Have you ever noticed everyone and their mother with a chili recipe swears by a secret ingredient or trick that takes their slow-simmered pot of beefy goodness to the next level? Whether it be a dash of fish sauce or a handful of chocolate chips, this is a recipe born out of sheer curiosity: what if you took a sampling of these “tricks” and dumped them all into one pot? Would they cancel each other out, or transcend into chili heaven?

I surveyed countless recipes, friends, family, and chili-forums and chose some of the most common secret ingredients and methods I found. My 10 tricks are: coffee, dark chocolate, fish sauce, beer, cinnamon, chili diversification (basically using a mix of dried, smoked, and fermented chili for a more complex flavor), fire roasted tomatoes, dried mushrooms, soy sauce, and a heaping spoon of apple butter. There is a secret (and optional) 11th trick, which is to let this sit overnight after simmering, but before eating for maximum flavor development.

This recipe calls for a lot of ingredients, and it’s probably true that any one of them can be dropped, swapped, or doubled down to your liking. But I’ll say this much: this is, by no small margin, the best chili I have ever tasted.

bowl of chili with toppings in Food52 Test Kitchen

A hearty beef chili packed with 10 secret ingredients—coffee, chocolate, beer, and more—for the richest, most flavorful bowl you’ll ever make.

 Noah’s Famous “10 Trick” Chili

My mom's salad is an International Market icon. Despite being on my mom's secret menu (a selection of unabashedly Thai dishes my mom offered only to customers in-the-know), people all over Nashville discovered this salad and whispered about it to friends and neighbors alike. Like a salad shaman, I remember my mom guiding every participant in the art of eating this salad, first insisting that everyone wash their hands before instructing diners to "put only one of everything into the leaf, then put it all in your mouth. Just one bite." The singular bite is crucial to the experience of enjoying this wrap, a flavor and textural explosion. After that initial bite, Mom would leave her guests to build their own euphoric adventure.

The popularity of this salad platter has only continued to grow since my mom first quietly made it for guests.

Based on a traditional Thai dish called miang kham (essentially a betel leaf wrap), this is a glorified take and an experience in and of itself. It's a wonderland of accoutrements-from spicy red onions to roasted peanuts to slivers of gingery pork— intended to be fully customized into bite-size wraps. Although betel leaves are traditional, I use lettuce as it's easier to source and its neutral flavor is more of a blank canvas. There's so much going on in this salad. The flavors range from sweet to nutty to spicy and sour. There's bite, there's texture, there's both freshness and funkiness. Customers love that they can load up on their favorites, whether it's extra toasted coconut or submerging their wraps in a blanket of tangy tamarind sauce. Whatever kind of wrap you create, make sure you eat everything in a single bite, close your eyes, and taste it all.

Family Thai: Bringing the Flavors of Thailand Home

Patti's House Salad (Mom's Interactive Lettuce Wraps)

My Mexican Mesa, Y Listo!: Beautiful Flavors, Family Style (A Cookbook)

shrimp tacos on plate in Food52 test kitchen

Learn how to make crispy Baja shrimp tacos with light beer batter, shredded cabbage, and lime. Easy step-by-step recipe for the best Tacos de Camarón.

Battered Shrimp Tacos, Tacos de Camarón, Baja Style

These cheesy scalloped potatoes are layered with cheddar, gruyere, and parmesan in a rich cream sauce. The perfect make-ahead potato side for holidays or any dinner.

Potatoes Au Gratin 

bowl of soup on table with fresh parm on top

This easy white bean and kale soup with chicken sausage is the ultimate one-pot comfort meal for chilly nights.

White Bean & Kale Soup With Chicken Sausage

bowl of pesto pasta in food52 test kitchen

A bright, garlicky cavatelli tossed in homemade broccoli pesto made with basil, spinach, and Parmesan—simple, fresh, and ready in under 30 minutes.

Pesto & Broccoli Cavatelli

This cozy miso pumpkin pasta blends roasted pumpkin, garlic, and scallions into a silky sauce finished with parmesan, chili oil, and fried shallots. A fall comfort dish with umami flair.

Miso Pumpkin Pasta recipe

Miso Apple Butter Roast Chicken

Bologna, Italy, is where some of the country's greatest culinary creations were born. Among them is the ragu, known to the rest of the world as Bolognese. In English, we have wrongly been calling all meat sauces Bolognese. The real thing braises for hours, is paired with super thin egg based tagliatelle, and is wonderfully elegant. My version takes inspiration from this masterpiece, but it's ready in just thirty minutes. As a result of the faster cooking time, this sauce is a little bit chunky, which makes it a perfect pairing for a hearty boxed pasta. I recommend mezze rigatoni or rigatoni, but any larger, non-twirly pasta will work well and be balanced with this chunky, rustic sauce.

