Mint

To keep watercress fresh, wrap it in damp paper towels and place it in a resealable plastic bag. Stored this way, it can be refrigerated for up to 4 days. Just before making the salad, “crisp” the watercress by soaking it in a bowl of ice water for a few minutes, then gently pat dry.

French feta is creamier, milder, and less salty than the Greek version. Arrange this salad on a platter, and let your guests serve themselves.

You can also serve this soup cold or at room temperature. Puree it in batches to prevent overflow (particularly because you do so while it’s hot), if needed. You can stir in a small amount of water to thin the soup after pureeing it, if you like.

Crisp herb fritters are an unusual way to savor fresh herbs. Dipped in beer batter, fried lightly in oil, and served with lemon wedges, they make a delightful accompaniment to a glass of wine. If the batter is too thick, thin with a little water; if it is too thin, add a little flour.

Serve this dal as a dip with pita chips or as a side dish with grilled meats or fish.

For a refreshing break from the usual vegetable salsa, toss together an aromatic blend of fresh pineapple, grated ginger, mint, and a splash of fresh lemon.

Quinoa, an excellent source of protein that counts toward your whole-grain goal, is the base for this citrusy side. Be sure to use fresh mint leaves—dried mint won’t provide the flavor boost you want for this dish.

Poaching refers to cooking in a liquid that’s heated to just below boiling. The shells are kept on the shrimp while cooking to keep them tender and to allow the shells to release their flavor into the poaching liquid. Cooking halibut, salmon, or shellfish this way produces a delicate texture.

Jerry Traunfeld was the executive chef for many years at the HerbFarm in Woodinville, Washington, near seattle and now owns Seattle’s Poppy Restaurant. Jerry’s finely tuned palate served him well in the development of an expansive herb-focused menu at the award-winning restaurant. Jerry’s version of naan, a simple flatbread from India by way of Afghanistan, was created for this book. Filled with a combination of flavor-packed herbs and richly flavored cashews, it’s wonderful!

Barbecue has lots of definitions, but what it really means to us is lots of leftover piles of meat for new and different dishes. Barbecue dishes can be as versatile as you want them to be—they don’t have to include slaw and beans. Pulled pork that’s been lightly seasoned and smoked can go in any direction. R. B. is adamant about crisping the cooked meat in a hot skillet first. The meat takes on a new texture that’s great for sandwiches, tacos, and brunch hash. Here, soft tacos made with any cheater meat take on Asian flavors with a simple sweet-hot peanut BBQ sauce and some fresh fixings.

There is wild tufted mint between the megalithic stones of its befogged and silent fields. And Africa whispers up sultry winds, caressing the place, adding to the sensation of faraway. This is the island of Giovanni di Lampedusa, author of Il Gattopardo, The Leopard. It is a mystical space etched by the ancients, one after another of them who, having stayed for a while, imprinted it, abandoned it, to its own muffled secrets and to the great lumbering turtles and seals who live there still. Surely not Italy, not, perhaps, Sicilia nor even Africa, it is somewhere else, this Lampedusa. Inhabited, finally, without interruption since 1843, when the king Ferdinando II came to claim it, a family descended from this settlement was once our host. The children and their nanny showed us the best, most secret places to collect the wild mint of which we’d grown so fond, we making a salad of its leaves and other wild grasses when enough of it could be foraged. One afternoon, after a particularly good harvest, we emptied our pockets of it onto the kitchen table, thinking we’d all feast on it at dinner, and went upstairs to bathe and rest. Later, the loveliest of perfumes told us that the mint had been seized by the cook and that she’d done something magnificent with it and tomatoes. Here follows a version of her gorgeous frittelle.