Simmer

Cassy Vires, Home Wine Kitchen, St. Louis: "I like to take a classic pairing and turn it on its head."

Keep a resealable bag of leftover Parmesan rinds in the freezer for recipes like this; they add great depth to tomato sauces and vegetable-centric soups, too.

Chef Kenney often makes these crepe-like pancakes for his family on the weekend. He couldn't resist including them in this menu as a shout-out to Jack Johnson's 2005 song "Banana Pancakes."

"The flavors blend so well, you won't even guess you're eating kale." —Guarnaschelli

The secret to homemade brittle? Work fast—it hardens quickly.

Real fruit instead of sugary juices or mixes cuts the cals in this sparkling sip. Tastes better, too.

The classic combination of tender pork, tart apples, and cider-braised sweet potatoes is a textbook meal for chilly days, especially when you're really hungry. You'll be amazed how easy it is to pull this hearty meal together; even the cider-based mustard sauce is a snap to prepare.

I could eat a meal like this almost every night. It's light and fresh, with vegetables and flaky fish poached in a perfumed broth. Five-spice powder is a Chinese spice blend combining equal parts cinnamon, star anise, clove, fennel, and Szechuan peppercorns, and can be found these days in most well-stocked grocery stores. A spa meal without the sacrifice, the chewy udon noodles and bok choy soak up that brothy flavor and round out this quick meal perfectly. Who said eating well was hard work?

In North Africa (and Marseille!) mint tea is generally drunk enormously sweet—the kind of sweetness that makes you a bit thirsty—which is exactly how I like it. Start with 1/4 cup of sugar and add more if you want it sweeter. To avoid any bitterness, do not let the tea boil once the mint has been added. For an earthy, Tunisian touch, dry roast a handful of pine nuts and drop them in the glass just before serving.

Harira is Morocco's best-known, and best-loved, soup. Families eat this herb-rich, tomato-based soup year-round. During Ramadan, however, it's obligatory, and pots of the soup simmer away in kitchens across the country. Accompanied by dates and honeyed, flower-shaped cookies sprinkled with sesame seeds called chebakia, a bowl of harira is the traditional way to break the fast. The velvety-smooth soup—whisking in flour, or sometimes egg, at the end gives that distinct texture—is nourishing and easy on an empty stomach. I have enjoyed harira around numerous family tables and at street stalls—each version has been different. As a woman in Fes once said to me, "There are as many recipes for harira in Morocco as there are cooks."

This is an impressive three-layered popsicle. Make sure each layer is completely frozen before adding the next, as it looks great when the layers are really well defined.

Use the whole mint sprigs, stalks included, for a good minty hit.

Tex-Mex Perfection for Everyone. Our Fajitas recipe relies on GOYA® Mojo Criollo as a flavorful marinade that delivers juicy, tender meat, and GOYA® Flour Tortillas for a pocket everyone can pick up.

The recipe for this tiki party crowd-pleaser (and I do mean a crowd!) is courtesy of Martin Cate, owner of Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco. This can be served in several bowls placed throughout a party area or one enormous vessel.

With Sahni's recipe you're only 45 minutes away from an outstanding chicken tikka masala. And by preparing it at home, you get the added bonus of a kitchen suffused with intoxicating aromas. If you prefer a spicier version of chicken tikka masala, Sahni recommends swapping out some or all of the paprika for cayenne.

If you don't have a punch bowl, do what van Boven does: "Use a big glass vase—it's nice and tall and doesn't take up too much space on your table."

Some leaves deserve to infiltrate the dessert menu, like lemon verbena, infused here in a whipped cream that can be spooned over just about anything.

Named for Amatrice, a town northeast of Rome, this pasta is traditionally served with a long noodle like bucatini, but we like how shorter penne captures the spicy, meaty bits of sauce inside the tube.