Dinner

“I totally ripped this squash soup recipe off from my mom.” —Allie Lewis Clapp, food editor

Instead of using canned tuna, this recipe puts you in control of the quality of the tuna and how long to cook it. We like it on the medium-rare side.

We love the shades of green you get from using one color of heirlooms, but this salad is equally delicious with any tomatoes you like.

Grilling whole fish is not as tricky as it sounds. We tie ours with kitchen twine, which makes them easy to handle.

Feel free to use cooked bulgur, barley, or couscous instead of quinoa.

At Two Boroughs Larder in Charleston, SC, chef Josh Keeler brings out the best in vegetables with…meat. He drizzles a vinaigrette made with cured soppressata over a rotating cast of seasonal produce, like okra and green beans.

“I love the richness of the feta and the crunch of the sunflower seeds against the tender squash.” —Dawn Perry, senior food editor

Two tips: To save time, you can buy 2 steamed whole lobsters or 2 cups of cooked lobster meat. And, when prepping the corn, save your cobs for corn stock.

This bright, vegetarian sauce features lemon three ways: juice, zest, and preserved lemon peel.

Serving a perfectly cooked, crisp-skinned piece of fish in a seasoned lime broth lets you get a spoonful of bright flavor in every bite.

“This dish was on our opening menu and still makes an appearance whenever we can get fresh skate wings,” says chef Adam Evans. His method also works with skinless turbot, flounder, or sole fillets.

There are two hits of chile in this dish. It’s used early on to infuse the oil, where it mellows. The sprinkle added at the end is more “precocious,” says chef Philip Krajeck, Rolf and Daughters, Nashville. “It’s not in every bite, but when it hits you, it makes a big impact.”

If paella escaped from Spain, sailed to China, and did some soul-searching along the way, you’d have the namesake dish at Chicago’s Fat Rice. The generous pot of aromatic rice, curry-scented chicken, and (much) more can be traced back to Macau, the former Portuguese colony in China, where it’s almost always served at home. Chefs Abraham Conlon and Adrienne Lo took inspiration from foreign-language cookbooks; their version is a blend of Portuguese and Chinese cooking that Conlon calls “the origin”…

Bringing ramen home takes a trip to an Asian market, three days of work, and your largest pot, but this low-stress (really!) labor of love might be the best soup you'll ever make.

If you’d like, let the croutons sit in the pepper mixture until the bread is fairly soft; it’ll soak up the flavorful dressing.

Toasting grains and seeds is a simple move that adds texture and deep flavor to this green salad. The dressing will be milder if you use fresh horseradish, or sharp and a tad spicy if you use prepared.

Bruising the cucumbers helps break down their flesh, which is then better able to absorb the flavor of the marinade.

At Ava Gene's, chef Joshua McFadden always dresses his salads with the acidic components first so the produce can absorb some of those flavors before being coated with oil.

An invigorating hit of citrus brings together crisp apples, toasty bread and nuts, and sharp cheese, making this one of our favorite recipes this year.

Chef Philip Krajeck, Rolf and Daughters, Nashville, says the key to this dish is getting a good char on the brussels sprouts, which helps balance the richness of the porky, eggy sauce. Salt draws moisture out of the leaves, which might make them soggy, so he doesn’t season them.

To ensure the snow-white color of this soup, don’t let the onions brown.

Browning the farro imbues it with a nutty flavor—a step you can add any time you prepare the grain.

Key when making the batter for these fish and chips: Be sure your beer and club soda are ice cold, and chill the batter if prepping ahead.

A saucy dish for those who don’t mind eating with their hands. Serve with plenty of crackers or bread for sopping up every last bit of the delicious liquid, and extra napkins, too!