8 Cooking Resolutions for the New Year

Master 3 New Dishes So You Can Make Them in Your Sleep

The perfect back-pocket recipe has a short ingredient list and major possibilities. We found three easy-to-memorize ones from new cookbooks, that we promise you won't get tired of.

Making carnitas entails roasting cubes of pork, lamb or even goat with spices until they're crispy. From there, you can toss the meat with pasta, fold it into a tortilla, serve it over creamy polenta or mashed sweet potatoes, or with cornbread. Make this recipe once, and you'll never need to look at it again. Roast beef is another workhorse, and Parisian chef Stéphane Reynaud says it should not be relegated to Sundays. To prove it, he presents this seven-ingredient recipe, which you can make in about 45 minutes. And then there's risotto. The creamy Italian rice dish can go in any direction based on the vegetables you have, whether you fancy asparagus or winter squash.