Dairy

You may never bake a cheesecake again; Laiskonis sets his super-light filling with gelatin instead of eggs and flavors it with a refreshing hit of citrus.

Quickly grilling kale makes it crispy. Pairing it with fresh plums and ricotta transforms it into our new favorite salad.

Fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff shared this recipe for one of her favorite salads—it's an updated take on a salad her Mom made when she was growing up in San Diego. We've included quantities for all the ingredients, but Minkoff encourages you to make this dish your own and to taste as you go. For more on Minkoff and to take a video tour of her New York City kitchen, see In the Kitchen with Rebecca Minkoff.

Mac and cheese can be a time-consuming proposition. My version is on the table in just about 30 minutes total. The spark for this recipe came from my friend Taryn, who casually combines ingredients without using a particular formula. She goes by feel, adding handfuls of cheese and spoonfuls of flour until the mixture feels right. Then she stirs in the cooked macaroni, pours everything into a casserole dish, and runs it under the broiler for a few minutes. The blast of heat creates an instant crust—no need for breadcrumbs. I've modified Taryn's technique to make things even easier. I prepare the cheese sauce in a large cast-iron skillet, which can safely go under the broiler. It saves on cleanup since there's no casserole dish, and the pan itself makes the dish more nutritious. That's right, cooking in cast iron will actually impart iron to food. Women and toddlers need plenty of that mineral, so it makes this quickie method downright indispensable, as far as I'm concerned. Since this recipe moves so quickly, make sure you've got everything measured and lined up on the counter before you start.

Eggland’s Best® For more delicious recipes from Eggland’s Best® Click Here!

Eggland’s Best® For more delicious recipes from Eggland’s Best®

Eggland’s Best® For more delicious recipes from Eggland’s Best® Click Here!

Mild mahi Mahi takes on the flavors of our zesty marinade.

Every spring people make a hullabaloo about ramps, the wild leeks that grow in the forests of the East Coast, for good reason: they're wonderful, with a garlic-heavy leek flavor and a subtle sweetness. I pickle the ramps, put them in just about everything we eat (they're particularly great in omelets), and give them away by the armload. This pasta is a simple way to highlight their flavor.

My grandmother came up with ways to use all of the black walnuts we get at the farm, where the trees grow like weeds. They're literally tough nuts to crack (my grandfather would drive over them with his tractor). Regular English walnuts are a less labor-intensive and milder substitute. My Aunt Janet sent me a copy of my grandmother's original handwritten recipe, which I've modified only slightly. This is a dense cake and doesn't need a frosting, but a scoop of ice cream makes it even better.

Garlic scapes are the soft, lime-green-colored stems and unopened flower buds of hard-neck garlic varieties. Scapes have a mild garlic flavor and a slight sweetness, which makes them a prized addition in the kitchen. You can find them in the early summer and midfall at farmers' markets. If you grow your own garlic (which is easy), trim the scapes off before their flowers open. This forces the plant to focus on bulb production and increases the size of the garlic cloves. My Aunt Denise introduced me to the idea of garlic-scape pesto. Here I use it to sauce pasta; you can also spread it on crostini or use as a pungent dip for crunchy vegetables. If all you have are salted pistachios, forgo the salt in the recipe and add salt to taste at the end.

This creamy, smoky filling of roasted poblano chiles and charred onions will make your vegetarian—and carnivorous—friends happy.

Use this orange-tinted sauce on sandwiches with salmon or cucumbers.

Slowly roast a trimmed, center-cut piece of salmon over a bed of herbs to infuse the flesh with fresh flavor; then bring it to the table in the pan so guests can help themselves. This dish is also good at room temperature or served cold at your next picnic.

Soft, creamy risotto topped with warm roasted vegetables makes a complete meal in a bowl. If you don't like the idea of standing at the stove and stirring risotto to a perfect consistency, this is the method for you. Thirty minutes in the oven and this risotto comes out cooked to perfection while you and your beloved wind down from your day. If you've made Roasted Winter Vegetables earlier in the week, you can reheat leftovers as a topping here. If not, roast a favorite combination {mine is winter squash, yellow onion, and tomato} in the oven with your risotto.

{for a small crowd} I grew up thinking strata was my mom's signature dish, until I realized every mother has her own version. You should know how to make it too, but {just between us}, yours can be much more elegant than your mother's, especially when you make it in a small dish to serve two and pair it with a large salad.

{sauceless} When we found out our dear friends Katie and Parker got engaged, we packed up our pizza dough and big bag of greens from our garden and headed to their place for an impromptu celebration that's become a tradition in both our homes. Though the best pizza dough takes a little preparation {it gets more supple as it sits overnight}, a pizza topped with little more than fresh farmers' market finds can be thrown together on the fly like a grand game of Twister, with everyone's arms cutting, slicing, patting, and rolling in a tangle that is soon to become a very good dinner. Sip: Snappy and crisp Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand

{flirt with flavor} Season after season, I continue to be captured by the multicolored array of carrots that can be found at the farmers' market in all shapes and sizes, and am always looking for new ways to make them shine. Coriander and carrots make music together as a complement for meaty halibut. Dip your toe into the exotic flavors of Indian spices like coriander and turmeric with this lively, colorful spring supper so pretty you'll want to bring out your finest platter and pour some wine for two. Sip: Torrontes, Sylvaner or Cabernet Franc

If you can't find almond syrup, floral, almond-flavored orgeat syrup is a fine substitute.

This pink-hued cake is filled with rhubarb, which is in season during the spring and early summer. The cake freezes nicely and has a high ratio of fruit to cake—always good in a brunch sweet. Sliced into wedges, this coffee cake is a nice way to round out a seasonal bread basket of fruit muffins.