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31 Recipes to Make in January

31 Recipes to Make in January

By Food & Wine

Updated January 05, 2021

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Credit: Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen

After the busyness of December, January can be a welcome respite—a time to kick back, slow down, and fill your meal plans with comforting dishes. Think kale-artichoke stuffed shells, tadka dal with roti, and banana sticky toffee pudding when you need something sweet. It’s also a great time to go beyond root vegetables to vibrant winter chicories, such as Belgian endives, puntarelle, and more. Read on for even more recipes to cook this month.

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Roasted Mushroom and Vermouth Risotto

Credit: Christopher Testani

Roasting mushrooms concentrates their flavor, while dry vermouth offers an aromatic kick to this otherwise classic risotto.

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Burmese Samusa Soup

Credit: Greg DuPree

This vegan soup from Desmond Tan’s Burma Superstar in San Francisco features a broth that’s seasoned with black mustard seeds, cumin, and turmeric. Fresh cabbage, herbs, and chiles top each ample bowl, contrasting tender lentils and potatoes with a pleasing crunch.

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Warm Sausage and Lentil Salad

Credit: Christopher Testani

This earthy French classic, with smoked sausages, greens lentils and pungent mustard vinaigrette, is custom-tailored for winter weekends in front of the fire. Updated twist: toasted walnuts add great crunch.

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Pork Ribs Vindaloo

Credit: © Marcus Nilsson

If you want to prepare this recipe ahead of time, the ribs can be refrigerated in the sauce overnight.

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Persimmons, Pomegranate, and Purslane with Pepitas

Credit: Victor Protasio

Suzanne Goin refers to this salad as “The 4 Ps” and thinks of it as a persimmon salad with an arugula garnish, rather than the other way around.

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Fried Tandoori Chicken

Credit: © Marcus Nilsson

For extra-juicy—and flavorful—fried chicken, chef Rupam Bhagat marinates his meat using the traditional two-step tandoori process: He first lets the chicken sit in a blend of aromatic spices for 12 hours and then folds in yogurt that helps tenderize the meat and caramelize the crust when it’s fried.

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Banana Sticky Toffee Pudding

Credit: Christopher Testani

In this version of sticky toffee pudding, the sweetness of the dates and brown sugar are complemented perfectly by overripe bananas and unsweetened whipped cream.

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Swordfish with Romesco Sauce

Credit: © Con Poulos

Chef Jonathan Waxman makes his rich, nutty romesco sauce with roasted vegetables, two kinds of nuts, and Calabrian chiles.

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Baked Onions with Fennel Bread Crumbs

These simple, incredibly flavorful onions from chef Nancy Silverton are baked in the oven until they’re falling-apart tender. Fennel seeds punch up the crispy breadcrumb topping.

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Sweet Potato–Salted Pecan Sticky Buns

Credit: Con Poulos

These sticky buns, which get dressed with warm cinnamon butter, warm caramel, and salted pecans, would be perfect for a homemade brunch.

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Spicy Sesame, Bacon, and Egg Congee

Credit: Victor Protasio

Taking a cue from Chef Mei Lin of Nightshade in Los Angeles, we’re adding spicy pork, creamy egg yolks, and crunchy sesame to classic congee. Low and slow cooking is the key to getting its texture right; adjust the heat as needed to maintain a gentle bubble that results in tender grains.

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Coconut-Creamed Swiss Chard

Credit: Victor Protasio

Unsweetened coconut milk and refined coconut oil add a creamy richness to this vegan Swiss chard side from chef Rocco DiSpirito. Reducing the coconut milk deepens its flavor and lends a velvety texture that truly mimics dairy.

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Oven-Braised Veal Stew with Black Pepper and Cherries

Credit: Victor Protasio

This rich, wintry stew with a tart bite from sour cherries, adapted from Beyond the North Wind by Darra Goldstein, gets its deep flavor from tender veal. Choose pork shoulder for a fattier, slightly juicier dish.

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Charred Vegetable Ragù

Credit: Victor Protasio

“Ladled over a pile of tagliatelle and topped with more cheese, this nourishing sauce tastes slow-cooked and comforting, especially on a wintry weeknight,” Kelsey Youngman writes.

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Lemon Curd Tart

Credit: Victor Protasio

To make a simple topping for this elegant dessert, add 2 tablespoons sugar to the leftover egg whites and whip to stiff peaks to make a meringue. Garnishing the tart with mixed citrus segments adds a natural sweetness to balance the rich, tart lemon curd filling. Read Jamila Robinson's essay about this recipe, Romancing the Stove.

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Tadka Dal with Roti

Credit: Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen

Briefly heating spices and dried chiles in oil or ghee allows their flavors to bloom, creating a flavorful tadka that serves as the backbone of this dish. It also adds a crispy, spicy finish to the creamy mixture of mung beans, lentils, and pigeon peas.

