Cheese

Serve these delicious, gooey sandwiches with dill pickles and plenty of coleslaw.

Robert H. Cobb, owner of the Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood, is said to have invented this salad in the 1930s as a late-night snack for himself. No wonder it has remained an American classic. With the crunch of the iceberg and onions, the soft richness of the avocado, the saltiness of the bacon, the sweetness of the tomato, and the bite of the blue cheese, this salad has it all! And it is beautiful to boot.

A chicken that's allowed to run will provide the full flavor necessary to support the tangy Stilton cheese and tart sweetness of the apples in this dish. Talk to the purveyors at the farmers' market or your butcher, and they'll be happy to tell you about the chickens they sell.

Editor's note: Chef, nutritionist, and cooking teacher Lourdes Castro shared this recipe from her cookbook, Latin Grilling. It's part of a festive Cuban party menu she created for Epicurious and a great way to use up leftover grilled pork . As soon as someone finds out about my Cuban background, a Cuban sandwich question is never far away. It's no wonder, since Cuban sandwiches have recently popped up on menus all over the country. While many have gotten close to re-creating the real thing, I feel most miss the mark. So here is a step-by-step guide to creating an authentic sandwich Cubano. This is also a great way to use up the leftovers from your Cuban pig roast!

Pizza is a universal crowd-pleaser, and part of its charm is the doughy bed it rests on, along with gooey, wonderful cheese. You'll get no argument from me. I love pizza. But not all pizzas are created equally. This pizza is loaded with cheese, mushrooms, sausage, and peperoncini, but not calories. So for watching your weight, this pizza is a delicious solution. It's meaty, yet amazingly low in fat. You'll love the crust's wholesome taste.

This is a traditional appetizer that we probably made for just about every reception. Everyone loved them, which is no surprise. After all, they are layers of smoked ham and Gruyère cheese sandwiched between heavily buttered bread and then broiled. What is not to like?

Serve with pasta, polenta, or rice. Accompany with steamed broccoli or braised escarole or kale.

The beauty of this basic recipe is that it can be tweaked in numerous ways. For a spicy version, add some sriracha sauce. Try swapping out the lemon juice for lime juice and use feta cheese instead of Parmesan and mix in some chopped fresh cilantro and chopped red onion or shallot. For a curried chickpea salad, leave out the Parmesan and add curry powder to taste, dried currants, sliced green onions, and shredded carrots.

These zucchini fritters are the perfect way to start the meal. Serve the keftedes, grape leaves , octopus , and feta and olives as mezedes (appetizers).

This dish only looks indulgent: A serving has a mere 7 grams of saturated fat, and the pasta and peas help deliver 40 percent of your daily intake of folate, a nutrient that aids the body in forming red blood cells.

The barbecued chicken pizza Wolfgang Puck first served at Spago in Hollywood inspired this quesadilla, which we serve as a special at the Market. The combination seems kind of strange to people at first, but once they try it, they love it.

The addition of goat cheese, apricots, and pesto lends a Mediterranean flavor to chicken. The pesto is made with fresh mint and almonds, rather than the usual basil and pine nuts.

Why settle for plain old ham and cheese when you can easily make this panini? You will have some roasted radicchio left over, which is fine since it makes a nice addition to a green salad and will keep a few days in the refrigerator.

Not all cream sauces are super-rich. This pasta gets its creamy sauce from a combination of part-skim ricotta and pasta water, which come together to make a really easy, lighter cream sauce. Don’t leave out the lemon zest; it brightens the flavor and adds a wonderful lemony aroma as well.

This recipe presents a fun variation on the traditional dish of shrimp and grits associated with the southeastern coastal regions of the United States. Polenta, thyme, capers, feta cheese, and currants update the classic with Mediterranean flavors. The inclusion of honey injects just the right amount of sweetness to complement the dish's many savory flavors. I encourage the use of sustainably raised and harvested prawns here, as they exact a considerably smaller toll on our global aquatic ecosystems.

This dish is exceptionally easy to make and worth every second. That said, there is one thing to note: Be careful when checking the chicken for doneness. The tomatoes will likely drip into the chicken. If you cut into the chicken or poke it with a fork to test for doneness, be sure it’s not the liquid from the tomatoes making the chicken look pink even if it’s not.

You can serve polenta in its most traditional form, but you can also use it to create an easy variation on gnocchi. I first learned this technique from my friend, Milan-born and-raised cooking teacher Nadia Frigieri. Making both the polenta and the sauce in a slow cooker means there’s little hands-on effort required to make this stunning dish. Adding a green salad makes this a meal.

The French like to cook using small amounts of intensely flavored ingredients, such as balsamic vinegar and goat cheese.