EAT: Easy, Affordable, Tasty: 100 Recipes with All of the Flavor and None of the Fuss - A Cookbook

Spicy Rigatoni With Fennel Sausage Ragu

If I were a salad, I’d be a cold, slightly overdressed Caesar. Or more specifically, I’d be this Caesar, which has all the pleasures of the classic—crisp greens, crunchy bread, a little too much punchy dressing—but with a twist. In place of romaine, I look to a combination of tender Asian greens, like leafy, herbaceous chrysanthemum (tough stems removed), crunchy gai lan (Chinese broccoli) stems thinly sliced on the bias, and crisp baby bok choy (leaves torn, stems sliced). I take the time to chill them thoroughly, so they’re especially refreshing. I also chill the dressing, already an umami powerhouse thanks to anchovies and Parmigiano-Reggiano even before I add just enough miso and soy sauce to bring extra depth and savoriness without detracting from the classic. Warm fried sourdough and a generous amount of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano complete the dish to make an exceptional Caesar turned not upside down but on its side.

Cook Like a King: Recipes from My California Chinese Kitchen

Miso Caesar With Gai Lan and Chrysanthemum Greens

If you're looking for a dish that's elegant yet quick enough to make any night of the week, this dish is a winner. It's a family favorite. My daughter Madison absolutely loves the tangy combination of capers and lemon, and I love how tender the pork turns out, even when using lean pork tenderloin. The light, flavorful sauce perfectly complements the delicate medallions of pork, and best of all, it comes together in just 30 minutes.

Serve over pasta or rice, or with crusty bread to soak up the delicious sauce. Roasted vegetables and a simple salad on the side would be great, too.

Skinnytaste High Protein: 100 Healthy, Simple Recipes to Fuel Your Day: A Cookbook

plate of high-protein pork picatta with caper garnish on plate in Food52 test kitchen

This quick, elegant pork tenderloin with lemon caper sauce is a family favorite from Skinnytaste. Ready in just 30 minutes, it’s light, flavorful, and perfect for weeknights.

Pork Tenderloin Piccata

I'm not the biggest fan of cooking lunch or dinner, especially if I'm busy baking all day. But with making soup, it's rewarding because I like finding quick recipes that are just a few ingredients and the heat does all the work. 

If I have to choose, I'll always pick cauliflower over broccoli and with your cheese of choice, you can have this soup ready in under an hour!

Roasted Cauliflower White Cheddar Soup in a white bowl on a cutting board

Roasted Cauliflower White Cheddar Soup

Sopa de frijoles is a Honduran staple and one that I eat at home with my family a lot. It's one of my favorite dishes because it takes minimal work. You simply chop up the ingredients and then add them to a pot of beans and let the heat do the work. You can eat the soup with cilantro, avocado, and even a hard boiled egg! This soup is also known as Blue Monday soup in New Orleans because as the soup is cooking on the stove, people would do their chores around the house. 

It takes 5 minutes to prepare and then you can focus on other things in the kitchen or at home while it cooks. 

5 Minute Sopa de Frijoles (Bean Soup)

plate of kimchi tomato noodles on platter with eggs, sesame seeds, tomatoes, and cucumber

These cold kimchi tomato bibim noodles combine gochujang, kimchi juice, and tomato paste for a spicy, tangy twist on classic Korean bibim guksu.

Cold Kimchi Tomato Bibim Noodles

Pupusas are stuffed griddle cakes with origins from El Salvador and Honduras. There's a restaurant in Atlanta called La Bodega that's a market and pupuseria. They recently inspired me to make my own pupusas at home! The dough comes together in a bowl and with just 3 ingredients you'll have it ready to go in a few minutes.

You can easily stuff these with whatever filling you'd like, but I opted for chicken and a queso fresco. I do recommend trying other fillings out too once you get a hang of creating the pupusa dough; so beans, vegetables, and other types of cheese!

These are generally served with a curtido, which is a type of slaw, but you can also pair them with your favorite salsa and guacamole too.

Pupusas Stuffed with Chicken and Cheese

Immersion blender or food processor or blender

This kale Caesar salad with chicken is crisp, creamy, and protein-packed. A fresh twist on the classic Caesar—perfect for lunch or dinner.”

