European

Ratatouille (ra-ta-TOO-ee) is a popular dish from the Provence region in France. It’s a super simple vegetable-filled dish that makes enough to feed you, your roommates, and anyone else that smells it cooking. With tons of fresh veggies, this recipe is way healthier than anything you’d get at a fast food restaurant, and it’s so easy to make.

I’m not sure why this is called German potato salad. When we made it for my German host family, they enjoyed the sweet-sour flavor, but they had never had anything like it before. Oh well, it’s good and it goes great with the bratwurst. To save time during the party, this can be made ahead and reheated on the stovetop or in the microwave just before serving.

Nothing says German more than sausage, which makes bratwurst a must for any Oktoberfest celebration. This version is made with caramelized onions that get nice and sweet to make the perfect topping for the bratwurst.

Chicken Parmesan is one of my favorite Italian dishes and my mom makes the best ever. It’s the perfect combination of crunchy chicken and cheesiness, and because it’s made in the oven, there’s no oil mess on the stove. You may want to make extra because it’s so good left over.

This is another dish I swiped from the French. I was skeptical when I first saw it, but the combination of the cantaloupe, cucumber, tomato, and lime juice give it a fresh, clean flavor that is different from any salad I had ever tried before. Prosciutto is a delicious, thin, smoky Italian cured ham. If you can’t get it at your deli counter, get the smokiest ham they have and ask them to slice it as thin as possible.

This hearty salad is perfect as a meal. The cannellini beans, ham, and eggs add a lot of substance, so this is no wimpy little bowl of greens. The best part, though, is that it’s so quick and easy to put together.

The fresh basil and mozzarella give this salad such terrific fresh flavors that it’s like a little bit of summer all year long. It’s easy to put together, and it’s light but also filling. If you’re not a fan of green olives, use black olives or just leave them out. The salad will still be delicious.

When I was little, I hated tomatoes in all forms except, of course, ketchup. As I’ve gotten older, they’ve grown on me. Tomatoes Farci sounds weird, but blame that on Megan. This is another dish she found in her travels in France. To me it’s just little meatballs inside of tomatoes, and how can that be bad?

This is based on a French dish popular during the cold winter months. They use Reblochon, a super delicious stinky cheese, but since it’s hard to find here (and expensive), I used Swiss instead. This is so delicious that I cut it into quarters as soon as it comes out of the oven to avoid the fights over who got more. (And I’m not kidding about that.)

Okay, I won’t lie to you, these take a while to make, but they’re so delectable and quintessentially Greek that it’s worth the time it takes. You can make these several hours ahead and serve them at room temperature or you can put them together and just bake them right before you serve them.

What is tzatziki you ask? It’s a cucumber sauce that they serve as a spread for pita bread in every Greek restaurant. And, if that doesn’t help, it’s the white sauce that they put on gyros. If you still don’t know what I mean, make it and you’ll find out.

When I first started college, I was a total pastaholic, not only because it’s cheap and you just have to boil water, but because it’s so darn good. This is one of my favorite versions. With pasta, Italian sausage, and melted mozzarella, who wouldn’t love it. This dish makes a lot, but that’s okay because it’s also excellent reheated.

En papillote (PAH-peh-loht) is French for “in paper,” which is how this dish is made. This method of cooking steams the food and allows you to cook without fat, but we did add a little butter, thyme, and lemon for flavor. This is a really simple, foolproof way to cook fish and, best of all, it makes for easy cleanup.

When I was an exchange student, my German host mom made “hooner schnitzel” every day for my host dad’s lunch, but my favorite part was always the brat kartoff (fried potatoes), and the crispier, the better. This is truly a German dish that is served in almost every restaurant. You can also make Wiener schnitzel (veal) and schnitzel vom schwe (pork) the same way.

Because I am a vegetarian and the rest of my family is not, we are often at odds to come up with a dinner that will make everyone happy. Ratatouille (ra-tuh-TOO-ee) has saved the day more than once. I always make a double batch and freeze the extra in resealable bags. It reheats well in the microwave and is really good on pasta, rice, or whatever starch the rest of your family is eating.

The beauty of cooking is that you can make things exactly the way you like them. For example, chicken piccata is usually made with capers, but since I don’t like capers, I just use parsley instead. It also means that I can make a double batch of rice pilaf so there are plenty of leftovers. This is not exactly a quick dinner to prepare, but it is so good that I don’t mind taking the time to make it.

Pasta is one of my favorite foods of all time, and this version is really easy and super good. Although I do occasionally eat shrimp, I probably make this more often without shrimp than with it. It kind of depends on if I am making it for myself, or the whole family. If my parents are eating, then for sure it has shrimp. If it’s my sister, I leave the shrimp out because she likes to add (big surprise) grilled chicken.

For you non–spinach eaters out there (including me): Don’t be turned off by the spinach in this recipe! I always made this with just the cheese filling, but one time, when I had my back turned, my sister added spinach to the filling. She insisted that it would look better and I wouldn’t even taste it. Although I hate to admit it, she was right. Besides that, it’s worth it just for the shock value of when you ask your mom to buy spinach.

I love Caesar salad but, of course, my sister has to ruin it by adding chicken to cover up the taste of the lettuce. I mean really, how can you not like lettuce? This dressing is also really good on pasta salad, and at least Jill doesn’t feel the need to add meat to that.

Cheese, or no cheese, that is the question. I like cheese melted on top of the croutons on onion soup, but I also like the crunchiness you get when you add the croutons just a few at a time. So depending on my mood, I will either melt a couple of slices of provolone or Swiss cheese over the croutons, or not. But for the best of both worlds, I sometimes melt the cheese over the top and then push it into the soup and add more croutons as I go.