5 Ingredients or Fewer

Some parsnips can have a woody core, which you'll want to cut away before cooking.

This versatile oil is a great way to bring heat to just about any dish.

A favorite, try this versatile crunchy peanut mixture with braised-chicken-thigh lettuce wraps.

An unfloured surface provides some traction, so it's easy to roll the dough very thin.

Use the best, freshest eggs you can find, and don't even think of making this dish with eggs from stressed-out battery chickens. You can taste the difference. If you can find real guanciale, so much the better. Once the eggs have been added to the pasta, do not let the pan touch the heat directly or you will wind up with scrambled eggs.

A refreshing homemade soda that can quench a thirst as well as feed a chocolate fix. Refrigerate the leftover chocolate syrup for another use.

I love doughnuts, but I really love malasadas. And ever since I visited Hawaii, I got up on this game. One day, a friend of mine showed me how he did it growing up in Oahu: take a pack of the Pillsbury biscuits and fry them, then toss them in sugar. "DUDE!!!!!!" I said. Try it and you'll see. You too will say, "DUDE!!!!!!!!!" and deplete your local grocery store of Pillsbury biscuit dough just to make these.

You can have almost no money and still have enough to live off this stuff for weeks, months, years. Eat enough and you'll start to look for ways to make it different: add a little more sauce, a little less sauce, cook the noodles less, cook them more, add more water, less water, add an egg, scramble the egg, etc. Me, I've become a freak when it comes to my instant ramen. Don't fuck wit it, don't fuck wit me, let me do my thing. This is how I do my own thing.

You'll see fibers running through the cooked steak; make sure to cut across them for tender slices.

Adding onion delivers moisture; forming thicker patties prevents them from cooking too fast and drying out. Both steps are key when working with grass-fed ground beef.

This is not your usual garlic-and- oil sauté: Lime pickle brings a spicy and pungent kick.

The salmon absorbs more teriyaki flavor as it sits, making it even better (and breakfast that much quicker) if done in advance.

Starting the chop in a hot pan lets you get a good initial sear; lowering the heat gives you control while it cooks through.

When cooked with aromatics and rich tomato sauce, lentils are anything but bland.

This deceptively simple condiment is as addictive as pesto and as transformative as a squeeze of lemon. Spoon it onto fish, chicken, steak, roasted vegetables, or even pasta.

Sesame oil will become bitter if it gets too hot, so cook over gentle heat.