Kale Chicken Caesar Salad

Terrence’s Mom’s Jambalaya 

Make Rodrigo Fernandi’s Octopus Causa at home—layers of creamy potato, avocado mousse, tender octopus, and a zesty acevichado sauce. A Peruvian-inspired dish that serves 2–3.

Octopus Causa 

Falafel is a Blue Zones superhero that benefits from the longevity power of the mighty chickpea— a common ingredient in both Ikaria and Sardinia. Also known as garbanzo beans, chickpeas are good for digestive, bone, and cardiovascular health. Baking falafel is much easier (and healthier) than deep-frying it.

If you use dried chickpeas, you'll have to soak them overnight. Canned chickpeas make the recipe speedier, but you'll need to incorporate a filler, like whole wheat flour, to absorb some of the extra liquid (see sidebar).

Recipe courtesy of Dan Buettner, with Photography by David McLain

The Blue Zones Kitchen One Pot Meals: 100 Recipes to Live to 100

blue zones one-pot book recipe for falafel burger on plate

Make crispy, healthy falafel at home with chickpeas, fresh herbs, and spices—baked, not fried. This easy falafel recipe is perfect for wraps, salads, or bowls, and comes together in just 30 minutes.

Easy-Peasy Falafel 

Is there anything that reminds you more of your childhood than deep- fried chicken cutlets? I mean, really. The most common schnitzel in Israel is made from chicken and coated with golden breadcrumbs and spices. As a child, I loved incorporating sesame seeds for an extra crunch and aroma. As an adult, I upgraded the mix with hawaij, a Yemeni spice blend of cumin, black pepper, turmeric, and cardamom. Hawaij gives the dish a little kick, and I’ve never been able to go back. You’ll see; it changes the schnitzel fingers game.

Eat Small Plates: Vibrant, Shareable Dishes for Daily Joy

Make Bengingi's schnitzel fingers—juicy chicken tenders coated in golden panko, sesame seeds, and hawaij spice, then fried until perfectly crispy. Serve with ketchup, harissa, and mayo for the ultimate childhood-inspired comfort food.

Ben’s Scnnitzel Fingers

I've always loved making galettes because of how forgiving and rustic they can be. And although I'm not the biggest fan of apple pie, pairing the thin slices with cheddar cheese and a flaky crust has slowly started changing my opinions on baked apples.

You get the traditional apple pie filling sliced up and layered on a flaky, cheesy dough. I wanted to make something similar to apple pie with a slice of cheese on top like you'd find in New England or the Midwest.

Large galette with apple slices on top. Placed on a pink baking sheet.

Apple Cheddar Galette

This is a beloved family favorite, passed down from my aunt to my mom, and now to me: Asian-style wings with bang bang sauce. They’re sticky, sweet, savory, and packed with garlicky heat. And while they take a minute to come together, they’re more than worth the wait.

Isabelle Jardin alongside the beauty shot of her family Asian-style wings.

Aunt Debbie’s Chicken Wings

Tomatoes are my favorite food in the entire world, they beat everything else ever. I would rather eat tomatoes and salt than a cake or fried chicken, but they have to be good of course, and now is the time to be eating them!

This salad is nothing out of the ordinary, it’s just about using very, very good ingredients because it’s so simple. The dressing is made from grated tomatoes, so it utilizes the peek season toms and doubles up on tomato flavor, perfect for soaking up with some good fresh bread. The leftover juice on the plate is so delicious, I drank every last drop when we were finished.

PS Please use buffalo mozzarella for this and not burrata, burrata is overused in my opinion and buffalo is where the flavor is at!

Liberty Greene Fennell (food stylist, supper club host & recipe developer), @

This simple tomato salad with a fresh tomato dressing celebrates peak-season heirloom tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, and basil. Light, flavorful, and ready in 15 minutes—perfect with crusty bread.

Tomato Salad With Tomato Dressing 

This tomato risotto or “risotto al pomodoro” is the perfect recipe to make when your garden or CSA box is overflowing with summer tomatoes, but can also be made when you have none at all. It relies on passata, which can be made by processing plenty of tomatoes in a food mill or potato ricer and cooking the juices down for about fifteen minutes, or can be easily purchased from the store and kept in the pantry. On the off chance there are leftovers of this delicious dish, try breading and frying them into mozzarella-stuffed arancini the next day!

Creamy tomato risotto (risotto al pomodoro) made with passata, parmesan, and fresh herbs. A cozy Italian classic perfect for weeknight dinners or summer tomatoes.

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