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Chicory Coffee Flan

Credit: Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christine Keely

Lovers of Vietnamese iced coffee (cà phê sữa đá) will appreciate the dark roasted flavor of chicory coffee in this creamy flan. A touch of bitterness from the chicory root and the classic addition of sweetened condensed milk round out this make-ahead dessert.

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Yayla Çorbası (Turkish Yogurt Soup) with Velibah

Credit: Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen

Although most Turks will opt for a pillowy square of pide bread to accompany this soup of yogurt, barley, and dried mint, buttery-crisp velibah stuffed with feta and potato is a go-to for editor Oset Babür's family, who hail from Ossetia, a state in the South Caucasus.

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Kiribath with Lunu Miris (Coconut Rice with Sambal)

Credit: Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen

Spicy red onion sambal is spooned over diamonds of coconut rice in this Sri Lankan dish, served to commemorate new beginnings. While a mortar and pestle is traditionally used to pound the sambal, it also can be gently pulsed together in a food processor.

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Puntarelle-Citrus Salad with Roasted Beets

Credit: Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christine Keely

Puntarelle stays bright and crisp in this salad, while beets bring a tender, earthy sweetness. Puntarelle is a specialty buy—check your local farmers market, or substitute another bitter chicory like Belgian endive.

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Namasu

Credit: Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Audrey Davis

Namasu, delicately sliced vegetables that are pickled with rice vinegar, are served with virtually every meal at the Eiheiji monastery in Japan where the monks partake in a dining ritual that is both ceremonial and meditative. The original recipe can be traced back to China, where it typically contained either meat or fish. This meatless version of the dish reflects the principles of shojin ryori, the vegetarian cuisine adhered to by Buddhist monks in Japan. Yuzu juice brings mildly floral, sweet acidity that lightens the namasu, without being overly tart.

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Coconut-Curried Shrimp with Bara

Credit: Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen

Light, airy, and slightly sweet, the fried bara is perfect for sopping up this spicy shrimp curry. A quick Scotch bonnet hot sauce is intense on its own, but drizzled sparingly over the curry it adds the perfect punch of heat and acidity.

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Hoppin’ John with Turnips and Turnip Greens

Credit: Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen

Todd Richards spices up his family recipe for this Southern favorite (often enjoyed on New Year's Day) with harissa for extra heat. Richards makes the traditional ham hock optional so that vegetarians can enjoy the dish as well, and adds smoked paprika and cumin to deliver a similar savory depth. Turnips become soft and tender after a quick braise, adding body to the dish.

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Poulet Mafé

Credit: Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Audrey Davis

In Senegal at the Keur Moussa monastery, a typical meal includes poulet mafé, a thick peanut sauce with chicken, root vegetables, and cabbage served over rice, fonio, or millet couscous. For chef Pierre Thiam, poulet mafé is the ultimate comfort food. His advice: “Be patient when cooking mafé. Let the stew simmer slowly until the oil rises to the surface.”

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Brown Sugar–Glazed Salmon with Buttery Roasted Squash

Credit: Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christine Keely

Chef Erick Williams recommends thick cuts of salmon for this recipe; they cook quickly while remaining juicy and tender and are well balanced by the sweet, gingery glaze. If delicata or acorn squash aren’t available, substitute 6 cups peeled and diced butternut squash.

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Escarole Shakshuka

Credit: Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christine Keely

Eggs poached in a savory sauce are livened up with the addition of silky, sweet escarole and tangy feta. A deliciously bright addition to your breakfast or brunch spread, serve with crusty bread or toast for sopping.

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Kale-Artichoke Stuffed Shells

Credit: Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen

Cannellini beans add hearty creaminess to these stuffed shells, while mild heat from Calabrian chiles and earthy sweetness from fennel seeds amp up jarred marinara sauce. Cook a few extra pasta shells to have on hand in case some tear during boiling.

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Classic London Broil with Rosemary and Thyme

Credit: Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen

Red-wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce effortlessly infuse quick-cooking flank steak with bold flavor. Pile the thinly sliced steak on crusty rolls for sandwiches, or serve with buttery baked potatoes and a salad of crisp lettuces.

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Rosy Hibiscus-Gin Lowball

Credit: Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Dickey / Prop Styling by Kathleen Varner

On the fence when it comes to gin? Try a sip of this gateway cocktail. Known as sorrel in parts of Africa, roselle—the type of hibiscus used in most hibiscus teas—complements the floral notes of gin, resulting in a refreshing, balanced beverage. Stir leftover hibiscus tea into lemonade for a refreshing nonalcoholic sipper.

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Endives in Schmaltz with Peanuts

Credit: Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christine Keely

Mildly bitter Belgian endive cooked in schmaltz, or rendered chicken fat, becomes sweet and tender, with golden, caramelized edges. Fresh lime juice and crunchy roasted peanuts balance the richness of this simple-to-make side dish.

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31 of 31

Pomegranate-Ginger Spritz

Credit: Victor Protasio

Pomegranates are winter’s most stunning fruit; here they provide both a sweet, wine-c