Vegetable

Finely chopped toasted walnuts bulk up the yogurt dressing for this gorgeous salad. It's pretty enough to serve to company, either as the main course of a vegetarian meal or as a meatless offering at a summer potluck.

Processing your pickles in a hot-water bath rather than a boiling-water bath will give you a firmer texture. It follows that if you want pickles with real snap, don't process them at all. These dill-pickle spears—or sandwich chips, depending on how you slice them—can be processed, if you want, for long-term shelf storage, but first try making a batch to keep in the refrigerator. They will be crisp, and the flavor of raw cucumber comes through. It's the freshest-tasting pickle in this book, and perhaps my favorite. The recipe can be scaled up.

Small tomatoes can now be found in any supermarket throughout the year. Nothing equals fresh local tomatoes, but these small varieties—cherry, grape, and so on—are a welcome alternative in the dark months. Most are grown in greenhouses and some are imported from places such as Israel and Mexico and have great flavor. I leave all tomatoes out at room temperature, but these especially benefit from a few days of ripening to deepen their flavor and bring out their sweetness. I make it a point to always have some small tomatoes on hand for salads, salsas, and quick pasta dishes like this one. When cooking this with children, make sure you have plenty of extra tomatoes for snacking.

This soup is about as easy as opening a can, and it is especially good for lunch on a hot day or poured out of a thermos at a picnic; it is so refreshing and satisfying. And if you have cucumbers in your garden, here is a way besides salad or pickles to use your bounty. This recipe can easily be doubled.

This is an early signature dish of my colleague Jonathan Waxman, who has been at the center of the contemporary American food scene since the early 1970s, when he worked at Chez Panisse in Berkeley and at Michael's in Los Angeles. Waxman now presides over Barbuto—he's "the bearded one"—in the far west Greenwich Village, where all- American inclinations meet simple Italian cooking, frequently in the wood- burning oven. Jonathan's cooking has always been defined by its clarity; there are times when I wonder how he has managed to make something as simple as a roasted chicken or a plate of beets seem so special. Top-quality ingredients in season and vigilant preparations are the answers—what I strive for in my own cooking. This dish is a classic example of the early wave of what was known as the New American Cooking—a movement, if not a revolution, now forty years old and counting. It also demonstrates that a new, even trendy, dish can endure and become a classic—if it has integrity. Nevertheless, you can improvise here. Change the herbs according to what you've got, and the oils for the dressing.

Want to cook this faster and make the leftovers easier to pack? Divide the mixture into muffin tins and bake as individual servings, instead of two loaves. Editor's note: This recipe makes 5 mains, plus more for leftovers. Please see "Meatloaf Sliders" and "Meatloaf Tacos" below for tips on how to enjoy, pack, and serve the leftovers.

"The maple-tahini dressing is rich but not heavy; you won't feel weighed down," Bemis says.

We offer so many mouthwatering buttery, sugary, fruity, chocolaty sweet breakfast treats in the morning that it can be almost impossible to choose just one ("I'll have one of each" is a common humorous request from new customers). That is, unless you're one of those people who need to start off the day with eggs or bacon or anything not sweet. For those customers, we've created the ultimate quick grab-'n'-go breakfast using items we already have in-house: brioche dough, cheese, breakfast meats, and eggs. The dough, after an overnight rest in the refrigerator during which it develops flavor, is stretched and pulled like you would a pizza dough to make a flat round. I've suggested a few of our best topping combinations here, but feel free to use whatever mixture of meats, cheeses, and vegetables you prefer. The egg on top is what makes the pizza shine. After creating a border of meats and vegetables around the edge of each brioche circle, you bake the pizzas about halfway through. Then you crack a whole egg in the middle of each one, blanket them with cheese, and bake until the eggs are just barely set. It's a bit of a messy breakfast, but you won't care once you taste how good it is.

This simple recipe for roasted salmon packs gobs of flavor for little effort. The natural oils in the fish intensify the seasonings. This recipe also can be used for smaller fillets or salmon steaks. You'll just need to watch it as it cooks and adjust the time accordingly. Editor's note: This recipe makes 4 servings, plus more for leftovers. Please see "Deconstructed Sushi" and "Monster Salad" below for tips on how to enjoy, pack, and serve the leftovers.

"To save time, make the potato sauce a day ahead and refrigerate," Bemis says.

"Don't worry if the fritters seem a little flimsy—they hold together and flip easily during cooking," Bemis says.

Prefer the big taste of beef in your Joes? Substitute lean ground beef. Or bison. Or a blend. Sloppy Joes are a total what-have-you recipe. Somebody in the family off carbs or gluten? These are awesome in lettuce wraps, too. Don't be intimidated by the number of ingredients. This recipe comes together effortlessly in minutes. Editor's note: This recipe makes 4 servings, plus more for leftovers. Please see "Next-Day Sloppy Joes" and "Sloppy Joes Chili" below for tips on how to enjoy the leftovers.

Warm and nourishing, this panfried rice is a brown-bag favorite. The dish starts with a couple of scrambled eggs to which rice, edamame, and seasonings are added. If you happen to be making eggs for breakfast, it’s just a few extra steps to make this savory lunch dish. Naturally, brown rice is more nutritious than white. Leftover farro or barley make tasty substitutions.

The Cobb is a protein-packed salad that will stick with your kids through the school day. This version relies on smoked turkey for the signature flavor that typically comes from bacon. Blue cheese is an optional add-in since its flavor is too strong for a lot of little ones. The assembly is more composed than chopped, which makes it as pretty as it is tasty.

The deconstructed caprese is a sandwich on a skewer, featuring crusty bread, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and basil. While it looks sort of fussy, it’s actually a snap to pull together and it has a colorful presentation that looks quite smashing in a lunch box. Small mozzarella balls, also known as bocconcini, measure about an inch across and are sold in the specialty cheese section of many supermarkets. Pack the skewers with a little side of olive oil and balsamic vinegar for lunchtime dipping. For bigger appetites, increase the recipe by 50 percent, which will make three skewers instead of two.

Thanks to two very hands-off methods for the lamb and polenta, this is an excellent choice for a dinner party.

There are two hits of chile in this dish. It's used early on to infuse the oil, where it mellows. The sprinkle added at the end is more "precocious," says Krajeck. "It's not in every bite, but when it hits you, it makes a big impact."

This is a winning-contestant recipe from Season Four of Fox's MasterChef.

Blanched garlic, which is sweet and mild, is blended with briny clam liquor and olive oil to make a creamy white sauce for this unconventional pizza.