This is an easy side dish or appetizer that comes together in very little time, with very little effort. The burrata and roasted asparagus get topped with toasted hazelnuts, brown butter, lemon zest, and a sprinkle of Aleppo pepper for added heat. It’s great for dinner parties, especially during spring and summer months, or if you want something light to snack on with friends.

Cookbook author, podcast host, and journal editor Hetty McKinnon thought she'd ruined her hummus after accidentally dumping a whole can of chickpeas, juice and all, into the blender. But she decided to press on—and discovered a luscious, super-smooth texture she’d never seen in hummus before, all without peeling chickpeas or invoking baking soda.

Taylor ham aka pork roll is a New Jersey treasure. Salty, savory, and porky, sort of like Spam meets Genoa salami.

This trick will make any salmon better: grilled, roasted, pan-seared, broiled. In fact, it will make just about anything you want to eat better: meatballs, pasta sauces, popcorn—even ice cream—all with the same Microplane you use to grate cheese and lemon zest, and the umami-packed dried mushrooms that will keep almost-forever in your pantry. No pre-soaking the mushrooms, no pulling out (or cleaning) the spice grinder, just grating as casually as you’d sprinkle salt. Here, we’re using Marc’s trick on Sally Schneider’s Genius Slow-Roasted Salmon| New Window, with an extra tip for crisping the salmon skin from Food52 community member Lune, but feel free to use it far and wide.

“If you can’t find milkfish, I think [something] like branzino would be perfect. Any round fish, [like] black bass, is a great substitute."

Thank goodness for a new speedy pasta—especially one with a proper sauce that requires almost no cooking. As Heidi Swanson writes on 101 Cookbooks| New Window, “This is the best thing I’ve cooked with the least amount of effort in the past month.” I would have to agree.

There’s really a lot to love about sheet-pan dinners. As a category, these recipes tend to be pretty hands-off, easy to assemble, and have minimal clean-up. When the day has been busy or I just don’t want to have to fuss over the stove, sheet pan recipes are my go-tos. While dinner roasts in the oven, the table can be set, a DuoLingo streak can be managed, or a cocktail can be mixed. If I am feeling industrious, I can quickly clean up the cutting board and any bowls I may have used.

Since the moment I discovered that raw broccoli is absolutely delicious, I've riffed on this raw slaw so many times that I probably couldn't pick the original out of a line-up. Thin slices of broccoli go with literally every other salad-friendly ingredient—from citrus, to dried fruit, to hearty, cooked grains, to pickles, to breadcrumbs, to canned or fresh legumes, to cheese. And best of all, broccoli stands up well to time. Meaning a salad made from broccoli is a make-ahead-lunch (or dinner) dream. This version, which pairs broccoli simply with sliced apple, chopped walnuts, and a flavorful pesto dressing, is my favorite of the bunch. I eat it year-round, on its own for a meal, or as a side.

In the late 90s and early 2000s, Tuscany reigned supreme in the American kitchen. (Remember "Under the Tuscan Sun"?) Its aesthetic embraced a rustic, Old World charm, featuring warm earthy colors, natural materials like stone and wood, and decorative touches inspired by the Tuscan countryside. Popular Tuscan flavors at the time emphasized fresh, seasonal ingredients, showcasing the region's natural bounty through simple preparations. These dishes were abundant in olive oil, garlic, and focused on hearty vegetables, meats, and beans. After a recent TikTok deep-dive into the "Tuscan Kitchen aesthetic" and its undeniable grip on us all, I found myself yearning for those flavors! This roast pork tenderloin, slathered in the fresh herbs and garlic we all associate with Tuscany, is nestled (not sandwiched!) between slices of crusty bread and cheese, then baked until the bread is slightly toasted and the pork is perfectly pink in the middle.

This recipe is inspired by the lively, fragrant grilled eggplant dishes in Vietnamese cuisine. Here, spongy eggplants are grilled until silky and tender, and then tossed with nearly nước chấm, my piquant, vegan take on this foundational Vietnamese sauce. If you are grilling, the eggplant could also be cooked on a griddle for a smoky edge.

This bright, saucy comfort from Sami Tamimi’s childhood in Palestine, modernized with a little Ottolenghi family flair, is one example of a lesser known style of shakshuka that’s nearly impossible to mess up. If you’ve ever felt anxious about poaching eggs, you needn’t: The eggs here are scrambled into the sauce, much like in Yemeni shakshuka and Turkish menemen, so they gently cook through and let you know when they’re done, without any guesswork.

From Hannah Bronfman's Do What Feels Good| New Window: "When I made this mousse for Action Bronson on his VICELAND show, The Untitled Action Bronson Show, he was totally freaked about the idea of avocados for dessert. Once he tasted it, though, he was blown away. This mousse is super light and fluffy, and if you use a good-quality cocoa powder, you will never taste a hint of avocado (not to hate on avocados—you know I love you—but I love chocolate more). If you don’t want to use honey or agave to sweeten it, you can substitute 6 to 8 drops of liquid stevia. The key here is to whip the silky blend by hand to achieve the mousse-like consistency| New Window."

This recipe is reprinted with permission from "Tu Casa Mi Casa: Mexican Recipes For The Home Cook" by Enrique Olvera with Luis Arellano, Gonzalo Goût, Daniela Soto-Innes: "The first recipe any Mexican will cook as soon as they move out of their parents’ home and live on their own is chicken tinga. It is easy, reminds everyone of home, and the ingredients are very accessible. Although it is better made with dried chipotle chiles, canned chipotles work if in a pinch. It can be a soupy stew served over white rice and with tortillas. If you cook it down to thicken a bit more, it is a great topping on a tostada with fresh shredded lettuce, some crema, cheese, and fresh salsa."

As anyone who has ever met me can confirm, I don't like to go a day without eating peanut butter. This warm sweet potato salad from Deliciously Ella makes that so, so easy. I love to add the optional chopped radicchio, for crunch and for a subtle bitterness that balances the dish beautifully.

As legend would have it, the world’s very first mimosa debuted in 1925 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Paris. Which seems fitting for a cocktail that’s effervescent, equal parts sweet and tart, and unapologetic about its ABV at brunch. (The mimosa was, apparently, a riff on a cocktail called The Buck’s Fizz, invented in London some years earlier.)

This speedy, streamlined, sun-kissed sheet pan dinner is a combination of flavors and textures that never fails to excite: Sweet and smoky crispy-edged carrots. Spicy, garlicky chorizo. Toasty chickpeas. Sweet, chewy dates. Charred lemon. Bright, fresh herbs. Cooling, creamy yogurt. Make it year round, but especially on cold, dreary days. It's so full of bright, sunny flavors, it'll instantly and reliably transport you to a warmer, happier place.