America's Test Kitchen

For a roasted vegetable pasta recipe with sweet and complex vegetables, we sliced the vegetables to maximize the surface area available for browning; tossed them with oil, salt, pepper, and a little sugar to jump-start caramelization; and roasted them on a preheated baking sheet to cut cooking time and boost browning. For a sauce that would unite the components of our roasted vegetable pasta recipe, we liked the earthy sweetness of a roasted garlic vinaigrette.

Vegan burgers are often bean-based; starchy, protein-packed beans taste great, hold together well, and are satisfying. Looking for a modern twist on the typical bean burger, we combined pinto beans with vibrant shredded beets, and we also packed in a generous amount of basil leaves. The result was a substantial but fresh-tasting burger with some sweetness from the beets and the bright, complementary aroma of basil. We incorporated bulgur for heft and ground nuts for meaty richness. Garlic and mustard deepened the savory flavors. While the bulgur cooked, we pulsed the other ingredients in the food processor to just the right consistency. To bind the burgers, we turned to a surprising ingredient: carrot baby food. The carrot added tackiness, and its subtle sweetness heightened that of the shredded beets; plus, it was already conveniently pureed. Panko bread crumbs further bound the mixture and helped the patties sear up with a crisp crust.

The magic of this recipe lies in the cooking technique. We added seasoned chicken breasts to a cold skillet, turned on the heat, and cooked the chicken until the fat was rendered and the skin was browned before finishing the chicken skin side up in the oven. We pulled the chicken from the oven when it registered 160 degrees (accounting for carryover cooking) to ensure that it stayed juicy and absolutely delicious. While the chicken rested, we stirred together a pan sauce, incorporating the same spices used to season the chicken.

Baked goods are a great way to use up zucchini. Because of its high moisture content, zucchini produces a moist cake. However, if not used correctly, zucchini can leave baked goods extremely wet and gummy. By removing a majority of the juice from the zucchini, along with most other sources of moisture, and lowering the fat, we were able to up our zucchini content from 12 ounces to 1 1/2 pounds without sacrificing a properly moist and tender crumb.

Our favorite method for cooking steak to perfection is also the best way to produce a thick, juicy, medium-rare burger.

Hand pies treat you to the pleasures of sugar-crusted pastry and vibrant, jewel-toned fruit without tethering you to a plate and fork. The dough needs a little extra structure, so we made rough puff: a type of pastry dough that contains more gluten than most pie pastry and comes together by thoroughly working cold butter into the flour mixture and then rolling out and folding the dough a few times to create flaky layers. Using frozen fruit saved loads of prep work. Plus, it tastes at least as good as most fresh fruit because it's picked and frozen at its peak, and the freeze-thaw process tenderizes the pieces. Crushing a portion of the fruit with the sugar made a pulpy mash that filled in gaps between the chunks and released juice that gelled lightly when cooked with a little cornstarch. We stirred in plenty of lemon (or lime) juice for acidity and oomph. Making square (not round or crescent-shaped) parcels minimized dough waste and maximized efficiency on the assembly line. Rolling, filling, and sealing the dough using the same process we came up with to make hand-cut ravioli produced tidy, airtight packages. We briefly chilled the assembled pies to help them maintain their sharp, clean edges. Trimming the pastry edges with a fluted pastry wheel or decorating them with the tines of a fork or a serrated knife added visual appeal. Cutting distinctive vents—a series of slashes or a simple pattern on the top of the dough—made it easy to identify different fruit fillings. A sprinkle of demerara sugar on the top of each pie added a hint of sweetness and shimmer.

Pan-seared tofu, chickpeas, and pita chips made this vegan salad hearty enough for dinner.

We were after a char-grilled chicken infused with citrus and spice inspired by the chicken made at El Pollo Loco, the restaurant chain founded by Juan Francisco “Pancho” Ochoa. Cutting slits into bone-in chicken pieces before marinating gave more surface area for a bold marinade of orange and lemon zest, cumin, garlic, cinnamon, and cayenne to cling to. Cooking the chicken over indirect heat on a hot grill outfitted with a packet of wood chips infused the meat with a smoky flavor. Charring it on the hotter side of the grill for the last few minutes gave it a deeper color.

