Just Soup (& sandwiches & salads) / Solo Sopa

Easy to assemble but far from basic, this cucumber salad delivers a riot of flavors and textures with snappy cucumbers, velvety peanut sauce, crunchy cilantro-peanut topping and zingy chile oil The details make all the difference: First, salting the cucumbers mutes the fruit’s subtly bitter notes while heightening flavor Next, the simple peanut sauce adds richness to the cool cucumbers

If you don’t cook tofu often (or even if you do), this unfussy tofu dish is for you: There’s no flour-dredging or shallow-frying, and no marinating at all As long as you pat the tofu dry (a bit fussy, but not by much), the vegetable oil’s high smoke point will yield crisp edges, while the sesame oil imparts flavor, putting you well on your way to making tofu taste great What’s more, a ginger-and-garlic-laced soy sauce coats noodles and tofu alike, giving you chopstick after chopstick of toothsome pleasure

Soba, Japanese buckwheat noodles, are ideal for salads because they taste particularly great when served cold Crunchy vegetables are highlighted here, adding lots of crisp, fresh texture Substitute with any raw vegetables you have on hand, such as cabbage, carrot, fennel, asparagus, broccoli or cauliflower

A sandal that’s just asking to go swimming

All the usual suspects found in a vegetarian bean chili appear in this salad — canned beans, tomato, bell pepper, red onion and spices — but there’s no cooking-with-heat required The tomatoes are salted to tenderize and coax out their sweet, umami juices Cumin, coriander, smoked paprika and dried oregano inject smoky earthiness and complexity

Pickling celery for just fifteen minutes is a game changer: The acid tames its grassy notes, brings out savoriness and transforms its texture from simply crunchy to crisp-tender Here, celery is quickly pickled with red onion to create a sweet-and-sour foundation for this hearty cannellini bean salad The cumin seeds are optional, but they add a deeply earthy and aromatic edge to the pickles; feel free to substitute or experiment with other whole spices such as caraway, coriander, fennel or star anise

This colorful grain salad gains punchy acidity from pepperoncini and lightly pickled vegetables While the nutty farro is cooking, the soaking begins: Scallions, radishes, cucumber, parsley and white beans are tossed in a sherry-Dijon dressing spiked with a spoonful of pepperoncini pickling liquid The beans add a creamy texture to the dish in lieu of cheese, though a crumbled feta or torn mozzarella would work nicely

Throw together this exciting tangle of soba noodles, grilled mushrooms and tofu, raw vegetables and maple-miso dressing for your next picnic or warm-weather dinner Hitting mushrooms and tofu with a little heat accentuates the nutty quality of the soba, while snap peas, serrano chile and herbs give this plant-based salad a juicy crunch Lime juice, miso and maple work double duty as the salad’s dressing and the tofu’s marinade, which chars once it hits the grill

Pulling from the greatest hits of chicken salads, with crunchy walnuts, crisp apples, sweet raisins and a spiced mayo-yogurt dressing, this best-of-all-worlds sandwich subs out the chicken for cauliflower The aggressively roasted cauliflower serves as a sponge, soaking up all the flavors of the dressing while adding layers of bitterness and earthiness This salad only gets better as it sits, allowing the flavors to meld and the cauliflower to soak up even more dressing

This light, summery Minimalist recipe for shrimp salad, from 1998, still carries a lot of heft Lightly sweet shrimp is enhanced by cayenne, paprika, garlic and a bit of lemon juice A bed of arugula and mint adds freshness to cut through the heat

Basically a vegetable-studded potato salad with mayonnaise, Russian salad is hugely popular all over the world for family gatherings and festive events It’s a beloved, traditional party dish riffed on almost everywhere but my own home: I’d only ever seen pasty, congealed versions I would never wish to eat until I tried this one from Vladimir Ocokoljic, served at his Serbian restaurant Kafana in New York City While not quite as demanding as his aunt back in Belgrade, who used to slice even the peas in half, Mr

Many cucumber salads are dressed with some combination of salt, acidity (such as vinegar or lemon juice) and something tangy and creamy (Sour cream is commonly used in Germany, Scandinavia and the Midwest; buttermilk in the South; and yogurt in the Mediterranean, Southwest Asia and South Asia.) This recipe skips the first step of salting by instead substituting pickles — cucumbers fermented in salt and vinegar — in place of raw cucumbers They’re still crunchy, but also pack a fierce punch

This recipe is your invitation to the pasta and pickle party Dill pickles work double time here: The brine is added to the creamy dressing to bring acidity, while a generous amount of pickles are used in the salad, bringing crunch and saltiness The sourness of the pickles and the punch of the quick-pickled shallots really cut through the heaviness that is often found in creamy, mayonnaise-laden pasta salads

This humble, bright yellow soup hails from Stone Town, Zanzibar, and is a popular street food known as Zanzibari Mix or Urojo It’s affordable, filling, and reflective of the island's cross-cultural history Traditionally served with various accompaniments like lentil fritters, cassava chips, chutneys, and sometimes hard-boiled eggs for protein, this dish has become synonymous with the island

