Alison Roman

For this chicken tikka masala recipe, the yogurt helps tenderize the chicken; the garlic, ginger, and spices in the marinade infuse it with lots of flavor.

Brining the chickens in buttermilk tenderizes the meat and keeps it moist. The flavorful pan juices are used to make croutons and a robust dressing for the pepper watercress and bread salad.

Using a mandoline to slice the carrots turns them into ribbons, and cooking them briefly keeps them from being too crunchy. If you don't have a mandolin, use a vegetable peeler.

If using skin-on hazelnuts, rub them inside a clean kitchen towel after they've been toasted--the skins will slip right off. Serve the fish with a lightly dressed butter lettuce and herb salad.

This cooling raita, or yogurt sauce, is a popular condiment for Indian feasts. It's also great with lamb chops.

This complexly flavored pudding owes its smooth texture to a quick spin in the blender.

A twist on bananas Foster, this parfait is made with rye instead of rum and finished with caramelized-maple pecans. The parfaits can be made ahead and look great layered in freezer-proof rocks glasses or mason jars.

Who doesn’t love chocolate cake? This one is moist, dense, rich, and naturally gluten-free.

Top off this tangy lemon cake with a jammy apricot-and-lemon glaze for extra sweetness.

Using frozen berries in desserts is a clever way to add flavor and vibrant color in colder months. Choose a mild honey, such as clover or orange blossom, to let the fruits shine.

Parchment paper is a lifesaver when making this rustic tart. Use it when rolling out the tender, delicate crust (it'll keep it from sticking), then use it to fold over the edges of the galette.

As a rule, every dough you make should contain salt—it complements the sweetness in your filling—and this buttery shortbread is no exception. Using salt in the crust and the filling helps create balance among the sweet, the bitter (from the lemon peel), and the acidic notes (from the fresh lemon juice).

Don't bother peeling the onions; their skins add a nice, rich brown color to this vegetable stock. If you'd like, remove the skins for use in dishes when a lighter color is preferred, such as in risotto or cream sauces.

Chicken wings are great for stock. They're flavor-making powerhouses of bones, meat, and skin and are easy to find. Some supermarkets sell backbones and carcasses; feel free to use them toward (or instead of) the four-pound total.

Here, a coarse sea salt like fleur de sel or sel gris plays a few important roles: It tempers and cuts the richness of the nuts and butter, it adds a concentrated crunch— and it makes the brittle look divine. Break this vibrant green pistachio brittle on top of ice cream or crumble it over rice pudding. Or, do what we do, and eat it straight off the baking sheet.

Finishing your cookies with a delicate, flaky salt like Maldon brings out the chocolate flavor and tempers the sweetness, creating the ultimate sweet and salty snack.

Adding salt to this classic sauce lets you taste the rich complexity of the caramel, not just the sweetness. To save time, feel free to replace the almonds and butter with 1/2 cup store-bought roasted almond butter (with no added sugar). Just stir in the salt and almond extract and it's recipe-ready.

A cross between a moist pear cake and the best oatmeal cookie you’ve ever had, these blondies will have kids adults coming back for more.

This recipe can easily be doubled to feed a larger group—and makes for great leftovers. For a lighter soup, omit the cream; or for a little decadence, add more cream or swirl in a little crème fraîche.

This cake is perfect for beginners—it's moist, forgiving, and easy. Jif creamy peanut butter is our favorite for the decadent frosting.