Root Vegetable

Pop a few of these to feel lively all night long—they supply energizing iron and protein. And capsaicin, the compound that gives chiles their fire, may kick up your metabolism.

When a butcher eats a salad, it tends to contain lots of meat and few vegetables. At Chez Navarre Jerome Navarre serves a version he learned from his father, a butcher.

This is a lovely dish to serve with grilled pita bread, either alongside a couple of other mezze, while you have a drink before supper, or as an appetizer in its own right, or as a light lunch with a good salad on the side. In the summer, please use fresh peas; at all other times of year the wondrous frozen pea will do. You can make this dish in advance, put it in the fridge, and bring it back to room temperature when you want it.

I have always loved a good, cinnamon-scented carrot cake but somehow found the normal cream cheese frosting too rich and too sweet for the cake. Carrots, after all, are sweet enough in their own right. However, this mascarpone topping—sharp textured with lemon and lime zest—contrasts perfectly with the texture and crunch of the carrots and walnuts. Take the path of least—if not no—resistance.

For Donatella, fava beans were an acquired taste. "When I was a child, I hated them," she says. She’s come around to the hearty, healthy bean and has always been a fan of dandelion greens, an ingredient that many Italians believe calms the stomach. Timing note: The favas need to soak overnight.

These vegetables are served as an on-table condiment at Chez Navarre. They are also great served side by side on their own or with beef or pork.

Traditionally, the broth, meats, and vegetables are all served separately, but feel free to serve everything in the same bowl. The beans need to soak overnight, so start this recipe one day ahead.

Here, grilled chicken turns into a fiesta-style main course. Use leftover canned chipotles to flavor mayonnaise for sandwiches, or butter for chops and steaks.

Quinoa, a grain with a texture like that of couscous, is sold at natural food stores. Serve this side dish with lime wedges.

Some Italian cooks would never combine cheese and seafood, but feel free to grate a little Pecorino Romano over the striped bass before serving. "In Puglia, fish and cheese go together," says Donatella.

This soup is good and velvety on its own, but the chile butter adds a luxurious crowning touch.

There are a thousand and one recipes for this easy staple of outdoor cooking, and it feels like I've tried all of them. But none quite match up to this one. After you've charred the peppers on the grill, you just pop them in a resealable plastic bag until you can slide the skins right off. Then you submerge them in a mixture of olive oil, vinegar, and garlic until they pick up a bit of tang. These will last a week in the fridge, but I bet you'll finish them before then.

The colored beets and bright green arugula in this dish make for a visually stunning presentation. The sweet roasted beets marinated in lemon vinaigrette play off the pure white fish and horseradish cream. Look for a few different types of beets, such as golden beets and Chioggia beets, and dress them separately, so the dark ones don't bleed their juices onto the lighter ones. In the spring, you could make this dish with wild salmon.

Potato latkes are really just potato kugel in pancake form.

Serve with sweet potato or root vegetable chips. The sweet potatoes can be cooked in a microwave in just 10 to 12 minutes.

Mashed potatoes make a hearty honest dish. It has sometimes been referred to as comfort food because it evokes memories of both big special-occasion dinners and the simple, family dinner intended for no other reason than to share a good meal. This version of mashed potatoes tastes good because it's dense with the mildly sweet flavor of parsnips and just enough butter to please, but without the extra calories you usually find in mashed potatoes.