Root Vegetable

This Mexican take on gazpacho has a little bit of crunch, thanks to pepitas (pumpkin seeds).

This tahini-based sauce serves as the foundation for mezes like hummus and baba ghanouj throughout much of the Mediterranean, but it's also a wonderful sauce in its own right, showing its versatility by adding a nutty, lemony hit to the kùfte or to vegetables or fish.

The small, knobby tubers called Jerusalem artichokes grow wild all along the Eastern Seaboard, and southerners have long prized their sweet, nutty crispness in turmeric-spiked relishes and pickles. Countless cooks south of the Mason-Dixon Line have inherited a yellow-stained index card that reads something like this.

You can practically live on this salad in sultry weather. It tastes bright and fresh and is satisfying without being heavy.

This finely chopped slaw has just the right balance of sweet and tart. It goes on top of the pulled pork, not alongside it.

Roast the potatoes until the skins are crispy

Food editor Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez picked up her technique for grilling pizza during a college visit to Al Forno, in Providence, Rhode Island. Here, she tops that irresistibly charred crust with ingredients that have a natural affinity for one another: sweet cooked-down onions, toasted walnuts, and the bite of Gorgonzola.

This is a great excuse to get outside and grill—and an even better excuse to have smoky kielbasa for dinner. A vinegary potato salad adds a welcome note of acidity while making this a meal in itself.

Stirring the fresh herbs into the hot rice preserves their flavor and releases their aroma.

This pasta is loaded with appealing flavors: sweet onions and tomatoes, tangy goat cheese, earthy spinach.

Fresh ricotta cheese (available at some supermarkets and at Italian markets) and good-quality olive oil are the keys to this great salty-sweet dish.

Bruschetta becomes a main course when it's topped with roasted fish.

You can find crisp, delicate pea shoots in the spring at farmers' markets, Asian markets, and some specialty foods stores.

These versatile soufflés can be served for breakfast or lunch, or as a side dish for dinner.

**Editor's note:**The recipe below is from Perfect Parties by Linnea Johansson.

These tender little potatoes, stuffed to the brim with a garlicky, cheesy filling, are an easy alternative to mashed or baked potatoes.

You'll be amazed that anything this simple could taste so good, not to mention that all this garlic—yes, two heads, not two cloves—can produce such a seasoned, mellow taste.

A shot of red-wine vinegar is all it takes to enliven this simple, earthy side dish.

While the Buffalo salmon<\a> is busy hogging all the sauce, what's the chicken left to do all by its lonesome self? Here, it cozies up with ever-so-sweet scallions for some much-needed TLC that manages to be both new and familiar.