Dairy Free

"Strawberries and Sambuca are such a wonderful combination," says author Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez. "Add a little vanilla in there and you can't go wrong. And it's beautiful, too." We totally agree.

Spicy arugula, slightly bitter endive, and sweet fennel come together in a salad with the briny help of coarsely chopped olives in the lemony dressing.

Lamb is traditionally served at Easter in Italy as well as many other countries. Although author Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez grew up with the roasted legs of lamb prepared by her mother and grandmother, she prefers to braise a lamb shoulder. The meat turns out so tender and succulent that it's impossible to slice with a carving knife. Instead, it's pulled with a meat fork into moist, rich chunks. Depending on where you live, lamb shoulder may require a special order so be sure to allow time for a butcher to request it.

Add color to any meal at any time of year with this mix of red, purple, and orange vegetables, all roasted together.

The hardest part of this recipe is getting your hands on the octopus. Give your fishmonger a few days to order it for you.

There's an entire chicken in this soup, and then some. Not a mistake. You'll pull out the breast early on and use the white meat to garnish the finished bowls, but everything else stays and simmers for hours, enriching the stock with concentrated flavor and lip-smacking body.

This spicy, crunchy, and refreshing noodle salad will make any weeknight better, and is a great way to use up leftover roast chicken.

Almonds are the new breadcrumbs. Their toasty flavor and crunch add just the right contrast to pasta.

The dressing for this salad is on the less acidic side: Once the tart pickled vegetables are in the mix, it will be perfectly balanced.

Juicy pork, roast carrots, and hearty greens plus a garlicky romesco sauce equals a dinner you'll want to make over and over.

Editor's note: Use this recipe to make Rawia Bishara's Brussels Sprouts with Panko . Tahini sauce, a smooth blend of toasted sesame paste, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil, is ubiquitous in Middle Eastern kitchens. It is the condiment. There is hardly a dish that isn't enhanced by it—drizzled on Falafel sandwiches and over Brussels Sprouts with Panko; blended with pureed chickpeas for Hummus and with charred eggplant for Baba Ghanouj. My favorite Whole Fried Fish is served with this sauce mixed with parsley. At Tanoreen, I mix it into salad dressings and drizzle it into cauliflower casseroles. My daughter? She dips French fries into it! Learn to make this and you will have a simple, delicious, versatile sauce to add to your repertoire.

Browned for deep flavor (and good looks), then braised for succulent results, this spring chicken has it all.

Editor's note: Use this recipe to make Rawia Bishara's Eggplant Napoleon . In most Middle Eastern countries (apart from Nazareth, where baba ghanouj is called mutabal), the ingredients in this dish are as simple as eggplant, garlic and lemon juice—a lightened up, tahini-free version of baba ghanouj. But when I arrived in America, I experimented with various ingredients and found myself adding tomatoes, chile pepper and a hint of cumin to my mutabal. I serve it with grilled meat and chicken. My children love this preparation, which is also great spread on toasted or fresh Arabic bread, crusty flatbread or crackers.

We're hooked on the juicy and crunchy textures and sweet and spicy flavors in this steak and salad pairing.

This recipe calls for fairly small racks of lamb, about a pound each. If your lamb is larger, the cooking time will increase, but you can get away with serving single, not double, chops.

Cans of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce are available in the Mexican food section of most grocery stores. You'll need to puree some for this recipe.

MAKING BREAKFAST SAUSAGE is an old family tradition for us. My grandpa's family used to raise their own hogs, and when it came time for butchering day, they made sure that nothing went to waste. All parts of the animal were used—for hams, bacon, lard, and sausage. My grandpa was in charge of making the breakfast sausage—a tradition he passed on to us. Breakfast sausage is a loose sausage that hasn't been cured, which makes it appropriate for a home cook. My grandpa's recipe was typically Texan in that it was seasoned with sage. While there is nothing finer than a basic breakfast sausage, I find it's an excellent base for other flavors, such as the smoky notes of bacon and smoked paprika and bittersweet tones of molasses. This isn't exactly my grandpa's breakfast sausage, but I'm sure he would have enjoyed it just fine.

Kosher Status: Pareve I much prefer baking my gefilte fish as opposed to the traditional method of boiling. I just don't like how the words "boiled fish" sound, but that of course is neither here nor there. Boiled gefilte fish (blech, again!) can get really soggy and waterlogged, depending on how long you leave it in the pot and the level of your heat. I find baking always produces a firmer-textured, tastier gefilte.

Kosher Status: Poultry Cooking doesn't have to be difficult or complicated, and it doesn't need to use lots of ingredients to be perfect. The better cook you are, the quicker you learn that. Here's one recipe that proves it.