Mostly Meatless

Posted on March 3, 2026March 2, 2026 by Reluctant Retiree

Green Up Your Plate Without Totally Ditching the Meat

200+ plant-forward recipes for the modern-day omnivore looking to eat less meat

Vegetables take center stage in globally inspired nutritious meals, perfect for anyone following a Mediterranean diet

Attention plant-curious cooks, occasional vegetarians, even conflicted carnivores—anyone looking to reduce their meat consumption. This vibrant collection fills a needed middle ground with 200+ hearty recipes that center vegetables and make meat the sidekick. (About half the recipes include some form of meat!)

Re-engineers Your Favorites with Less Meat: Swiss Chard Enchiladas, Mostly Meatless Meatballs and Marinara, Bacon and Cheese Black Bean Burgers, and Parsnip and Chicken Shawarma bulk up comforting favorites with plants, while paring down the meat.

Vegetables at the Center (with Meat as a Seasoning): Embrace anchovies, bacon, and chorizo to season a heap of vegetables with a little meat—like in our Almost Beefless Beef Stew, Caldo Verde, and Breakfast Fried Rice with Spinach and Shiitakes.
Flavors from the Mediterranean, Asia, Central America, and Beyond: Recipes take inspiration from healthful eating traditions around the world, whether you’re craving Okonomiyaki, Hot Ukrainian Borscht, Peruvian Arroz con Pollo, or Mapo Tofu.
Emphasizes Ease and Efficiency: Cooking more plants doesn’t have to mean spending more time shopping or chopping. We streamlined at every stage of our recipes—leaning on widely available ingredients and shelf-stable pantry goods—to give you time back in your day.

Find more recipes like this on my companion blog, “Good Food, Good Meat, Good God, Let’s Eat!”

Cookbooks

Dinner Tonight

Posted on March 1, 2026February 27, 2026 by Reluctant Retiree

200 Quick Recipes for Inspired Weeknight Cooking

Bold flavors meet time-saving tricks in 200 recipes (all ready in 45 minutes or less) that make weeknight dinners fun and stress-free.

When time is short and bellies are grumbling, America’s Test Kitchen’s streamlined guide to weeknight cooking is ready for you. It offers great meals that don’t require a ton of work. These meals also bring new flavors to the table. No matter your craving, you’ll find a dinner that fits the bill in under 45 minutes with easy cleanup. You might enjoy chicken salad with a fantastic dressing. Try Avocado Chicken Salad Sandwiches with Jicama and Banana Peppers. If you want umami-rich noodles, consider Chili Crisp Noodles. Or perhaps you desire a deeply comforting soup like Spicy Tomato Soup with Tortellini and Sausage.

Edited by Jack Bishop, TV cast member, tasting guru, and creator of the twice-weekly Dinner Tonight newsletter (which goes out to more than 1 million fans), this collection of 200 go-to recipes delivers plenty of ways to improve your weeknight eating:

Fresh Ideas for Pantry Staples: Are you staring blankly at your pantry? These recipes give it new life (canned tuna = Spaghetti al Tonno; frozen peas = Pea and Pistachio Pesto Pasta).
Modern Flavor Boosters: Every recipe showcases a smart way to add flavor, like an Old Bay–spiked lemon compound butter that melts over salmon fillets and pools into a bowl of confetti grits; or honey and red wine vinegar, which become a sweet yet sophisticated glaze for chicken.
Flexible Swaps: Got parsley but no cilantro? Ground turkey but no pork? These recipes indicate when swaps make sense.
Riff on Recipes to Make New Meals: The sauce for Murgh Makhani (aka Indian Butter Chicken) is so perfectly spiced, you’ll want to try it with tofu or chickpeas—we show you how.
Comfort-Food Flavors in Low-Key Renditions: Chicken Piccata Meatballs, Pork Meatball Bahn Mi (can you tell we love meatballs?), and Mezzi Rigatoni with Spicy Gochujang Tomato Sauce offer maximum appeal with minimal effort. And that’s just the beginning of what you’ll find.

Need help deciding? Themed lists let you choose dinner based on your mood, the season, or what’s on hand. There are even tips for scaling recipes for two. With 200 recipes plus ways to spin them, you’ve got more than a year of great ideas.

