Food Processor

This salsa comes together quickly (and can be made two days ahead). If you're pressed for time, there are several good prepared tomatillo salsas on the market. Extra salsa will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for up to a week. Mix with sour cream for a vegetable dip, or add to chicken soup and garnish with strips of fried tortillas.

Kugel is most often made with potatoes or noodles. Here, carrots, zucchini, and two kinds of onions add color and flavor to a potato version.

A bright, beautiful spring appetizer.

The curries that are sold in the markets of southern Thailand inspired this heavily spiced dish. Chef Boetz says this delicious main course is a hybrid of an Indian and a Thai curry. The use of dried spices (coriander, cardamom, cumin) is common in Indian curries; coconut milk and fresh, aromatic ingredients (cilantro, lemongrass, galangal) are often used in Thai curries.

Lavender adds a floral note. If you're not a fan, the tart would also be delicious without it.

Fish sauce and dried shrimp flavor the sweet, spicy, and bright chile jam used to glaze this side dish with deeply savory notes.

The combination of salmon and whitefish is delicious (and pretty). A few tablespoons of horseradish give a real kick to the sauce. To adjust the heat to your taste, add the horseradish a little bit at a time.

A decadent—but still healthy—vegetarian main.

With an earthy flavor punctuated by hints of orange and a smooth, velvety texture, this soup is perfect as a simple weeknight supper or as a starter for an elegant party.

Here, a garlic-packed vinaigrette is infused with caramelized sucs—pan drippings—from the roast pork, creating an uncanny fusion of nutty, meaty flavors.

Rich, aromatic rouille is a classic lily-gilding for French fish soups; this one has an extra something special: saffron. Even if you love saffron, though, don't be tempted to add any extra threads. This is just the right amount to really flatter, not dominate, the soup.

We like to use California apricots (sometimes labeled "Pacific") in this dessert. They tend to be a deeper orange, and they have a tang that's occasionally lacking in the Turkish or Mediterranean varieties.

It's not Easter dinner without the eggs. In this recipe, they are boiled just until the yolks are set, then sliced and topped with a fresh herb sauce.

Honey and dates make this dessert perfectly sweet (but not too sweet) and sticky. Pecans add a nutty crunch.

Spring rolls are the quintessential Asian appetizer, but I have adapted the concept to dessert. When cooked, these rolls are like cylindrical molten cakes with warm chocolate oozing out of an impossibly thin and crisp "pastry" shell. The kumquats not only cut through the richness with their distinct citrus tartness, but also are a symbol of good fortune, as kum is a homonym for "gold" in Chinese. CHEF'S TIP: Make sure you use thin spring roll wrappers, which can be found in Asian markets, not egg roll wrappers.

The secret ingredient in this dish is a surprisingly modest one: grapefruit. Its tartness balances the unashamed, almost swaggering richness of scallops bathed in a butter sauce.

Ultra-thin and wonderfully crisp, these cookies pack plenty of flavor into a slim package. We like to pair them with the prunes in wine or the orange tapioca pudding, but they're also wonderful on their own or with a hot cup of coffee.

This is the perfect antidote to the Sunday blues, not least because there will be enough left over to pack sandwiches for Monday's lunch. A mix of beef, pork, and bacon ensures meatiness, with Worcestershire sauce, chopped prunes, and cider vinegar added for good balance and occasional suggestions of sweetness. Because the loaf is baked without a loaf pan, there's plenty of well-browned crust to go around.