Make Ahead

We call this one a picnic dinner since everything can be eaten with your hands. It's easy to pack up and take to the park if you want, but it also works great on the family table.

The sweet, fresh flavor of these orange cupcakes, studded with tart cranberries (fresh and frozen work equally well), makes for a vibrant holiday dessert as worthy of Thanksgiving as any pie.

Embrace the start of autumn with cozy, Indian-inspired sweet potatoes loaded with curry-spiced chickpeas, mushrooms, and spinach.

We eat this salad—which is a great way to stretch a piece of beef—all year long for lunch and dinner, but it's particularly good during the warmer months. The thinly sliced meat, the crunch of the cucumbers and red onions, and the heady aroma of mint and cilantro tossed with the chile-spiked salty-sweet dressing seem made for hot days and nights.

This zippy, herbaceous drinkable soup is like a trip to the farmers’ market in a glass.

Mandolines were made for recipes like this; even slices will make this simple salad look like the work of a pro.

A couple tablespoons of yogurt miraculously transform a basic vinaigrette recipe into a new creamy dressing.

Consider this recipe a no-brainer formula where you can sub in any raw veg, oil, or cheese you feel like.

Serve this dip with chips, as part of a meze platter, or slather it on grilled chicken thighs or lamb chops.

You can use any kind of nuts for this recipe—almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, and Brazil nuts are all delicious.

Tent with foil if it browns too fast.

Delicate rose water (a common ingredient in Middle Eastern sweets) and tart lemonade are a refreshing combination in this pretty pink drink.

Onigiri is a quintessential Japanese food: made by moms for breakfast, lunch boxes, and picnics. It is the ideal handheld food (the nori wrapper keeps the sticky rice from getting all over your hand).

These campfire-inspired treats combine rich chocolate, graham crackers, and marshmallows in a whole new way. Torch them just before serving to mimic toasted marshmallows.

We usually rail against kitchen tools that do only one thing and take up precious drawer space, but cherry pitters earn their keep as far as we are concerned.

Keeping the garlic whole and removing once it has added enough flavor will keep the flavor more mild, but if you want more of a punch, grate it before adding and leave it in.

Pickling berries is a great way to make the most of seasonal produce. Try them over ice cream and salad.

Here’s your opportunity to use up berries that are slightly past their prime. This recipe method concentrates the berries’ flavors, so the more delicious they are to begin with, the better they will be dried. At Craftsman and Wolves in San Francisco, CA, William Werner combines them with raw berries in tarts or adds them to arugula salads. They're chewy—a bit softer than a dried apricot—with a plump, juicy consistency.

Learning how to properly caramelize onions is key. Once you've mastered the basic technique, you’ll use them for everything from French onion soup to onion dip to topping burgers.

Don’t believe the hype that every vinaigrette recipe should have one part acid to three parts oil. This more assertive ratio brings a lot more flavor to the table.