From My Kitchen

Ultimate Ragu Sauce Recipe for Comfort Food Lovers

Posted on February 4, 2026February 1, 2026 by Reluctant Retiree

This rich, slow-simmered ragu sauce contains hearty meat. It includes tangy tomatoes. Aromatic herbs make it deeply flavorful. This sauce elevates any plate of pasta.

This homemade ragu sauce is rich, hearty, and deeply satisfying. It is the ultimate comfort food for anyone craving a meal that tastes both indulgent and homey. The sauce is slow-simmered and layered with ground beef, pork, and smoky bacon. It is infused with aromatics like garlic and thyme. A splash of cream finishes it for a velvety texture. It clings to pasta in the most irresistible way, making every bite a perfect balance of savory, sweet and umami. Serve it up for a cozy night in. You can also prepare it for a special family meal. This ragu recipe is sure to be the star of the table.

Ragu Sauce Ingredients

Ingredients To Make Ragu Sauce — Sonia Bozzo for Taste of Home

Ground beef: The beef adds a rich, meaty flavor to the sauce and provides a hearty texture.
Ground pork: This ingredient contributes additional fat and flavor, which helps create a tender and flavorful sauce.
Bacon: The bacon adds a smoky, salty depth that enhances the overall savory taste.
Onions: Chopped onions release sweetness and add depth as they caramelize during cooking.
Celery: This vegetable adds a subtle earthiness and helps balance the richness of the meats.
Carrots: Carrots bring natural sweetness to offset the acidity of the tomatoes.
Garlic: The minced garlic infuses the sauce with bold, aromatic flavors.
Dry red wine or beef broth: The liquid deglazes the pan, lifting flavorful bits from the bottom and adding depth to the sauce.
Crushed tomatoes: These provide the base of the sauce, offering body and a fresh tomato flavor.
Tomato sauce: Tomato sauce smooths the texture and adds a rich, concentrated tomato taste.
Tomato paste: The paste intensifies the tomato flavor while helping to thicken the sauce.
Bay leaves: These impart a subtle herbal aroma as the sauce simmers.
Sugar: A small amount of sugar balances the acidity of the tomatoes, making the sauce more well-rounded.
Salt: Salt brings out the flavors of all the ingredients, enhancing the overall taste.
Dried thyme: This herb adds an earthy, slightly minty note to complement the meat.
Dried oregano: The oregano provides a classic Italian herb flavor with hints of peppery bitterness.
Ground cumin: Cumin brings a warm, earthy undertone to the sauce, providing depth and complexity to the overall flavor profile.
Nutmeg: Nutmeg contributes a subtle sweetness and warmth, enhancing the richness of the meat.
Pepper: This spice adds warmth, complexity and a touch of heat to the sauce.
Heavy whipping cream: The cream gives the sauce a luxurious, velvety texture with a hint of sweetness.
Butter: A touch of butter adds richness and smoothness to create a luscious final texture.
Fresh parsley: Parsley brings a bright, fresh contrast to the richness of the sauce.
Grated Parmesan cheese: Parmesan adds umami, along with a salty, nutty flavor that ties all the ingredients together.
Cooked pasta: The pasta serves as the ideal base, absorbing the rich, flavorful sauce. Use your favorite brand of dried pasta, or make fresh pasta.

Taste of Home

Find more recipes like this on my companion blog, “Good Food, Good Meat, Good God, Let’s Eat!”

Delicious Orange Olive Oil Cake Recipe

Our orange olive oil cake recipe makes a simple yet flavorful snacking cake that everyone will love. In my house, I always have to bake a double batch.

A few years ago, two friends from my culinary school days came to visit me for the weekend. In preparation for my house guests, I deep cleaned, bought fresh flowers and baked an orange olive oil cake.

My friends were still a few hours away. I decided that no one would mind if I tried a slice of the cake. Quality control, right? Well, that was a huge mistake, because I fell in love.

The cake was tender and soft. The presence of orange was playful and bright with the fruity olive oil. There was just enough sugar to impart a hint of sweetness. It avoided a full-blown sugar rush—the marker of a true snacking cake. One slice turned into two, three, four. Before I knew it, half the cake was gone. And then my friends showed up.

I told them what happened. They laughed, then grabbed two forks and tried the cake for themselves. Laughter turned into shock, and I was jokingly berated all weekend for barely saving them “the best cake in existence.”

Every reunion weekend after that, my friends have requested the cake—with no slices taken out beforehand. And, yes, I learned my lesson: Always bake a double batch of this orange olive oil cake recipe. One for them, one for me.