Dairy

Two kinds of melty cheese make this dip extra luxe.

It's hard not to love this classic Italian pasta—it's just the right mix of spicy and sweet.

Cook barley until chewy and tender, then top with an assortment of crisp, golden brown mushrooms that have been pan-seared and basted in a fragrant, thyme-infused butter.

These quick-cooking lamb chops make dinner feel instantly fancy.

If you're ever cornered by a bland bowl of vegetables or whole grains, throw a handful of herbs on it. They instantly make the meal more beautiful and flavorful—without adding any salt, fat, or sugar.

If you have a stovetop griddle, use it to make a few flatbreads at a time.

Although it may sound purely indulgent, this steak dinner is packed with nutrients, from home-sprouted lentils to flavorful nutritional yeast. (But yeah, it tastes pretty decadent, too.)

Will make you pause before making a sour cream–based onion dip ever again.

A doubly crunchy topping marks a breakthrough moment for creamy roasted fennel.

Vadouvan is sweeter and more aromatic than the typical curry, but Madras curry powder will work in a pinch.

Salting the radishes keeps them crunchy, and keeps the yogurt dip from turning pink.

Try this with white beans on toast, in salads, or puréed and spread on pita.

Roman cauliflower (also known as Romanesco) grows as a peculiar spiky, conical head, and instead of florets as in regular cauliflower, it projects cones with tiny cones upon cones—a kind of fractal of nature's making. It comes in various hues of white, purple, and green and has a nutty, more intense flavor compared with regular cauliflower. Unfortunately it's not always easy to find in many stores in the US, though sources like farmers' markets often carry it, as do Italian specialty shops. You can substitute standard cauliflower for this if you can't find the Roman variety. It breaks into florets and cooks the same way.

Store-bought puff pastry makes these savory "elephant ears" an easy bite-sized appetizer for your next party.

We combined the rich and indulgent cheesiness of Pommes Aligot and the beautifully swirled rosettes of Pommes Duchesse into one super-luxe casserole that looks fancy but is surprisingly simple to make.

I get a lot of inspiration from staring at the supermarket shelves, and seeing what items are grouped together. I made this recipe because I found the smoked oysters next to the anchovies in the canned fish section and decided to try them out instead in my Caesar dressing. Once I did that, I decided to riff on the croutons a bit too. In this recipe, the smoky oysters complement the rich egg yolks, which in turn get cut by a healthy dose of lemon juice. Do you like other canned fishies? All are good Caesar salad material, providing they are packed in oil, which amps up their flavor almost to a condiment level of oomph. If you want to get real crazy, find the canned seafood section in an ethnic market.

Cinnamon-nut streusel tops an orange-scented muffin packed with cranberries and pecans—at every altitude, this is an unbeatable combination.