Dill

Like an eastern European take on ravioli, this embodiment of Polish comfort food is right at home in a lively tomato sauce with dill and caraway seeds.

Here's an autumnal twist on pesto—with walnuts standing in for pine nuts and with a mix of herbs in place of summery basil. It's great on pasta or chicken.

Removing the bones from salmon steaks is surprisingly easy, and you'll get filletlike quality at a lower price. Here, we've grilled the steaks to intensify their flavor, and paired them with the sharp bite of horseradish.

We adopted contributing editor Jon Rowley's technique for poaching salmon in water salted like the sea. This method imparts a touch of brine and enables the other seasonings to permeate the fish. Cut into very thick steaks instead of left whole, the fish is easier to handle and doesn't require a poacher. The creamy sauce makes for a sophisticated finish.

The mayo can also be made with dill.

Start with the first of three small plates (or mezes): this one, the cheese rolls, and the spinach. WHAT TO DRINK: Pour a crisp, dry rosé throughout the meal.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Jasper White's The Summer Shack Cookbook: The Complete Guide to Shore Food. To read Epicurious's review of the cookbook, go to Summer Cooking Guides. This is one of my favorite sauces for grilled seafood, especially swordfish. It is also terrific with salmon, striped bass, halibut, tautog, and other white-fleshed fish suitable for grilling. Think of this recipe as a formula. The ratio of cucumber to the other ingredients is important, but from there you can adapt this sauce to match with different fish or even side dishes. For example, with a Latino or Caribbean dish like Black Beans and Rice, you could substitute fresh lime juice for the lemon juice and add chiles and cilantro. This recipe uses half yogurt and half sour cream, but you could use any combination of the two. Or, for salmon, you might want to use all sour cream, with dill. You could also make a low-calorie sauce using all low-fat yogurt. The first time you make the sauce, if you follow my guidelines but omit the jalapeño and use parsley and chives for the herbs, you will have a basic sauce. After that, you are on your own. The list of possible variations is extensive. For equipment, you will need a stainless steel (or plastic) strainer.

Fish is a good choice for a quick meal, and preparing this sprightly dill sauce from the pan juices (rather than using a stock) will really save you time.

Editor's note: This recipe was created by chef Einat Admony for an Israeli Passover menu. This tangy salad is an interesting departure from baba ghanoush, and makes a terrific Passover starter when served with matzoh. You'll want to begin preparing it a day ahead, since it has to marinate overnight.

Improv: Top with smoked salmon instead of caviar.

This hefty omelet is big enough for two people to share, and the recipe makes great use of the flavored goat cheese varieties now available at supermarkets across the country.

After he went on the Blue Voyage, Boston chef Chris Schlesinger came up with the idea for this recipe, which brings together many of the characteristic flavors of Turkey's Mediterranean coast. Halibut works best, but you can use any mild, firm-fleshed white fish.

The one-two punch of peas in this healthy vegetarian soup is dynamite.

The flavors of gravlax are used in a new and different way here. (For safety's sake, buy only the best-quality frozen fish, which may need to be ordered ahead.)