Onion

You can stuff five or six healthy vegetables into salsa (tomatoes, peppers, scallions, garlic, corn, whatever else is left in the crisper bin) then use that salsa five or six different ways (on fish, on chicken, in a burrito or, of course, on a delicious corn chip. You can make salsa in minutes. It keeps forever. It is the antidote to any of your vegetable woes!

It's healthy, tasty and, yes, a full meal. This fiber-packed (12 whole grams — almost half your daily dose!), meal-sized salad comes from Gabrielle Hamilton, chef and owner of Prune, a tiny New York City restaurant that's wowing diners with natural, wholesome food that tastes delicious. Bonus for you home cooks: This dish is also quick to fix. Just chop, toss, then chow.

This dish, from Scott Uehlein, executive chef at the renowned Canyon Ranch Health Resort in Tucson, Arizona, is basically potatoes baked in a blend of broth and onions. It's amazing how rich they taste, and they take only 15 minutes to assemble.

Eat healthfully (and still have steak) A lowfat diet can include beef. In fact, because red meat is loaded with iron and folate, it's especially good for women, and the sirloin used here is one of the leanest cuts. Chef Tom Colicchio pan-roasts it with almost no added oil at Craft, his new restaurant in New York City. And instead of teaming it with a fat bomb like butter-laden mashed potatoes, he has a better option: zingy corn relish. It has vitamin A and several Bs, plus a crunch so mouth pleasing, you'll never miss the fat.

Chef: Patrick O'Connell, The Inn at Little Washington, Washington, Virginia. Claim to fame: Named best chef in the Mid-Atlantic region by the James Beard Foundation. How he defines natural: "Natural means meat and poultry raised without antibiotics and hormones, and locally grown vegetables."

You'll crave it because it's pizza; you'll love it because it's so good for you. Bake this pie directly on an oven rack for a nice, crisp crust.

This classic soup is a no-brainer, no-cook meal: Simply chop and blend. Serve it with crusty bread and spreadable goat cheese. Any leftovers will keep in your fridge for up to five days.

Pasta's reputation — restored! With the bad press that pasta's been getting in these carb-phobic times, you may have given it up entirely. The truth is, pasta is only a problem when the noodles make the meal. The trick is rounding it out with healthy add-ins. Here, Whole Foods Markets' executive chef Steven Petsevsky has tossed in a day's supply of vegetables; they supply lots of vitamin C and good-for-you phytochemicals — plus fiber. Shrimp adds a kick of protein, and a handful of fresh herbs makes all the flavors sparkle. Self's testers' verdict: yum.

The spice girls: Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken, chefs and co-owners of Border Grill in Santa Monica and Ciudad in Los Angeles (who gained fame as the stars of the Food Network show Too Hot Tamales). What you'll love: The sweet and spicy flavor combination. "The taste of the mango and the serrano pepper had my mouth watering for more," one taster said.

This fennel-and-scallion-enriched version of tyropita (Greek cheese pie) uses feta and cottage cheese to create a filling that's mildly tangy yet mellow.

Cumin and time over the coals give these hearty thick-cut pork chops deep flavor. A spicy-sweet tropical salsa made with fresh pineapple balances the dish.

The great thing about the marinade in this recipe is that the thick yogurt helps it stick to the chicken perfectly, so you get its full flavor in the final dish. Regular basting with ghee produces a tender, melt-in-your-mouth result.

Western stocks are loaded with aromatics and many Asian stocks include ginger. This simple stock has a pure chicken flavor.

It's always exciting to find a cooking method that has a dramatic effect on the flavor of your food, and this technique certainly fits the bill. Black bass, liberally seasoned with garlic, olive oil, and lime, is wrapped in layers of water-soaked paper, then buried under hot coals.

Editor's note: This recipe is from chef Khalid Mohammed of Battimamzelle in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Mohammed also shared some helpful tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. Buljol, a popular Trinidadian breakfast dish, is a cold salad made from salted codfish. In his Trini-fusion version, Mohammed substitutes squid and locally abundant conch and adds green "figs" (green bananas, called by their local name, and "soused," or pickled, a traditional cooking method). He finishes the dish with the tomato chokha, a local sauce.

An intense Mediterranean topping really brightens the flavor of this fish.

These are great with salsa.

Ask your butcher to butterfly the leg of lamb for you.