the cabbage becomes sweet and crisp-tender, with a smoky edge. Eat the stir-fry with grains or noodles, like rice noodles or soba.