Tomato

The deconstructed caprese is a sandwich on a skewer, featuring crusty bread, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and basil. While it looks sort of fussy, it’s actually a snap to pull together and it has a colorful presentation that looks quite smashing in a lunch box. Small mozzarella balls, also known as bocconcini, measure about an inch across and are sold in the specialty cheese section of many supermarkets. Pack the skewers with a little side of olive oil and balsamic vinegar for lunchtime dipping. For bigger appetites, increase the recipe by 50 percent, which will make three skewers instead of two.

Smoked Salmon, Hard-Boiled Egg, Tomatoes, Greens and Caper-Onion Mayo This is another one of those fabulous "adult sandwiches." It's hearty enough to pack for work, yet it's perfectly appropriate for a luncheon or brunch. The hardest part of this recipe is assembling the ingredients: that's how easy it is, yet it tastes like a gourmet sandwich you'd find on a restaurant menu or at a specialty deli. Thanks to the salmon, the sandwich is loaded with omega-3 fatty acids that our body can't make on its own; it's high in protein and delivers a whopping amount of nutrients per calorie. In other words, it's the heavyweight nutrition champ of sandwiches!

Oil-Packed Tuna, Hard-Boiled Egg, Roasted Fennel, Tomatoes, Tapenade and Greens Lots of cookbooks offer creative ideas for kids' lunches, but what about the rest of us? Lunch can get tiresome for adults, too, so I decided to create a few sandwich recipes for an older crowd—ideas that will get you out of your same-old-sandwich rut, amp up your midday nutrition, and energize you for the demands of the afternoon. If you want a change of pace, this recipe is for you! It's basically egg salad dressed up for an evening out, and it's absolutely delicious! It's loaded with omega-3 fatty acids that keep the brain sharp and help performance, plus protein from the tuna and egg and antioxidants from the fennel; the flavor is over the top! Cook the fennel over the weekend, so you have it on hand to enjoy during the week.

This is a winning-contestant recipe from Season Four of Fox's MasterChef.

"Set sun-dried tomatoes on paper towels to soak up some of their oil so the dish doesn't get greasy," Bemis suggests.

The only thing better than Sloppy Joes for dinner is taco night. This hybrid is the best of both worlds.

"I spend most of late summer picking these veggies," Bemis says. "I have to get creative to keep up. The pesto makes this combo so refreshing."

Chilled Rice Salad with Avocado, Tomatoes and Black Beans Who says white rice isn't healthy? Just look at the nutrient profile of this dish, and you'll surely change your mind. This chilled rice salad is chockfull of veggies, loaded with flavor, and a nice source of fiber and contributes valuable heart-healthy fats to the diet. Plus, it looks beautiful on the table! In particular, this dish is a favorite among the teenage girls in my household because, I am told, "It makes us feel healthy!" Who can argue with that? When you purchase the sun-dried tomatoes, choose those packed in olive oil, because you'll use the oil in the recipe. The rice salad will last 3 days in the refrigerator and makes a delicious lunch or summery dinner.

Why do I love roast winter vegetables? For starters, because they are fresh, local, and seasonal. Unlike summer produce, they keep for a long time without losing most of their flavor. They feel like winter food: hearty, substantial, rib-sticking. Francis Mallmann quick-roasts them at very high heat in a wood oven until they almost burn. A home oven doesn't put out that kind of thousand-degree heat, but when something as simple as slices of Delicata squash are coated with a little bit of olive oil, sprinkled with kosher or coarse sea salt, and then roasted, they come out of the oven chewy, nutty, sweet, and savory. Part caramelization, part umami, and part Maillard. This dish is a slight adaptation of a recipe in Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty, which I came across when I was asked to be a judge in Food52.com's "Tournament of Cookbooks." In case you don't know Yotam Ottolenghi's work—you'd never forget such a fun name—he is a London-based Israeli chef who writes a vegetarian column for the Guardian. He is not a vegetarian himself, which makes me trust his recipes even more. In other words, he is neither ideological nor moralistic about it: his only aim is food that tastes great. Caramelized and well-seasoned winter vegetables are fine by themselves, but the maple-mustard vinaigrette lifts the flavors enormously. We made this recipe for a New Year's Eve dinner, and afterward I received ooh-and-aah e-mails from people about "the best vegetables ever!" For sure, the company, the wine, and the other food had something to do with the reviews. But, taking all that into consideration, tell me, honestly, how often are people moved to praise a parsnip? A few years ago I would have said you need your own roast tomatoes for this recipe, but now I find that Desert Glory or similar deeply flavored cherry tomatoes, though they don't hold a candle to real summer tomatoes, are fine when caramelized.

Mograbiah, a large variety of couscous made from semolina, is common throughout the Arab world. It is also known as pearl or giant couscous and, in North Africa, as berkukis. It is more difficult to find than ordinary couscous. We buy it from Green Valley, the luscious Middle Eastern supermarket just off London's Edgware Road. If you can't get hold of it, try to find the Sardinian equivalent, fregola, which is stocked by some Italian delis. If all this leads you nowhere, use couscous only (increasing the quantity below up to 1 pound / 500 g). You will lose out a little on the interesting combination of textures but still enjoy the explosive mix of flavors. The dried tomatoes are a great pantry ingredient. Keep them immersed in oil if you want them to last a long time. The caramelized onion is also handy to have in the fridge. It will keep there for at least five days and makes a great addition to omelets, quiches, bruschetta, pasta—anything, really.

For an easy, delicious taco night, try these Shredded Chicken Tacos. The chicken filling, also known as Tinga de Pollo in Mexico - especially the Puebla region - is made by slowly cooking chicken breasts a seasoned tomato sauce to make them super tender and extra tasty. Wrap the chicken tinga filling in warm corn tortillas and sprinkle on your favorite toppings for an easy, fun taco night.

Spicy adobo and cheese are cooled by tomato and cabbage on this eat-anytime breakfast. —Goldman

Traditional Caesar dressing can pack 17 grams of fat in a measly 2 tablespoons. We did much better by making light mayo, not oil, the primary ingredient.

Sweet fresh corn balances out peppery arugula. If you're short on time, canned or frozen (and thawed) corn will do the trick.

It's low-cal and filling—as in perfect for swimsuit season. I make it a day ahead so the veggies can marinate and the flavor pops.

The tomato jam makes this sandwich: Its honey and vinegar give it sweetness and bite! —Elliot

Combine rich egg noodles with the best of the summer harvest for a gorgeous dinner that requires a bit of chopping, but very little cooking.

Throw a pouch filled with clams on the grill when the fire's hot, and enjoy them while you cook the rest of the meal. Timing can vary a bit, depending on the size and stubbornness of the clams and the heat of the fire. You can tell if the shells have opened by feeling the top of the package with tongs or a spatula. If you open the package and see that some clams have not opened, reseal and return to the fire for a few minutes. If there are a few duds that refuse to open after 15 minutes or so, discard them.

If you can chop tomatoes, you can make tomato water. The rose-colored liquid that releases from the cut fruit tastes like a super-concentrated, drinkable version of ripe tomatoes.

Instead of using canned tuna, this recipe puts you in control of the quality of the tuna and how long to cook it. We like it on the medium-rare side.