The velvety combination of beans and coconut milk is found in a number of African and Caribbean dishes, like Nigerian frejon and Haitian sos pwa nwa In this recipe, black beans are simmered in coconut milk with a healthy dose of fresh ginger, then finished with lime juice The result is a light vegan main or side dish

Convenient and tender rotisserie chicken, sautéed scallions and garlic, vinegar-soaked currants and a couple big handfuls of peppery arugula make up this simple yet very flavorful sandwich Inspired by the wood-oven-roasted chicken and bread salad from Zuni Café in San Francisco, this is a take on that famed dish in sandwich form Parmesan and toasted nuts add texture, depth and a hit of umami

Cooked ham lends a surprising amount of flavor to this simple, hearty soup Easy to put together using leftover ham or a ham steak, this recipe is perfect for a weeknight or a busy weekend The ham, joined by soft chunks of potato as well as soup all-stars carrot, onion and celery, is bathed in a creamy broth thickened with a quick roux made from flour and butter

From Japan’s katsu sando to Mexico’s pambazo, these are 80 of the most iconic sandwiches from around the globe.

This vibrant green pasta salad gets its color from a combination of spinach and basil, but you can swap the spinach for arugula for a more peppery finish (Some of us need a little bite in our lives!) The miso in the sauce does a lot of the heavy lifting, imparting a salty, almost Parmesan-like quality

The epitome of comfort food, traditional Irish stew has only a few ingredients: mutton, onions and potatoes In southern Ireland carrots are added, and some cooks venture so far as to add turnips These days, young lamb often replaces mutton for a more delicate version

The beauty of a soup like this — other than its bone-warming properties — is that you don’t need a recipe You can pretty much simmer together any combination of vegetables with a little water or broth, purée it, top it with good olive oil and salt, and end up with something good to eat The addition of miso paste and crushed coriander to the broth, and fresh lemon and cilantro at the end, zips things up without negating the comfort factor.

Creamy and comforting, this cauliflower soup happens to be vegan, and takes its silky texture from being simmered and thickened with roasted cashews The nuttiness of the cauliflower and the cashews is balanced by the addition of a tart apple The preferred thickness of creamed soups varies, so if the soup feels too thick, just adjust it to your ideal level of creaminess, adding more stock or water — and an additional sprinkle of salt — as needed.

In the canon of iconic Iranian stews, khoresh gheymeh holds a top spot alongside classics like ghormeh sabzi A seemingly humble dish of gently spiced meat and split peas, khoresh gheymeh can be served as a cozy home-cooked meal or a celebratory dish; in big batches as a means of giving alms to those in need; or during religious ceremonies “Gheymeh” refers to the size of the meat, which should be cut into small pieces

This creamy, cozy chicken stew is fast enough for a weeknight meal yet satisfying enough for a long Sunday dinner Boneless chicken thighs are used instead of  breasts, as they stay juicier longer Simmering them in the stew along with sweet paprika, chicken stock and a touch of apple cider vinegar adds surprising depth of flavor alongside dried herbs and plenty of vegetables for dimension and texture

Sweet, savory, and full of flavor, this easy weeknight noodle soup takes a cue from the warmly comforting northern Thai dish khao soi, with a curry-spiced coconut broth and toppings that offer crunch and contrast First, the butternut squash is simmered in the fragrant broth until very tender Then the squash is mashed, becoming one with the coconut milk before stock and sweet and savory seasonings are added (to keep the soup vegetarian, use soy sauce instead of fish sauce)

This recipe for a delicious raw beet dip comes from Botanica, a vegetable-focused restaurant in Los Angeles run by Emily Fiffer and Heather Sperling The recipe is easy — throw everything into the blender raw — though it requires a little time for the blades to break down the beets with walnuts, olive oil and a few other aromatics Fiffer and Sperling cleverly adapted the dip from muhammara, the Middle Eastern spread made from red peppers

Crunchy and tart like salad-e Shirazi yet sturdy enough to sit out for a couple hours, this salad dresses snappy raw zucchini and salty feta simply, with vinegar and oil But while summery salads can be ephemeral, this one has staying power because its seasonings — a za’atar-like combination of dried mint, sesame seeds and dried chile — bloom in the olive oil for a rich undercurrent of flavor Serve this dish as a side or build it into a whole meal by adding cooked grains, beans or another protein.

This recipe is adapted from the one that a Louisiana firefighter named Jeremy Chauvin entered into a national cook-off run by Hormel Foods in 2017, and that took home the prize for America’s Best Firehouse Chili It is not really a chili in the Texas sense of the word There is a roux at its base — it’s more like a chili gumbo, a bayou take on the original red

With minimal prep and a quick cook time, this shrimp stew feels elegant for such an easy weeknight meal You can also take the dish in a number of directions: Substitute the shrimp with an equal amount of flaky white fish or even seared scallops, or stretch the dish into a meal for six by stirring in some butter and serving over cooked spaghetti or rigatoni A good glug of your best olive oil would also be welcome.

Each bite of beef nilaga’s melt-in-your-mouth meat, buttery bits of bone marrow and tendon, and unctuous vegetable-laden beef broth is a symphony of textures and flavors. Here, Philippine-born chef Yana Gilbuena shares her recipe for the Filipino beef soup.