Hirsheimer Hamilton

Consider this sweet and crunchy dessert a free-form fruit crisp. Be warned: The nutty oat topping is addictive.

Using mature arugula leaves instead of the baby variety will make for a more peppery salsa. For a nice variation, try it with fresh basil and/or parsley.

An aggressively seasoned marinade delivers big flavor.

The black pepper butter for this grilled steak melts into a rich sauce—and pairs well with the radishes, too.

Pickled nectarine cuts the rich, creamy burrata in this bright summertime salad.

Pair this summery side dish with grilled pork chops or flank steak, or chop and fold it into couscous for a light meal.

Once in a while in the Test Kitchen, there’s a dish that we can’t get enough of. This simple, layered dessert is so good, we fought over the last bite.

Paper-thin crepes aren’t so fussy. “They’re almost simpler than pancakes,” says pastry chef Megan Garrelts of Rye in Leawood, Kansas.

At home, chef Gregory Vernick (Vernick Food & Drink, Philadelphia) always keeps miso on hand for an umami blast in everything from braises and mayo to this Asian-leaning chicken soup. You won’t believe how much depth it adds to canned broth.

Typically steamed or sautéed, fresh mustard greens are also great raw and simply dressed. “I like the strength they give to salads,” says chef Frederik de Pue, of Table, Washington, D.C.

As co-chefs at Hog & Hominy in Memphis, Michael Hudman and Andy Ticer see each other daily, but the old friends still cook together on days off. “Andy does the steak,” says Hudman, “and I do the pasta.”

Try chef Rene Ortiz’s Ginger-Garlic Tofu with his addictive broccolini. A generous dose of red pepper flakes, a good hunk of butter, and a big squeeze of lemon transform them. “The fat, the butter, the acid,” says Ortiz, chef at Sway, Austin: “It makes you want to keep going back for more.”

Prep like a pro: Chef Mike Lata of The Ordinary in Charleston, South Carolina, makes the vierge (a Southern take on the traditional French accompaniment to seafood) in the morning, so that when dinner rolls around, all that’s left to do is sear the fish.

Feel free to play with different herbs in the chimichurri recipe—that’s what Michael and Patrick Sheerin (brothers and co-chefs at Trenchermen, Chicago) have always done: “When we were younger, our mom would buy lots of herbs, but she’d never use them,” says Michael. “So we’d just blend them with garlic, oil, and vinegar.”

To give steaks a boost, chef David Myers of Hinoki & the Bird in Los Angeles, makes an herb rub (he likes to dry the herbs himself; if you don’t have a microwave, sub in 1 tsp. of each dried herb) and pairs the meat with a tart ponzu sauce (ponzu is available at Asian markets and some supermarkets).

We developed this thick, garlicky yogurt sauce sprinkled with tart sumac to pair with eggplants that had been roasted directly on a bed of hot coals. They get so smoky and silky, that this cold, creamy sauce paired perfectly—especially when served with grilled naan. That said, you can use it on just about anything. Feel free to experiment with other seasonings besides sumac, like lemon zest, za'atar, or crushed red pepper flakes.

This dish is equally as good at room temperature (read: picnics).