25 Healthy and Comforting Recipes to Make in January

Crunch, sweetness, and a touch of richness—this recipe has everything you want in a salad. Dress the greens separately, then tuck in the soft figs and cheese so they keep their shape.

Nigella seeds (also called kalonji) add an oniony flavor. Look for them and for tamarind concentrate at Indian markets and some specialty food stores. If you can’t find tamarind concentrate, substitute 1/4 cup lime juice mixed with 2 teaspoons molasses.

Too much dukkah, the Egyptian seasoning mix of nuts and warm spices, is a very good thing. If you keep some on hand, you’re minutes away from creating an addictive appetizer for fresh vegetables and bread. Just sprinkle the seasoning blend generously over olive oil and dunk away.

The salad’s flavors tilt toward the Middle East, with a nutty, slightly spicy dressing and pita chips in lieu of croutons. Prep the components in advance so the salad can be thrown together at the last minute, as it wilts quickly.

This soup is packed with mushrooms, tofu, cabbage, and noddles. It’s easy and perfect for a cold night.

We love the play of savory-sweet flavors and big textures in this hearty winter salad.

Contrast the feathery textures of baby Asian greens with the crunch of quick-pickled onion, Asian pear, and sesame seeds. This salad is especially good made with red or green mustard, mizuna, and edible chrysanthemum, but feel free to experiment.

A rich and flavorful dish with a spicy kick, this miso-glazed eggplant is perfect for sharing or as a hearty side dish.

This salad from Alice Waters’ restaurant Lulu highlights farmers market broccolini with a boost of flavor from fresh herbs and carrots that are mixed into quickly cooked lentils.

“Invited to a party at the last minute, I invented this hummus from what I had on hand,” says reader Maria August, of Boulder. “To my surprise, I liked it better than the traditional tahini version.” Serve with fresh-cut vegetables, such as jicama, carrot, red pepper, and celery sticks.

This fish gets its Middle Eastern tang from zaatar, a spice blend that’s having a big moment, and its sesame-rich sauce. A fine side dish: oven-roasted diced potatoes (start them before the fish) tossed with parsley and olive oil. Couscous would be good too.

This recipe is a fresh take on bibimbap, a Korean rice dish traditionally topped with meat, vegetables, egg, and chili paste. It’s fast, easy, and doesn’t require a trip to a specialty store.

Rachel Yang, chef-owner of Joule in Seattle, reinvents the classic peppercorn steak with a not-too-hot Sichuan peppercorn rub that produces a pleasant tingly sensation in the mouth. With the zesty kale slaw, it adds zaps of excitement to a romantic dinner. At the restaurant, Yang uses a lesser-known, flavorful cut called teres major; we’ve substituted widely available filet mignon.

Santa Cruz, California, cookbook writer and cooking teacher Andrea Nguyen based this fragrant, creamy coconut-milk curry on one from James Syhabout’s now-closed Hawker Fare, in Oakland. Use asparagus or green beans instead of bok choy if you like, and serve it with steamed jasmine rice—or a warm baguette.

This quick one-pan dinner was created with the colors of an Arizona desert sunset in mind.

You can use just about any mushroom you like for this stew (or a mix of varieties), as long as you add the more delicate ones during the last hour of cooking.

Everyone loves chicken potpie, but it takes 2 hours to make. We’ve traded from-scratch pie dough for homemade croutons, creating a great potpie in half the time.

Use any Asian chili paste or sauce you have in your refrigerator to give this rice bowl a touch of salty heat, including sambal oelek, garlic chili sauce, or even Sriracha.

Make a big pot of this easy vegetarian dish for a hassle-free dinner or side. There’s no need to soak the beans beforehand; they cook to a tender finish straight from the package. You can follow this method for other beans, but you may have to adjust the cooking time depending on bean size and freshness.

This bright-tasting pasta makes good use of radicchio and chard, two sturdy greens that are packed with vitamins and flavor.

The marvelous merger of orange and chocolate gets even better when you pair blood oranges’ raspberry nuances with dark chocolate and a little Campari for complexity. The herbal, slightly bitter liqueur also helps keep the sorbet from getting icy.

The name says it all! Get the luscious velvety texture of a rich cheesecake with less fat thanks to the greek yogurt and low-fat cottage cheese.

Do you love rice pudding? Do you love crème brulee? This just might be your new favorite dessert.

This simple flavor combination adds just the right amount of sweet spice to ordinary fruit and yogurt. Try it for breakfast, an afternoon snack, or a healthy take on dessert.

While you often see ginger cookies flavored with chocolate, caramel, or even raspberry, adding a bull’s-eye of tangy lime curd transforms them entirely. The brilliant citrus flavor is especially welcome amid the season’s sea of peppermint and warming spices.