Herbs & Spices

This fragrant soup from Sam Hazen, executive chef at Tao in New York City and Las Vegas, is brimming with lean protein. Perfect for chilly weather!

I developed this light and tasty Italian-style tuna salad for Parma, an Italian fresh-made fast-food company that had quite a successful run in Philadelphia, including Air Parma at the airport. The salad is light because the tuna is dressed with olive oil and fresh lemon juice instead of the usual mayonnaise. The fresh herbs give it brightness, and the red bell peppers and purple olives make for a colorful and appetizing preparation. The important thing here is to use the tasty tuna packed in olive oil enjoyed throughout the Mediterranean region, rather than the drier, rather mealy white tuna packed in water.

Broiling tomatoes and onions concentrates their flavor in this spicy salsa that's good any time of the year.

If you want dramatic impact on your holiday table, look no further. These leaf-shaped breads (traditionally one of the 13 desserts of a Provençal Christmas Eve) are large and sculptural, with a heady fragrance of orange and anise.

Caramelized by high-heat roasting, all that these parsnips needed was a hint of sage to make fans of us all.

Packed into a sealable crock or mason jar, this condiment makes a wonderful gift. Once you become familiar with the recipe, it can be customized: You can take out the horseradish and garlic for a more mellow experience, change the vinegar from cider to red wine for more tang, or sub whole brown mustard seeds for the yellow for a darker, nuttier flavor. One thing to remember: The flavors benefit from two weeks of aging in which to meld, so it's best to start this project a bit before the holidays. If pressed for time, however, simply attach a tag with the date on which you recommend the crock be opened.

Beautifully bright green, this herbaceous oil really enhances the anise flavor in the lobster gelées.

Just a small amount of precious saffron turns this weeknight supper into something out of the ordinary. We prefer cultivated mussels because they require less cleaning, making them a cinch to prepare.

Editor's note: The recipe below is part of a healthy and delicious spa menu developed exclusively for Epicurious by Chef Jesús González of La Cocina Que Canta Culinary Center at Rancho La Puerta Fitness Resort and Spa. This recipe makes 1/2 cup more dressing than needed for Chef Jesus González's picante jicama and roasted carrot salad. The extra dressing is good on all sorts of salads, and will keep, tightly covered and refrigerated, for 3 days.

Editor's note: This recipe is from Ming Tsai's Simply Ming. This recipe only uses 1/4 of Ming Tsai's butter shortbread cookie dough. Use the rest to make classic shortbread, five-spice shortbread, and caramel macadamia nut crunch.

This recipe is part of a menu Chef Ming Tsai created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program. Use this syrup to make his Blue Ginger Gimlet.

Editor's note: The recipe below is from Ming Tsai's book, Ming's Master's Recipes. Use 1 cup of glaze as a dipping sauce for Ming Tsai's pork potstickers and cranberry-crab rangoons and the other cup to make his braised short ribs.

Editor's note: This recipe is from Ming Tsai's book, Ming's Master Recipes.

Chef Ming Tsai created this recipe for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program. Serve the potstickers with his dim sum dipper and cranberry-teriyaki glaze.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook by Marion Cunningham. To read more about fruitcake, see the related Daily Dish. Every kitchen file should have a recipe for a distinguished dark fruit cake. This is as good as any to be found.

Chunks of bacon give this English classic newfound appeal.

Standing rib roast is a special event; it's also surprisingly easy to make. This version gets a spice rub and a rich, earthy sauce that can be largely made ahead.

Related to the turnip, rutabagas are slightly sweet, and their flesh has an orangey hue.