From hearty kale soup and easy chicken broth to crispy Brussels sprouts and herby beans, these 21 recipes will start your year on a simple, refreshing note.
This January, we’re focused on crunchygreen salads, seasonal winter produce, craveablevegetable-heavy dishes, and undemanding butdelicious soups. As much as we love hefty plates of prime rib, we’re admittedly excited to leave extravagant holiday dinners behind and move onto simple meals that keep us warm and well-fed during this month’s chilly, crisp nights.
- Salads
- Easy Soups
- Healthy-ish Dinners
- The Best of Seasonal Produce
Salads
1 of 5Thomas J. Story
Fennel, Almond, and Pecorino Salad
For abright, crunchy salad, use fennel, chopped almonds, parsely, and grated pecorino cheese with a simple dressing of extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, and Dijon mustard. Make it even heartier by adding grilled shrimp or artichoke hearts.
2 of 5Annabelle Breakey
Salmon Sesame Salad
Thislemongrass chile dressingis a recipe you’ll use over and over again, but we especially love it on thissalmon, cabbage, snow pea, avocado, orange, and cilantro salad.
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3 of 5Iain Bagwell
Roasted Vegetable Salad with Honey Dressing
A touch of honey in thiswarm saladbrings out the natural sweetness in roasted onions, sweet potatoes, fennel, and bell peppers. (Of course, you can change up the vegetables to whatever you want.) For an extra layer of flavor, serve with shaved parmesan or asiago cheese.
4 of 5Iain Bagwell
Shrimp and White Bean Salad with Lemon Dressing
Combining mild, subtly bitterchicory greens with sweet shrimpis an easy win. A lemon juice- and zest-based dressing adds an extra zing that we just love.
5 of 5Dylan + Jeni
Hearty Winter Salad
Salads aren’t just for lunch. ThisHearty Winter Saladis filling enough to make for dinner thanks to a mix of radicchio, slightly smashed potatoes, chickpeas, and a sherry vinegar dressing.
Easy Soups
1 of 5Thomas J. Story
Butternut Squash and Corn Soup
Make this silkysquash soupon a particularly chilly January night. Corn adds a sweet note, while chicken broth makes it extra flavorful.
2 of 5Annabelle Breakey
Creamy Pumpkin Seed and Green Chile Posole
We remade the usual pork-based posole as avegetarian versionwith toasted pumpkin seeds, green chile, zucchini, and vegetable broth. For a vegan version, just skip the final sprinkle of cotija cheese.
3 of 5Iain Bagwell
Red Russian Kale and Chorizo Soup (Caldo Verde)
A little bit of heat sets thiskale and chorizo soupapart from being another run-of-the-mill broth. When you’re at the farmers’ market, look for Red Russian kale, a mild-flavored heirloom variety with a purple and gray-green color.
4 of 5Annabelle Breakey
Shiitake Mushroom and Tofu Soup
Aclear broth souppacked with soft cabbage, mushrooms, tofu, and rice noodles is perfect for a night spent at home. Bonus: the entire soup only takes 30 minutes to make.
5 of 5Annabelle Breakey
Toasted Bread, Bean, and Vegetable Soup
Ourlighter version of ribollita(a sturdy Tuscan bread and vegetable soup) has a ton of onions, carrots, celery, cannellini beans, tomatoes, Swiss chard, and just a bit of olive oil-toasted bread on top.
Healthy-ish Dinners
1 of 6Iain Bagwell
Sweet and Spicy Red Kuri Squash Bowl
Beautiful orange slices ofroasted red kuri squash and scoops of coconut riceare topped with a sticky sweet and spicy sauce. You can use any Asian chile paste or sauce in your refrigerator to add a touch of heat, but we especially like Huy Fong Foods’ sambal oelek.
2 of 6Thomas J. Story
Miso-Marinated Black Cod
Created by chef Nobu Matsuhisa in New York more than 20 years ago, thisdelicate, buttery dishis the simple, healthy dinner we crave after all those extravagant holiday parties. Our version features green onions and ginger.
3 of 6Stephanie Spencer
Flageolet Beans with Rosemary and Thyme
It takes just a few minutes to prep the ingredients for thisherby pot of beans, then they simmer to tenderness in a slow-cooker. There’s no need to soak the beans beforehand; they cook to a tender finish straight from the package.
4 of 6James Carrier
Garbanzo-Tomato Curry
You probably have most of the ingredients to this comfortingGarbanzo Tomato Curryin your pantry already. The base of this dish is canned beans and diced tomatoes plus a mix of spices, so there’s not much pre-planning necessary.
5 of 6Yunhee Kim
Bengali Five-Spice Roasted Chicken and Vegetables
Chicken legs and thighs, bell peppers, potatoes, and carrotsare tossed inpanch phoron — a five-spice blend of black mustard seeds, fennel seeds, nigella seeds, fenugreek seeds, and cumin seeds — and roasted in a very hot oven to toast the spices. This dish brings almost as much comfort as your favorite oversized sweater.
6 of 6Thomas J. Story
Turmeric Cauliflower Rice
Riced caulifloweris sauteed with onion, garlic, and brightly colored, earthy-flavored turmeric for a vegan side dish that can be used in grain bowls, soups, and salads. Make it on a Monday and eat it throughout the week.
The Best of Seasonal Produce
1 of 5Annabelle Breakey
Baked Eggs with Leeks and Mushrooms
Take advantage of leek season with this super easyone-pan supper. Roast mushrooms and leeks for 10 minutes, then add eggs and goat cheese and bake for another 10 minutes. We like it with crusty bread and runny yolks.
2 of 5ErinKunkel
Brussels Sprout Salad with Pecorino and Tangerines
January is prime season for Brussels sprouts, so if you’ve never had raw Brussels before, now’s the time. Thisraw sprouts saladis very straightforward, which lets the sweet tangerines and sharp pecorino shine.
3 of 5Paul Brissman
Crispy Brussels Sprouts with Prosciutto Chips
In Antoni Porowski’s new cookbookAntoni in the Kitchen, the Queer Eye food and wine expert writes, “Brussels sprouts are one of my favorite vegetables, and I’ve had them every which way. At home, I always come back to keeping them simple: charred on the outside, with a nice firm-tender bite in the center. Prosciutto chips add a deliciously smoky, meaty umami bite.”
Tip: Cutting a little V into the base of each spout makes for even cooking while keeping the leaves intact.
Crispy Brussels Sprouts with Prosciutto Chips is excerpted from ANTONI IN THE KITCHEN © 2019 by Antoni Porowski with Mindy Fox. Photography © 2019 by Paul Brissman. Reproduced by permission of Rux Martin Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
4 of 5Ngoc Minh Ngo
Meyer Lemon Salsa Verde
Meyer lemons are still in full swing, which is enough of an excuse for us to make thisMeyer Lemon Salsa Verdeon repeat. Eat it on scrambled eggs, grilled bread, steaks, or roasted vegetables. There’s really no wrong answer.
5 of 5Dan Goldberg
Meyer-lemon Cake
And of course, meyer lemons aren’t designated to savory dishes only. ThisMeyer Lemon Cakeis aSunsetclassic. Just be sure to cook the lemons before adding them to the cake to mellow their flavor.
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- Healthy
- January
- Recipes
- Winter in the West