Vegan

A quick spin in the food processor is all it takes to mix up these rustic whole-wheat crackers.

The lime juice and oil will keep the avocado from turning brown, but it’s a good idea to make this pico de gallo recipe right before you serve it.

Maple syrup pumps up the flavor of puréed sweet potatoes and provides a sweet glaze for extra-peppery candied pecans in this classic Thanksgiving side.

Zhoug is a spicy herb sauce of Yemenite origin that you find in Syria and Israel. It’s often the go-to condiment for falafel and is eaten with bread for those who want heat with every bite. It’s a must with Shakshuka, and you’ll probably find yourself stirring it into scrambled eggs, spreading it on a sandwich, mixing it with Greek yogurt to make a dip, or just eating it by the spoonful.

Also known as advieh, this aromatic blend comes from Persian cuisine. It’s fragrant, a little sweet, and gently warming. It is delicious mixed with sugar and sprinkled over baked goods, donuts, and rice pudding or added to dried fruits that are cooking into jam. It straddles the sweet and savory world because it’s also great for flavoring rice pilaf with toasted nuts, lentil soup, lamb meatballs, braised chicken, or vegetable stew. It’s a blend that is shared by chefs and pastry chefs. Use it to make Persian-Style Carrots and Black-Eyed Peas.

Probably the biggest, most versatile recipe I've ever written and it's become a model for my master-recipe formula. Here six basic components are completely transformed with simple substitutions into 18 totally different dishes.

From here grow all other vinaigrettes. Use your instincts to vary the basic recipe. My everyday dressing almost always includes a bit of mustard which helps emulsify the dressing while adding tang.

A healthy dose of olive oil gives this rosemary-infused bread a rich, moist crumb and pale golden hue; it also helps it keep a little better than other European-style breads. Among other things, this is a wonderful and unconventional loaf for sandwiches.

The best thing about this salad is how it comes together in no time at all. Asian rice noodles generally cook more quickly than wheat noodles and with the addition of the precut coleslaw mix the prep time is very minimal.

This bean recipe is purposely brothy; if you have leftovers, reheat and smash them—they're great on toast with an egg. Also, if you have any leftover meat, throw it in during the last few minutes of cooking for an even heartier flavor, just as we did.

Elevating the humble onion: Roasting them in their skins retains their natural sugars, and they get meltingly soft without disintegrating.

The crunchy, salty, sesame-drenched celery sticks at Bar Goto in New York are so good, you’ll forget they’re made from vegetables.

Tarator is usually made with tahini, but the base for this recipe is almonds. It serves as both a binder for the rice cakes and as a sauce.

Blanched almonds go into a blender with water and oil and come out as a luscious aioli. Because the nuts aren't toasted, the sauce doesn't actually taste very nutty. It's more decadent than yogurt, more subtle than mayo.

This green pesto owes its intense and powerful flavor to the use of kombu. It’s such an easy recipe that you can experiment with the ingredients as much as you like. The arugula and basil, for instance, can be substituted with any leafy green of your choice. And the pine nuts can be replaced by any other type of nut, such as cashews or hazelnuts. You can even use sunflower seeds! Serve the pesto on crackers, on a grilled vegetable sandwich, or with a bowl of pasta.

Medrich's version of these golden orange yam and coconut cookies from Spain is delicate and flavorful.