Master professional cooking techniques like slow-cooking a ribeye roast or pressure-cooking dried chickpeas. From ingenious hacks like making onion rings with pancake mix to reheating Chinese food, improve your kitchen efficiency.
Organ meats like hearts are some of the most underrated cuts available, notes cookbook author and "The New York Times" columnist Mark Bittman. A February 1993 article in "The Independent" supports this fact, noting that lamb heart is inexpensive, economical and easy to prepare.
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All sausages fall into one of two categories: fresh sausage, such as fresh kielbasa or bratwurst, and pre-cooked sausage like smoked sausage or knockwurst, according to the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council.
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Pierogies, traditional Eastern European dumplings, consist of a pasta-like dough encasing a filling that can include anything from potatoes and cheese to sauteed vegetables to fruit. Fresh pierogies can be deep-fried, sauteed, baked, grilled or boiled, but they cannot be cooked in the microwave.
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On busy weekdays, a quick, fuss-free chicken dinner can be a lifesaver. Your oven is a good option for preparing these meals -- while dinner cooks, you can turn your attention to steaming or microwaving some vegetables, cooking rice or pasta and setting the table, all in under 40 minutes.
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Traditional chicken cordon bleu calls for boneless skinless chicken breasts to be pounded thin, wrapped around slices of ham and cheese, dipped in seasoned breadcrumbs and whisked eggs, then pan- or deep-fried in oil and butter. The result is far from healthy.
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Red-skinned potatoes -- commonly called red potatoes or new potatoes -- are a nutritious addition to a healthy, balanced diet.
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Bratwurst is a richly seasoned German sausage prepared from pork or a mixture of pork and veal. Bratwurst comes either raw or precooked. You may prepare precooked bratwurst in the microwave, but fresh bratwurst requires other methods -- parboiling and grilling, for example -- to ensure that it is fully cooked.
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A medium-sized potato baked with its skin intact is a versatile, low-fat source of dietary fiber and essential nutrients like potassium, copper, iron, manganese, vitamin B-6, vitamin C and niacin.
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Canned pink salmon is economical, long-lasting and versatile. A 3-ounce serving contains only 4.2 grams of total fat, less than 1 gram of saturated fat and is an excellent source of vitamin B-12, vitamin D, selenium and heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
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Andouille sausage is a smoked meat typically prepared from seasoned pork and fat. Cajun andouille sausage, one of the two main andouille varieties, is a common ingredient in Louisiana Cajun specialty dishes such as gumbo and jambalaya.
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Chilean sea bass, also known as the Patagonian toothfish, is a large, white-fleshed fish primarily found in the deep water between Antarctica and the tip of South America. Although it shares the name, this fish does not belong to the bass family and is not the same as sea bass fished in the United States.
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If beans and legumes like black-eyed peas aren't a regular part of your diet, they should be, says the Harvard School of Public Health. Unlike animal-based foods, beans and legumes are naturally low in fat, have no cholesterol and contain enough nutrients for the U.S.
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If you have a home-grown supply of wax beans, consider yourself lucky. Wax beans -- which are commonly yellow but can also be purple or green -- are low in fat, high in dietary fiber and rich in nutrients like vitamin A.
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Edamame is the name given to young, immature green soybeans. They're quick-cooking, nutritious and versatile, notes "The New York Times" food columnist Mark Bittman. Edamame is available fresh or frozen, either shelled or still in the pod.
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A 1-cup serving of fresh squid -- also known as calamari -- is low in fat, rich in protein and an excellent source of essential nutrients like copper, selenium and vitamin B-12.
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Approximately 34 percent of Americans make a special meal on St. Patrick's Day, and by far the most popular choice -- although it isn't authentically Irish -- is corned beef. Traditional corned beef recipes call for boiling the meat in a large stock pot along with vegetables like carrots, potatoes and cabbage.
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Celery got its reputation as the ideal diet food from its low calorie content: A single cup of raw celery has just 16 calories. It is also cholesterol-free, contains only a trace amount of fat and has a high concentration of essential nutrients like vitamin K, vitamin A and fluoride.
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A 3-ounce serving of cooked cod is an excellent source of protein and essential nutrients, such as vitamin B-12 and selenium. While low in saturated fat and cholesterol, cod is rich in the omega-3 fatty acids that may help lower your risk of heart disease.
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More than half of all the snack nuts consumed in the United States annually are peanuts -- and salted, roasted peanuts are one of the most popular choices, according to 2013 information provided National Peanut Board.
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Biscuits are not complicated to make, says "New York Times" writer Sam Sifton. According to Sifton, a basic biscuit recipe calls for baking powder, flour, a liquid like water or milk and a source of fat, such as butter.
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