Ain't the slow cooker grand? You can load it up at night or early in the morning with a few ingredients, then come home after work to a hot meal waiting for you. It's almost like having your own private chef. Well — not quite (you still do some of the work!), but it's still pretty great.

But the slow cooker isn't just for supper. You can make terrific breakfast grains, and great make-ahead lunch staples. Read on for 15 of our favorite slow cooker meals, from ginger pork and barbecue chicken that make great lunches, to spiced porridge for breakfast and chickpea stew for supper. More

Shredded meat — beef, pork, or chicken — is one of the most versatile dinner elements you can imagine! Cook up a few pounds of shredded pork and freeze it, then dole it out for weeknight meals. Or make some shredded beef and serve a crowd. Today, let's talk chicken: Simple, inexpensive, and relatively quick, chicken has some advantages over the heavier beef and pork. Here's how to make a batch of tender and delicious pulled chicken in the oven — or your slow cooker! More

As a restaurant employee, let me just say this. Please don't go out to dinner on Valentine's Day. In fact, please stay home the week before and after. I beg of you. I won't elaborate, but why fight for a reservation when you can cook up a delicious, romantic meal in the privacy of your own home.

More

A taste of Momofuku at home? I'm game. More

Winter has finally dipped its pinky toe down South, y'all, and we've been celebrating with nightly fire pits and lots of extra calories. To heck with New Year's resolutions when its cold outside, right! More

Radicchio is a champion in the line-up of winter leaf vegetables. While it looks like a small cabbage, it's actually a chicory with a slightly bitter, crisp taste. It's colorful, readily available, and boasts a unique spicy taste that is tough to match. For that reason, it's popular chopped and used raw in salads and slaws. But what if you want to tone down that bitterness?

More

It's winter, it's cold, time is short. That's the litany of January, right? This is the time of year when braised dishes will save your supper. Braising (cooking low and slow, in a bit of liquid) is an easy method for cooking inexpensive cuts of meat and some vegetables too, and one side benefit to braised dishes is that they usually reheat very well. So make a big pot of pork shank or ragu, or cook up a big mess of Greek-style green beans or collards; they'll feed you all week long.

Here's a look at 15 favorite dishes — some with meat, and some without — that are braised to perfection. More

I'm fairly convinced that everything from lamb to Brussels sprouts is better when braised. Give it some low heat and an afternoon to baste in its own juices, and food takes on never before seen levels of flavor and tenderness. Dinner win. More

With December finally here, I can't seem to find enough hours to get through each day. Between Christmas shopping, holiday parties, and work projects, life on Monday through Saturday is hurried and I'm sprinting just to keep up. But then, just in the nick of time, there is Sunday. More

'Tis the season for braises, slow-cooked meat that falls apart into tender chunks. Here's a new favorite cut of meat for me: The inexpensive, incredibly delicious crosscut beef shank. More