Dairy

"Drunken" salsas have been around forever. They were originally prepared with pulque, an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of the once-sacred maguey (agave) plant. Pulque, which is not easy to find outside of Mexico, is not distilled and has a much stronger flavor than tequila, which I use in its place in this recipe. The alcohol is mostly burned off in the cooking process, leaving only its musky flavor. The sweetness from the freshly squeezed orange juice gives this salsa a wonderful balance.

Alain Ducasse— In the squash family, you have plenty of choice between pumpkin, butternut squash, and several other varieties. It all depends what you can find in the market. But if you do spot a Muscade de Provence, pounce on it, as it is particularly tasty.
Paule Neyrat— All hard squashes are rich in antioxidant carotenoids: The more orange the flesh, the more they contain. They are best enjoyed in winter, when they are in season.

Alain Ducasse— The lobster must of course be alive, its claws firmly closed with elastic bands. After plunging it in boiling water, keep the lid on the cooking pot to avoid splashes.
Paule Neyrat— The flesh of the lobster is particularly low in fat but rich in protein. The vegetables are low in calories but full of vitamins and dressed with a yogurt sauce. This is a luxury dish but one that's really low in fat.

These noodles have oodles of satisfying umami, owing to onions, chicken stock, spinach and Parmesan.

Umami-rich cheese and chicken stock make an encore appearance, but this time they share the spotlight with high-fiber chickpeas. Adding 1/2 cup of these lean beans to your daily diet can help you cut your consumption of fatty foods, a study in the journal Appetite notes

Tomatoes are a top plant source of umami, and the riper they are, the better: The fruit's umami components increase during maturation. What's more, whole-wheat pasta has triple the fiber of regular pasta for more fill-you-up power.

Tomatoes keep the fulfilling umami coming. We added almonds to up the slim-down factor: Dieters who ate the nuts daily lost 56 percent more fat than those who didn't, a study from Loma Linda University finds; the nuts' fiber may prevent fat absorption.

This coconut curry adds a tangy note to a South Indian menu. This recipe is part of our menu for Sadhya, a South Indian feast.

Pachadis are lightly cooked South Indian salads, often involving yogurt. This was my grandmother's recipe, and it remains a feature of my core repertoire because it's so simple and unusual at the same time. This recipe is part of our menu for Sadhya, a South Indian feast.

This waffle recipe is a ham and cheese sandwich disguised as the greatest brunch dish of all time.

Any salty hard cheese, such as an aged Manchego, Grana Padano, or Mimolette, would be a fine substitute for the Parmesan in these cookies.

Nadine Levy Redzepi created this incredibly rich, moist cake. "Fat with fat—what could be better?" asks her husband. Serve it for dessert or with coffee or tea for breakfast.

This Mexican dish of tortilla chips smothered in chile sauce is just as good for dinner as it is for breakfast. If you don't want to make your own chips, substitute your favorite brand, but don't skimp on the garnishes; they add color and freshness.

Caramelized pineapple with a honey-orange glaze makes for a quick and elegant weeknight dessert.

Featuring paccheri rigati, a ribbed, tube-shaped pasta, this over-the-top casserole cooks in a 9"-diameter springform pan. But feel free to use rigatoni and a 9x9x2" baking dish instead.

To make perfect rings of fresh pineapple slice in 1/2"-thick circles, then round off the edges and punch out the core with 3 3/4"- and 1 1/4"-diameter cookie cutters, respectively.

In this surprising main course, Redzepi pot-roasts whole celery roots. Be sure to use small celery roots; larger ones will not cook evenly. The chef also cooks small heads of cauliflower in this way.

Finely ground black sesame seeds create a deeply flavored and dramatically hued cake.

When both the recipe developer (Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez) and the cross-tester (Melissa Roberts) raved about this soup, it was clear we had a winner! This almost-vegetarian chowder is chock full of a variety of colorful diced vegetables. Of course, we love the smoky nuance the bacon gives it, but if you wanted to make this strictly vegetarian, just lose the bacon and use vegetable stock in place of the chicken broth. This is ski-house material to feed a hungry horde, or use a long weekend to have several smaller gatherings to pay back all your friends (once you’ve cleaned for one party, you might as well throw another one).

This quintessential Kerala vegetable curry marries many of the best ingredients of the region: coconut, curry leaves, green chiles, and a host of tropical vegetables. All the vegetables are cut into batons and poached in a spiced yogurt-coconut sauce. This recipe is part of our menu for Sadhya, a South Indian feast.