Almond

Customize this recipe by subbing in other nuts and seeds.

Shredded coconut, which is cut more finely than the thick flaked type called for here, will work in a pinch.

Consider this sweet and crunchy dessert a free-form fruit crisp. Be warned: The nutty oat topping is addictive.

"Set sun-dried tomatoes on paper towels to soak up some of their oil so the dish doesn't get greasy," Bemis suggests.

Sweet from dates, sour from lemon, bitter from celery, and salty from Parmesan, this humble salad manages to get all taste buds firing at once.

This rich, subtly tangy cream spiked with almond essence gives ripe, sliced pears just the embellishment they need to go from fruit to fabulous.

A change from tempura batter. Use the versatile knafe (also spelled kataife) pastry, a fine, vermicelli-like pastry, for this savory snack. It also makes a perfect lunch with a salad and a spicy dip on the side (like dakkous). The citrus nutty center is a lovely surprise inside the sweet prawn. These prawns are seriously crunchy. You could bake them but they taste better fried.

Steal chef Sean Rembold's restaurant move: Use one ingredient—carrots—two ways.

Dates are revered, and much enjoyed, in Morocco. Of the more than two hundred varieties that the country produces, large mejhoul dates are the ones used for special occasions and special recipes like these stuffed dates. Typically, the almond paste is much sweeter than in this recipe, and the stuffed date is rolled in sugar. I prefer to let the dates' natural and intense sweetness shine. To make the dates festive, many Moroccan cooks work some food coloring—red, green, yellow, even blue—into the almond paste before stuffing it inside the dates.

This is one of my pantry staples; you'll find it in many of the recipes throughout this book. It makes for a super-easy sauce on its own, or you can mix it with lemon juice or vinegar to create a great dressing in less than a minute. Whenever almonds are on sale at the local store, I grab a few bags and make big batches, freezing some for future use. Each time you use this oil, make sure to grab an even proportion of oil to almonds so that you don't end up with a lopsided ratio.

These biscotti-like cookies are extra delicious dipped in an after-dinner drink such as Vin Santo.

If you have a mandoline with a julienne attachment or julienne peeler, use it here. For the best texture, stop cooking before the squash goes limp.

Can candy be too sweet? Not for us! The real delight of this sweet, sweet pairing of fluffy nougat and shredded coconut is what professional taste-testers call mouthfeel. The airy nougat softens, the coconut and almonds crunch, and the hefty milk chocolate shell melts and coats your palate with feel-good chocolate.

There are all kinds of radishes available at the markets in the spring—use any shape or color that looks good to you.

Creamy without being heavy, a dollop of lemony yogurt brings the dish together.

Nutritional note from Junelle Lupianai: "This bar is a perfect mid-afternoon snack to bring with you to work or for your children." The oats and cereal provide whole-grain goodness, and the nuts and seeds provide plant protein and fat. Flaxseed meal is included here for its nutritional punch, but it’s optional.

Rice sticks are a magic trick in a bag: Crumble them into hot oil and they poof instantly into crispy, twisty little morsels of browned, puffed rice—ready in seconds to serve as a crunchy topping for bite-sized pieces of quick-cooked chicken, broccoli, and almonds.

To make this creamy shake, blitz together Medjool dates, yogurt, vanilla, and cinnamon with ice and water, then top it with toasted nuts and seeds.