Dairy

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 45 min

"My boyfriend and I were vacationing in Boulder, Colorado, when we discovered Dot’s Diner, a cozy place that serves wonderful breakfasts," writes Kimberly McClain of Harris, Iowa. "The biscuit that came with my meal was baked to perfection. I would drive all the way to Colorado just to go to Dot’s again." This classic recipe produces biscuits with a lovely light texture.

This recipe is an accompaniment for Roasted Salmon with Cucumber Sour Cream .

Make the cheesecake up to two days before serving (it must chill at least four hours).

Asparagus heralds spring! It still may be a little early, but as the asparagus season moves along, the stalks will be less woody.

Uncork a bottle of hearty Chianti to go with the great Italian flavors in this new twist on a traditional tomato-sauced pizza.

These little quesadillas are made with masa rather than packaged tortillas.

(Tartelettes Feuilletées à la Rhubarbe et au Ricotta) At La Bastide Odéon, these are served with almond ice cream. Begin making the dessert one day ahead so that the rhubarb can drain overnight.

For this warm-weather dish, a salsa cruda à la Grec — or uncooked Greek-style sauce — is combined with hot pasta and served at once. Be sure to use the ripest, juiciest tomatoes you can find, preferably from a farmers' market or your own backyard.

Hybrids can be substituted in this recipe.

Cranachan is Scotland's traditional harvest-time pudding, a blend of Crowdie (an artisanal cottage cheese), cream, toasted oats, berries, whisky, and honey. Here, it's updated with crème fraîche (instead of the Crowdie), toasted hazelnuts, and grated chocolate, and served parfait-style in individual goblets. To allow the flavors to meld, assemble the parfaits ahead of time and chill them overnight before serving.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. In this recipe hot pasta is tossed with an uncooked sauce of oil, herbs, a little vinegar, mozzarella, and raw garlic. The pasta absorbs some of the vinegar and oil and slightly melts the mozzarella. We call for bocconcini — bite-size pieces of mozzarella — but regular fresh mozzarella cut into 1/2-inch cubes would work just as well. Tip: When incorporating raw garlic into a dish such as this, buy the freshest garlic you can find. The cloves should be dry and tightly packed together, and they should feel firm. Old garlic may impart a bitter, strong flavor — overwhelming the other components.

You can serve this dish—a cheese and fruit course in one—in lieu of dessert. Half a pear with some greens also makes a nice first course or light brunch.

This breakfast treat tastes decadent but is really quite low in fat. It's topped with maple-spiked yogurt.