Melissa Maedgen

It may seem criminal to bathe the walloping nutrition of lentils and mushrooms in anything but wholesomeness, but there's something to be said for quality of life. Hello, bacon!

This traditional and incendiary Thai condiment has incited quite the following. Here's how to save yourself a trip to your local Asian market.

These corn bread batons bake up crisp on the outside, with a fine crumb on the inside, and ready to sop up as much butter or gravy as you wish.

This cauliflower gratin recipe from Dorie Greenspan is French comfort food, yet it wouldn't be out of place on a distinctly American Thanksgiving table.

This evocatively named dip isn't the same as the one of yore. It's got the same sumptuous taste, the same creamy texture, the same luminous color, just not the same calorie count.

Never give zucchini away again with these equally tempting yet uniquely different slaws. You get to choose—rich and creamy or tart and sweet.

Summer at its simplest, not to mention its most splendid. Five minutes of effort yield a meal that rivals round-trip tickets to Italy.

These lamb chops have a nifty marinade that doubles as a finishing sauce. It's your newest trick at putting dinner on the table pronto.

Octopus with paprika, aka pulpo a la Gallega, is pretty much ubiquitous at bars and restaurants in Spain. There's a reason for that.

When it's half past when you'd wanted to eat and you're too exhausted to think, turn to this kid-friendly, adult-approved fix.

The secret to these knee-wobblingly tender little lovelies? Roast 'em low and slow and then toss 'em on the grill for just a short spell. Which means you don't have to constantly tend a smoker from dawn to dusk.

To his surprise, and horror, some of the best salt cod fritters David Leite ever ate weren't Portuguese, but Spanish. Light, crunchy, and perfectly balanced.

Sounds a lot more compelling than "squid cooked over hot coals"! Or, in this case, cast iron skillets. Our recipe tester Sofia swears this is just like what they serve in her native Portugal.

For this classic Cantonese recipe, shrimp and fermented black beans are served in a sauce spiked with garlic, ginger, and scallions. A kid-friendly recipe.

A classic Chinese Sichuan recipe, this stir-fry douses tender pork with a spicy brown sauce fragrant with ginger and garlic.

Rabbit Hunter Style is a favorite dish in Portugal. This Portuguese recipe is rich with rabbit (or chicken), bacon, tomatoes, onions, and mushrooms.

We know many who've fallen for these dulce de leche-filled shortbread cookies while in Latin America. Few have recovered. Rightly so.

These doughnuts have a wonderful crisp gold-brown crust and tender insides, like a dessert version of hush puppies.