Julienne peelers are simple tools that can be used to cut rectangular strips called matchsticks from any firm vegetable or fruit, such as carrots, zucchini, cucumbers, squash, potatoes, daikon, papaya, beets, apples, and more. After we tested several models, our winner was the OXO Julienne Prep Y-Peeler, which met all our criteria: It quickly and smoothly cut crisp, neat, uniform matchsticks from a variety of produce with maximal ease and minimal waste. We also highly...

An ag-school melon expert weighs in on the tips that really work.

Our experience cooking rice and grains in the Instant Pot taught us the importance of using enough water for even cooking, adding a little oil to reduce starchy foam, and letting the pressure release naturally after cooking. The farro cooked so quickly under pressure that we found it was best to turn off the Instant Pot as soon as it came to pressure and let the cooking take place while it depressurized for 15 minutes. To make sure this salad looked as good as it tasted, we briefly blanched bite-size pieces of asparagus and snap peas in the hot cooking liquid before draining the farro. This brought out their vibrant color and crisp-tender bite. A lemon-herb dressing served as a complement to the earthy farro, while cherry tomatoes and feta cheese offered a fresh, full-flavored finish.

The ingredient list for spaghetti aglio e olio (spaghetti with garlic and olive oil) is a simple one. But versions we tried strayed from this dish’s humble roots. We wanted to create a creamy pasta according to the traditional method—without the addition of heavy cream or cheese, letting the pasta’s starches do the work of thickening the sauce for us. We started by lightly simmering equal parts garlic and olive oil in a small saucepan to soften the harshness of the garlic and to infuse the oil, waiting until the end to add pepper flakes to prevent burning. Reserving some of the cooking water before draining the pasta—which we removed just before it was fully cooked—allowed us to use the starchy water to create a silky sauce. We simply set the garlic oil, pasta water, and parcooked, drained pasta back overheat in the pasta cooking pot and stirred to create a full-bodied sauce while the pasta finished cooking through. As a final touch, we added 3tablespoons of parsley for color and vibrancy that melded cohesively with the other flavors.

There’s a good reason that strawberry mousse recipes aren’t very prevalent: The berries contain lots of juice, which can ruin the texture of a mousse that should be creamy and rich. Plus, the fruit flavor produced by most strawberry mousse recipes is too subtle. We start by processing berries into small pieces and macerating them with sugar and a little salt. This causes them to release liquid, which we then reduce to a syrup before adding it to the mousse—a technique that not only limits the amount of moisture in the dessert but also concentrates the berry flavor. Then we fully puree the juiced berries, which contribute bright, fresh berry flavor. Finally, we choose our stabilizers carefully: gelatin for structure, and cream cheese, an unusual addition, for richer, creamier body.

For us, one of the most gratifying experiences as cooks is working with a completely new ingredient and coming up with something delicious. After discovering that store-bought coconut butter—a concentrated, jarred puree of dried coconut meat—could be slowly browned to produce a tahini-like paste with the intense flavors of toasted coconut and toffee, we knew we had to use it in a cookie. Here we achieve the crisp-chewy texture of a good sugar cookie and the toffee-like flavor of my favorite chocolate chip cookie. Without using butter. Or eggs. Or even vanilla. In fact, this vegan cookie contains only six ingredients (plus a little water). With very little to stand in its way, the browned coconut butter flavor is front and center. This cookie is craggy and crispy at the edges, chewy in the center, and bursting with toffee-like toasted coconut flavor. 

The perfect companion for Baltimore pit beef.

This refreshing salad is a terrific way to use the squash cores and trimmings from our Kousa Mihshi (Lebanese Stuffed Squash) recipe, but it can also be made separately. Sautéing the zucchini briefly softened its texture and made a pleasing contrast to the crisp Persian cucumbers; refrigerating the zucchini halted the cooking, and draining it removed moisture that would have made the salad watery. Toasting the pine nuts deepened their nutty flavor. Lemon juice and sumac combined with olive oil made for a simple, bright-tasting dressing. Flake sea salt seasoned the salad and contributed another textural element to the mix.