Garlic

Try a heritage Berkshire pork loin rack for great flavor and tenderness. If you are lucky enough to have a pork vendor at your local farmers market you can buy it there (you might want to order it in advance) or it can be mail ordered from www.heritagepork.com or prairiepridefarmminnesota.foodoro.com. Many butchers can cut a loin rack for you as well. Commercially, the loin rack is cut into pork chops but if you call ahead they can cut a roast for you.

The key to a delicious matzo ball soup is in the broth: lots of vegetables and aromatics, including slices of ginger root for a bit of heat, make a perfect vehicle for these matzo balls. Matzo balls can be a very personal thing: some like them light and fluffy, while others fall into the "hard as golf balls" camp. Filled with lots of fresh parsley and dill, these dumplings fall somewhere in between: not feather light, not too hard, but with just enough bite and presence to stand up to its flavorful broth.

"Drunken" salsas have been around forever. They were originally prepared with pulque, an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of the once-sacred maguey (agave) plant. Pulque, which is not easy to find outside of Mexico, is not distilled and has a much stronger flavor than tequila, which I use in its place in this recipe. The alcohol is mostly burned off in the cooking process, leaving only its musky flavor. The sweetness from the freshly squeezed orange juice gives this salsa a wonderful balance.

Nuts and seeds have been making their way into Mexican sauces and salsas for centuries. The nutty sesame seeds in this salsa, which is served at a very popular small restaurant in Tijuana called Mi Rincón Cenaduria (My Restaurant Nook), give it body and depth. Use this on steak tacos or even with grilled chicken. Peanuts can be substituted for the sesame seeds.

Alain Ducasse— If you have cooking juices left over in the lamb casserole dish and it seems too much, put it back on the heat and reduce.
Paule Neyrat— In pearl barley all the husks have been removed. As a result it keeps its richness in carbohydrates but loses most of its vitamins and minerals. Fortunately, the vegetables make up for this.

Alain Ducasse— In the squash family, you have plenty of choice between pumpkin, butternut squash, and several other varieties. It all depends what you can find in the market. But if you do spot a Muscade de Provence, pounce on it, as it is particularly tasty.
Paule Neyrat— All hard squashes are rich in antioxidant carotenoids: The more orange the flesh, the more they contain. They are best enjoyed in winter, when they are in season.

Would you like a side of fries with that? Say yes at a restaurant and you could be adding 430 calories and 23 grams of fat to your order. Our slimmed-down spuds cut those numbers in half!

Umami-rich cheese and chicken stock make an encore appearance, but this time they share the spotlight with high-fiber chickpeas. Adding 1/2 cup of these lean beans to your daily diet can help you cut your consumption of fatty foods, a study in the journal Appetite notes

Tomatoes are a top plant source of umami, and the riper they are, the better: The fruit's umami components increase during maturation. What's more, whole-wheat pasta has triple the fiber of regular pasta for more fill-you-up power.

Tomatoes keep the fulfilling umami coming. We added almonds to up the slim-down factor: Dieters who ate the nuts daily lost 56 percent more fat than those who didn't, a study from Loma Linda University finds; the nuts' fiber may prevent fat absorption.

These noodles have oodles of satisfying umami, owing to onions, chicken stock, spinach and Parmesan.

Shrimp have glutamic acid, the main taste component of umami. And at only 119 calories per 4-ounce serving, the little fellas are quite the low-cal catch.

Yes, romaine hearts are surprising in a stir-fry, but once you try their mild crunch in this fresh and lively meal, you may swear off takeout.

White wine and briny shellfish juices marry in the pot, then are puréed with parsley to create a light sauce so flavorful, it needs only a touch of butter.

Korean pickled cabbage, a.k.a. kimchi, provides the spice in these savory fritters, while soaked raw mung beans hold the flourless pancakes together. They're great with or without the dipping sauce and pickled pears.

Roasting vegetables is just one of the things a sheet pan is good for.

This Mexican dish of tortilla chips smothered in chile sauce is just as good for dinner as it is for breakfast. If you don't want to make your own chips, substitute your favorite brand, but don't skimp on the garnishes; they add color and freshness.

Delicious on its own, this thoroughly modern meatloaf takes on a terrine-like texture when chilled overnight, just right for deluxe open-face sandwiches with a banh mi-like flavor profile.