Onion

When I first heard about Ari Weinzweig's delicatessen in Ann Arbor, Michigan, I couldn't believe it. A deli in the home of my alma mater. It's not really a deli but more of an international food emporium like New York's Zabar's with a definite Jewish touch. Mr. Weinzweig, a drop-out Ph.D. candidate, has taken an academic and appetizing interest in updating Jewish recipes like mushroom and barley soup, going back in history to the nineteenth-century Eastern European version similar to that served at New York's Second Avenue Deli.

The first American Jewish recipe I found for fricassee, a kind of ragout — usually made with chicken, browned lightly with onions in fat and then simmered in the drippings — came from a section on Jewish recipes in Jennie June's American Cookery Book of 1866. Jennie June Croley was one of the first American newspaper women and founder of the Sorosis Club. In her only cookbook she included a chapter on Jewish "receipts," which probably came to her from her Jewish friend, Genie H. Rosenfeld. "These are all original and reliable, -- the contribution of a superior Jewish housekeeper in New York," she wrote. Mrs. Rosenfeld was the wife of the dramatist, Sydney Rosenfeld, who was also the first editor of Puck. This nineteenth-century recipe cooks well today. The slow sautéing of the onions along with the nutmeg, mace, and thyme enhances the taste of the chicken. Serve it with rice.

A feel-good meal full of crunchy veg and even crunchier pita chips.

Put this gorgeous green blender sauce toward whatever long noodle is in your pantry.

The high-impact flavors traditionally used in the marinade for Peruvian chicken—soy sauce, cumin, and paprika—are applied to grilled tofu with resounding success.

A kiss of heat makes an otherwise lovable dip simply irresistible.

In this vegetarian stir-fry, crumbling tofu dramatically increases its surface area, all the better for absorbing heady spices.

On a hot day, nothing satisfies quite like cold noodles in iced broth.

Add a bag of potato chips and you've got yourself a party.

Crispy. Golden. Fluffy. Bubbe would approve.

In this mushroom bourguignon, a vegetarian take on a French classic, earthy fungi braise in a wine-rich umami broth with pearl onions and tender carrots.

Roasted squash loses its bland reputation and turns glossy and fragrant thanks to a gingery miso-glaze and a quick scallion oil.

Fully loaded, meal-prep friendly, and ready to be dressed up, down, or sideways.

Tingly, salty, and irresistibly crunchy, this salt-and-pepper shrimp with cubes of crispy polenta (yes, from those tubes!) is a weeknight MVP.

This saucy noodle recipe gets its crunch from fiery, garlicky toasted cashews.

This speedy dinner features a verdant take on chili crisp, with scallions, jalapeños, and roasted peanuts for crunch.

Upgrade any cookout—or keep the cooking on the stovetop—with these smashed cast-iron bison burgers, then stack with lemon mayo and a crisp cucumber-onion slaw.

Charred chicken breasts coated in a tangy dry rub sit atop a fresh salad of tomatoes, cucumber, and onions.

Scallion-infused oil, or pa gireum in Korean, is a fragrant way to upgrade a pot of rice.

Savory cashew chicken meets tender asparagus in this lightning-fast dinner.