Lunch

You know how the cheese sometimes oozes out of a grilled cheese while it’s cooking and gets all brown and crunchy when it hits the skillet? Well, this open-face sandwich recipe is dedicated to making that happen on purpose.

A true Southerner wouldn’t dare add sugar to this cornbread recipe, but a Yankee might miss it. Do what you will; we don’t judge.

When you peel the kabocha squash for this recipe, use a vegetable peeler—not a knife. (Better to dull a $4 tool than your best kitchen blade.)

Cooking the livers to medium/medium-rare in this recipe is key to a moist and rich tasting spread. Overcooking them will make the finished dish dry and crumbly.

Bento boxes with dried mango, arugula-ham wraps, salami snacks, and Moroccan meatballs—Restaurateur Andrew Tarlow's kids have school lunches we'd gladly trade our cubicle salads for.

These make ahead salads won't get soggy as they sit—they're even better the next day.

A food editor is put to the test: Pack a week of lunches for his extremely picky eater 3-year-old who would much prefer marshmallow fluff.

Use prosciutto if Serrano is unavailable, and make sure the relish is nice and acidic to stand up to the richness of the ham and eggs. This recipe is from Morcilla, one of the Hot 10, America's Best New Restaurants 2016.

Make sure to rinse the rice in several changes of water before cooking so that it isn’t too gluey.

Sometimes all your body wants is a vacation from intense eating. That's where this feel-good (but fill-you-up) broth comes in.

An unexpected side dish that can be made hours ahead of a party; wait until the last minute to toss together.

Make any modifications that suit you and the preferences of your eaters: Onions in place of shallots; carrots for fennel; add garlic; omit the cayenne; a splash of cream instead of butter, as you wish.

This sandwich can be lunch, a snack, or a late-night thing. Eat it with potato chips and lemonade; it's also great with a simple green salad for dinner.

The sea dog (a fried fish sandwich) is not really a thing but should definitely be a thing because it’s that good. (If you’ve been to the Red Rooster on route 22 in Brewster, NY, you already know this is true.) The batter alone should become your go-to whenever you fry fish.

If serving at a party, set out the big pot of soup and the garnishes family-style and let guests doctor their own bowls.

Think of the heat in these chiles not as a dare but as another essential building block of flavor—right alongside salt, acid, and fat.

This recipe takes only about 15 minutes of active time (or less, if your bird is already cooked) and will change the way you think about turkey. Then again, we might be biased.

Freshness counts. Buy prime tomatoes when they’re in season. And, if possible, grind whole green cardamom pods rather than using powdered.

This colorful salad packs a bit of heat by adding the jalapeño; it balances out the cooler flavors, but feel free to omit it.

To prep this salad ahead, hold beets and scallions in a bowl of cold water with a splash of vinegar, which both seasons them and maintains crunch.

Watermelon and prosciutto may seem like an unlikely pair, but the salty-sweet mix will make this your new go-to fruit salad.

The key to this showstopping salad? Ice cold water. Seriously! It helps cucumber, radishes, and scallions deliver incredible crunch and highlight their flavors.

Progression of a tomato sandwich: On buttered bread with salt; on bread with mayo and cheddar; seasoned and grilled with cheddar and mayo. They’re all pretty perfect, but we’ll take the advanced version, thanks.

There is no better beach, picnic, or party sandwich: It feeds a crowd, gets better as it sits, and is a hearty meal built inside a loaf of bread.