Vegetarian

Spicy arugula, slightly bitter endive, and sweet fennel come together in a salad with the briny help of coarsely chopped olives in the lemony dressing.

Italian wheat pies—filled with a rich ricotta custard studded with tender wheat berries—are associated with Easter celebrations, but according to author Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez, rice pies are just as classic and in her estimation, taste better. Eriquez had been making wheat pies for years when she had some extra dough a while back and used it to make a rice pie. "My family went berserk. They went crazy for it!" said Eriquez with a laugh. "Rice is more tender. It has a nicer taste than wheat," she explained. "If you give my family a choice, they're going to ask for the rice before the wheat." The pastry dough, pasta frolla, is delicate and tears easily, so if it softens, quickly chill it in the freezer for a few minutes. And don't worry about the tears; they patch easily.

Add color to any meal at any time of year with this mix of red, purple, and orange vegetables, all roasted together.

Dandelions are one of the first greens to appear in the spring and their slightly bitter flavor has long been welcomed as a counterpoint to the richness of the meat they're often served with. The dandelions used in this recipe are the long, dark green Italian style leaves that are increasingly available in supermarkets and farmers markets. If you can't find dandelion, use chicory or escarole. Cooking the greens in water first is a crucial step and will significantly lessen their bitter edge. The sweetness of the onion and the mild heat of the crushed red pepper the greens are later sauté with, balances them further.

Couscous Israélien au Citron et aux Pistaches Every year in Menton, a city near Nice that's on the border of Italy, there's a festival celebrating the famed Menton lemons. Plump and irregularly shaped, they're seasonally available in Paris markets, with their leaves still attached. They are prized by chefs and cooks for their intense lemony flavor (without the harshness of commercial lemons), and their not-too-bitter pith, which makes them perfect for preserving. This nutty, lemony salad makes good use of preserved lemons, which you can easily buy or make yourself (see my website for a recipe). I keep a jar on hand at all times. They take a few weeks to mellow and soften, so don't save making them for the last minute. Their flavor is incomparable, and a jar will last for months in your refrigerator. Chopped-up bits can be tossed with olives for a quick apéro, and they also add an assertive citrus flavor to this dish made with pistachios and Israeli couscous. Israeli couscous are little pearls of pasta, elsewhere called pastina, which means "little pasta," and when toasted it's known as fregola sarda. Since they have more substance, I think they hold up a little better to North African-style braised meats, like the lamb shank tagine, than traditional couscous. (Orzo is a good substitute for the Israeli couscous.) To change things around a bit, you can vary the dried fruit or swap in fresh mint or cilantro for the parsley. Another nut, such as toasted hazelnuts or almonds or even pine nuts, could be used in place of the pistachios.

Gnocchis à la Parisienne This dish is considered humble fare, and one you would never see in a restaurant. Hence it's largely unknown to folks outside of France. Paule Caillat gave me her family recipe, to which I made a few changes (authorized, of course). The dumplings are made of pâte à choux dough, similar to that used for profiteroles. They're partially cooked by poaching them first, then baking, where they'll puff up gloriously before settling down, waiting to be scooped up from under a blanket of browned cheese. This is a pretty rich dish; serve it with a simple green salad.

Brussels sprouts were not part of the Palestinian kitchen when I was growing up. I discovered them here in the States and very eagerly tried to push them on my children. To that end, I did what any good mother would do—I pumped up their flavor by adding a little tahini sauce and sweet pomegranate molasses. It worked! In fact these Brussels sprouts were so delicious that they made it onto the original Tanoreen menu and I've never taken them off.

One of the most popular items on the Tanoreen menu, this tower of crispy pesto-marinated eggplant slices spread with smoky baba ghanouj, just might be the dish that inspired me to write this cookbook. It draws on the flavors of the Middle East and the Mediterranean, but the truth is, I created it to encourage my son to eat eggplant. He always loved fried zucchini sticks, so I cut eggplant in the same shape and he was none the wiser (although here they're cut in rounds). This is a good example of how I have taken advantage of ingredients that are available to me in the States and married them with the classic preparations from my childhood.

When ramps are in season, stock up and make this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Swap in any soft cheese you like: Try ricotta, cream cheese, or an oozy burrata.

The dressing for this salad is on the less acidic side: Once the tart pickled vegetables are in the mix, it will be perfectly balanced.

Editor's note: Use this recipe to make Rawia Bishara's Eggplant Napoleon . The first time I ever tasted pesto, I was hooked. I remember the first meal I made using it like it was yesterday—linguini tossed with pesto, topped with fried eggplant and served with fresh home-baked bread. When I use pesto this way, as a sauce, I generally make it with pine nuts. If I'm going to incorporate it into a dish, I use almonds, which are less expensive.

Editor's note: Use this recipe to make Rawia Bishara's Brussels Sprouts with Panko . Tahini sauce, a smooth blend of toasted sesame paste, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil, is ubiquitous in Middle Eastern kitchens. It is the condiment. There is hardly a dish that isn't enhanced by it—drizzled on Falafel sandwiches and over Brussels Sprouts with Panko; blended with pureed chickpeas for Hummus and with charred eggplant for Baba Ghanouj. My favorite Whole Fried Fish is served with this sauce mixed with parsley. At Tanoreen, I mix it into salad dressings and drizzle it into cauliflower casseroles. My daughter? She dips French fries into it! Learn to make this and you will have a simple, delicious, versatile sauce to add to your repertoire.

Selling skeptics on the idea of a vegetarian dinner is easy when it's in pie form. Maitake mushrooms add heft.

Chef Nemo Bolin at Cook & Brown Public House in Providence, RI, turned us on to the technique for this streamlined, no-knead gnocchi dough.

Editor's note: Use this recipe to make Rawia Bishara's Eggplant Napoleon . In most Middle Eastern countries (apart from Nazareth, where baba ghanouj is called mutabal), the ingredients in this dish are as simple as eggplant, garlic and lemon juice—a lightened up, tahini-free version of baba ghanouj. But when I arrived in America, I experimented with various ingredients and found myself adding tomatoes, chile pepper and a hint of cumin to my mutabal. I serve it with grilled meat and chicken. My children love this preparation, which is also great spread on toasted or fresh Arabic bread, crusty flatbread or crackers.

The key to a vibrant green (not khaki) soup: Bring the water up to a boil quickly over high heat, and err on undercooking the peas to preserve their color.