Mindy Fox

Our version of classic Italian agile e olio (garlic and oil) pasta is given extra flavor and crunch with toasted breadcrumbs.

Cozy up to this easy, creamy, 15-minute pasta, brightened up with fragrant lemon zest and refreshing parsley.

This salad of melon, sweet pepper, salty cheese and earthy basil recalls the watermelon salad that we all love so much, but its elegant components make it more refined. Salt is key to marrying the flavors, so be generous, tasting as you go. Be liberal, too, with a very good extra-virgin olive oil—it is very much a part of this salad.

Our dear friends, the Krutchiks, often lavish us with new food discoveries, like Wagyu pastrami—a luxe version of the delicious brined, spiced and smoked deli meat—which they buy at their NYC neighborhood shop, Grace's Marketplace. The richly marbled, melt-in-your-mouth meat inspired this twist on Italy's beloved bread and tomato salad. Use ripe, in-season tomatoes (their sweet juices form part of the dressing), and pick an airy light rye bread over the dark, dense sort; the latter is too chewy for this salad. Wagyu is certainly tasty, but any good pastrami works well here.

Though inspired by golden cherries from the farmers' market, this pretty salad can be made with any sort of fresh or frozen cherry. Marcona almonds hail from Spain; their toasty, slightly sweet and salty flavor is a great match for the fruit. Toasted whole almonds and a few extra pinches of sea salt can be substituted.

Often thought of as savory ingredients, pine nuts and rosemary make an exciting, unexpected pairing in sweets. This play on a classic Tuscan dessert makes a nice ending to a fall or wintertime meal, be it simple or fancy. The fragrant, lightly sweetened whipped cream and the caramel tones of the filling seem to magically warm up a chilly day. You can candy a sprig of rosemary for a pretty garnish, if you like, or leave it fresh.

I love the buttery taste and crumbly texture of this dough.