Roast

I love this popular Moroccan salad. It is best made several hours in advance so that the flavors have time to penetrate.

Smoky roasted eggplant is tempered by yogurt in this Middle-Eastern-inspired dip. This is good for spreading on fresh bread as well as scooping up on pita.

Like the previous recipe, this classic dip is delicious scooped up on wedges of pita bread.

This makes an excellent side dish for pasta. See the menu accompanying Farfalle with Mushrooms (page 76).

I’d like to champion these underused (and often maligned) vegetables by urging you to try them roasted. Roots are naturally sweet and become even more so during the roasting process.

This is a perfect accompaniment to Shake-and-Bake Tofu (page 138), since they both bake at 425°. This needs more time in the oven, so start it first. Complete the meal with a simple salad or coleslaw.

An elegant and easy dessert that you can bang out in under an hour.

Boiling corn leaches out all the flavor and natural sweetness. Once you try corn this way, you will never look back.

Very unpretentious and delicious. There’s no need to trim the onion roots; the dish looks more rustic with them as is.

This is the color of autumn.

These sweet roasted tomatoes are great on sandwiches or chopped up in pasta.

These are my girlfriend’s favorite. I make them in batches to have in the fridge to snack on.

This is a fat, stuffed vegetable sandwich that’s great for a picnic. The olive tapenade is also good spooned on bread toasts and served as an hors d’oeuvre.

Pork roasts are perfect for picnics. One dish and you’re set—all you need to do is slice it and serve it (with a dollop of slaw on the side, of course). Leftovers, if there are any, make a dynamite wrap the next day. Brine the pork roast the morning you plan to serve it for dinner. The meat needs a good 6 hours to break down. Do not let it soak overnight or the pork gets too mushy. The result is the most tender pork on the planet. Serve with Corn Roasted in Its Own Jacket (page 265) if you wish.

This is truly the anti-vegetarian dish. Prime rib is one of those classics you can pull out that will always blow people away. It’s a good special occasion dish, so good that the occasion may be nothing at all. When ordering the rib roast from a butcher, be sure to request a “top choice” roast cut from the small loin end, the best being ribs 12 through 10. Have the butcher cut off the chine (backbone) to make carving easier. The rib bones look best if they are shortened and frenched (the butcher will be happy to do this for you as well, unless he’s a sourpuss, in which case get a new butcher). The wild mushrooms alone make a great all-purpose side dish.

One trick that I learned a long time ago about cooking pork is that you have to brine it. The brine for this recipe is a sugar-salt solution mixed with apple juice concentrate (you will need 2 cans of frozen juice) for the brine and spiced apples. With its sweet apple flavor, this is an intense marinade that works miracles on pork chops. Trust me—once you taste a thick pork chop that’s been flavored in a brine, you will never go back. Cozy up to your butcher to get the pork chops cut to your liking. Thin pork chops—no way! Serve this with Corn Pudding (page 236).

This dish takes a little planning ahead but is well worth it. Don’t be scared—it’s a show-off dish. You may, however, have to shop around for some of the makings. A trip to your local Asian market or a surf on the Internet should do it. Start by marinating the duck the night before you plan to serve it. A smoker isn’t required, but you will need a wok with a domed lid and wire rack insert (sorry, an electric wok won’t work). Serve with steamed Asian greens like bok choy or Chinese broccoli. Round out the meal with Perfect Steamed Jasmine Rice (page 240).

This is a quick throw-together with intense Moroccan flavor. Cooking the chicken on a rack allows the oven’s heat to circulate around the bird and cook it faster. Serve the chicken with Baked Eggplant with Sesame Yogurt and Mint (page 262).

Give yourself plenty of time to marinate the chicken; I usually do this the morning I plan to serve it. The smashed broccoli and garlic remind me of the soft, overcooked vegetables of my youth. It’s mushy and satisfying. To me, chicken and broccoli is a classic combination that doesn’t need rice or potatoes to go with—it’s perfect the way it is.