Saffron

This one-pot dinner has lots of things kids love—chicken, peas, and rice—while saffron gives the medley adult appeal.

Carena brings an almost Moroccan sensibility to this delicious play of sweet and savory, from the crisp-tender fennel to the orange essences and underlying traces of saffron and raisins.

Favorite Mediterranean ingredients come together in this creamy risotto. Adding the liquid from the tomatoes to the chicken stock underscores the flavor of the fresh tomatoes added at the very end. This is delicious made with any ripe red or orange tomatoes.

This well-balanced stew is intense yet mellow. The prunes soak up the fragrant spices, and long, slow cooking turns the lamb fork-tender.

Sertl appreciated the basic recipes he learned at The CIA the most. "When you're crunched for time, you're grateful to have these go-to techniques under your belt," he says. These buttery, parsleyed red potatoes have just a suggestion of saffron.

Serve with toasted country bread.

Rich, aromatic rouille is a classic lily-gilding for French fish soups; this one has an extra something special: saffron. Even if you love saffron, though, don't be tempted to add any extra threads. This is just the right amount to really flatter, not dominate, the soup.

Toss with the vinaigrette while rice is warm, so it absorbs the flavors.

This hearty fish soup get tons of flavor from smoky bacon and fragrant saffron.

Look for fish that's 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick. It sounds counterintuitive, but farmed fish is a better choice when raised inland, in recirculating water (rather than in crowded netpens in the wild). At the market, ask your fishmonger where the fish comes from.

Salmon are gorgeous, and a whole one — completely boned — makes a breathtaking centerpiece. A savory stuffing of roasted fennel and plum tomatoes transforms the fish into a meal in itself, complemented by a creamy basil sauce with orange zest and saffron.

This dish is a summery variation on the Northern Italian pairing of tomato-braised ossobuco and saffron-flavored risotto. Here the delicious classic combination is lightened up with orzo and wilted grape tomatoes.

This side, originally 575 calories and 26 grams of fat, was a meal in itself. SELF cut 277 calories and 17 grams of fat.

This recipe was created by chef Michael Kornick of MK Restaurant in Chicago. It's part of a special menu he created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program.

For an even easier preparation, buy already-chopped onions and bell peppers; they're available at many supermarkets.

Risotta allo Zafferano con Midollo alla Piastra Combining a lovely golden hue with wonderfully beefy depth, this classic risotto alla milanese is hearty enough to stand on its own, but if you really want to be Italian about it, pair it with ossobuco.

Just a small amount of precious saffron turns this weeknight supper into something out of the ordinary. We prefer cultivated mussels because they require less cleaning, making them a cinch to prepare.