Starter

We’re into the ruffles-on-ruffles look you get from using savoy, but green cabbage is great in its place.

All you need are your hands, some friends, and permission to get a little messy.

Simmering vegetables in a covered pot over low heat so that they steam in their own liquid—a French technique called à l'étouffée—is the ticket to achieving a soup with pronounced depth. We love this method with cauliflower, but also try it with celeriac or rutabagas.

The butter (yep, a whole stick) mellows the tart lemon sauce and is key to the finished texture.

We love the color and texture you get from using a combination, but any single root vegetable can be used here, too.

If you’re not a lamb person, ground beef will also taste great.

Put a tray of these in the oven when the first guests show up.

Membrillo lends subtle sweetness to the dressing; look for it at any well-stocked cheese counter.

C'mon, who doesn't love edamame? Consider this recipe the adults-only version; sautéed, spicy, and highly snackable.

The pickled hard-boiled eggs are a great snack on their own—they’re sold individually at Shed in Healdsburg, California.

You might have more of the salsas than you need; serve them on the side for dipping. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.

Indian grocers sell prepared tamarind chutney, which you can easily substitute for the homemade version here.

Two key steps ensure extra-crisp wings: letting them sit at room temperature evens the cooking time, and the cornstarch dredge transforms into a crunchy shell when fried. If you like your wing sauce super spicy, increase the amount of cayenne in our best hot wings recipe. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.

Coat seared ground pork in a Thai-inspired glaze, then scatter over fried wonton wrappers, and pile on the nacho treatment with two kinds of cheese, pickled jalapeños, and a shredded cabbage and cilantro salad.

The effort-to-impressiveness ratio doesn’t get much better than this, people. Go ahead and double (Triple! Quadruple!) this recipe and you’ve got hostess gifts, emergency entertaining fodder, and quick, decadent snacks for days.

Black pepper with fruit? It works—trust us.

Who knew so much bright, lively, acidic flavor could come from such a small surface area?

At Parachute in Chicago, this bacon-studded, potato-filled, cheesy sesame bread is served in 6" cast-iron pans; we adapted it to work in a 10".

Baking citrus at a high heat caramelizes the sugars and adds depth. It’s just the thing to bring intrigue to salads.

Steaming is back! The vinegar-and-spice-infused liquid flavors the beets as they cook.

Weekday pancakes sound like a stretch? Make the batter Sunday evening and start the week strong.

After making this soup, you'll have plenty of beets left over for tossing into salads at lunch.