Root Vegetable

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.

These are a little more work than the other dishes for this party, but they are so yummy we couldn’t skip them. They can be made several hours ahead and refrigerated, or they can be frozen for up to 2 months and baked at the last minute.

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.)

This is an easy way to make tasty fried chicken without any of the mess. I like chicken legs, so whenever they are on sale I buy one of those huge packages with about twelve in it and make them all. It is never a problem to get rid of leftover fried chicken.

When I suggested potato pancakes for this chapter, my mom questioned whether college students would own blenders. I foolishly said, “Even the guys next door who have one fry pan and eat with plastic silverware have a blender.” I quickly added, “You know, to make smoothies.” I don’t think she bought the smoothie thing, but the recipe stayed. These crispy potato pancakes are a yummy dinner plain or with applesauce or sour cream.

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.

This is a most excellent appetizer and it couldn’t be easier to make. You just put everything in the blender and it’s done in about 30 seconds. You can’t beat that.

This is a delicious low-fat version of a standard curry dish. You might think that low-fat means you won’t be full, but with all the potatoes and chicken in this easy-to-prepare meal, even big eaters will be satisfied. Curry can be a refreshing change especially if you’ve gotten stuck in a culinary rut.

Meatloaf is one of my dad’s self-professed specialties. He will spend an hour putting it together, and I swear he adds a pinch of just about every spice in the cabinet. Here we have narrowed down the list substantially, but it is still every bit as good as his. Sorry Dad.

Here I go again: I am not a big fan of fish. Okay, the truth is, I won’t eat most types of fish. However, I really do like it when it is made this way, and it’s even better with the tartar sauce on it. I mean how can you go wrong with potato chips? This is a super simple dish to make. Just make sure the potato chips get pretty finely crushed, or they will fall off when you take the fish out of the pan.

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.

Chicken and dumplings is a great cold-weather dish. When we lived in the Midwest, we would always have this after a day of sledding or building snow forts, but when we moved to Arizona this tradition became a problem. Now when I want chicken and dumplings, I turn down the air conditioning, close the blinds, and pretend it’s snowing outside (if I don’t close the blinds, the palm trees kind of ruin the effect).

Fajitas are great because you can put anything you want on them. I like mine with meat, onion, and cheese, but my sister always grills some eggplant or zucchini for hers. They are also really good with refried beans, guacamole, or even Spanish rice.

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.

This is Megan’s version of split pea soup, my version skips the croutons and includes ham. But, because we occasionally have to make something she will eat, I just add the ham to my bowl. If you don’t have a vegetarian in your house, putting ham or a ham bone in the soup while it is cooking adds a great flavor.

The key to making good maki rolls is to never refrigerate the rice. When rice has been refrigerated it becomes hard, and it completely changes the texture of the rolls. You can buy tied-together sheets of tiny bamboo strips, called “sushi mats,” for a few dollars. They make it easier to keep the rolls tight, but if you don’t have one, plastic wrap also works pretty well.

Pot stickers are one of my family’s favorite appetizers. In fact, my cousins even eat them as the main course. My problem with ordering them from a restaurant is that they never have a vegetarian option, so I prefer to make them at home, where I can sauté chopped cabbage to substitute for the pork.

Even the thought of making yeast breads can be intimidating, but this recipe is pretty simple and always works. Because of the oil in the dough and all of the toppings, the dough can take a lot of abuse without being a problem. I top the focaccia with whatever we happen to have on hand. It’s also great with sliced tomatoes, garlic, thyme, or mozzarella. This is one of those recipes for which the possibilities truly are endless.

I’ve spent many a summer night enjoying an ice cream cone, flanked by Mexican and Filipino families, at Mitchell’s Ice Cream in San Francisco’s Mission District. This ice cream is inspired by ube, the sweet potato ice cream they serve up in addition to all the other exotic flavors they offer. Mitchell’s is so popular that the place is just as packed when the inevitable summer fog rolls in and chills things down as it is when the sun is shining. There’s always a line. But don’t think for a minute that the flavor of this ice cream is too adventurous. Imagine a nice slab of spiced pumpkin pie; this ice cream delivers that classic flavor in one neat scoop of ice cream. The best sweet potatoes to use are a vivid, electric orange. I try to find the brightest orange ones when shopping. Don’t tell, but sometimes I scrape a bit of the skin off one, just to check.

Take a page from Korean cooks who gently simmer lean beef with lots of scallions, onion, and garlic for a light, flavorful stock. The black peppercorns impart a golden hue as well as a spicy undercurrent. I prefer shank because there’s a little marrow bone for flavor, the gelatinous meat imparts richness, and the left overs can be used for an old-fashioned Chinese treat (see Note below). You can opt for oxtail, rump, brisket, or other stewing meat but know that a little bone, meat, and fat together make for good stock flavor.