Parmesan

Yet another favorite of ours, this appears on our table in various guises every few weeks. The evaporated milk may seem like an odd choice but it serves a purpose, helping to stabilize the sauce. Evaporated milk is manufactured by exposing fresh milk to high heat in order to evaporate up to 60 percent of its water content. The resulting milk is concentrated in both flavor and nutrients. It usually has added stabilizers in the form of disodium phosphate and carrageenan. Although it is marketed as a substitute for fresh milk, it has a noticeably caramelized flavor that works nicely in sauces and soups. It produces an incredibly creamy sauce without the use of heavy cream or eggs. We’d like to say that we pair this mac and cheese with a salad or a vegetable, but truthfully, we tend to just savor the pasta with a glass of rich red wine or deep red berry juice depending on our age at the table.

This is an excellent technique for a dinner party or any occasion when you want to spend time with your guests instead of standing over the stove. The risotto will be firm and toothsome, but you can treat this as traditional risotto and finish it with a dollop of extra virgin olive oil or butter and some freshly grated cheese for added creaminess. It’s a nice change of pace served with sautéed chicken with a quick pan sauce of white wine and fresh herbs, crispy skate in brown butter with capers, or a garlicky stir-fry of seasonal vegetables.

In the movie Ratatouille, the rat made a tian of eggplant and other vegetables, set vertically in a baking dish. A similar dish came down in the family of Gérard Monteux, whose ancestors have made this dish since tomatoes came to Provence. The keys to the recipe are to make sure that the tomatoes and onions are of the same diameter as the eggplant, and to use a square or rectangular baking dish. I have made it in a French tian, but you can use any pan about 9 inches square. Good any time of year, it is spectacular in the summer, when tomatoes are at their best.

Eggplant came to Europe from India sometime around the eighth century, possibly with seeds carried by Jewish merchants. Often called the Jew’s apple, the eggplant has played an important role in Jewish cooking since early times. The old recipes found in the Vaucluse, such as the Ladino almodrote de berenjenas, are present today throughout the Sephardic world in the Mediterranean. Although the eggplant is sometimes sautéed in this dish, I prefer roasting it over a fire to bring out the smoky flavor, and then chopping it into chunks with two knives, a technique I learned from Sephardic French cooks. You can also roast the eggplant in an oven then pulse it in the food processor. With the increasing number of vegetarians even in France, this dish is becoming very popular, “modernized” with pesto, crème fraîche, or anchovies, or covered with tomato sauce. A purist, I like to serve it the old way—simply, with a salad.

After getting reacquainted over a game of Ping-Pong with Caroline and Philippe Moos, cousins I had not seen in many years, I joined them for a dairy dinner with four of their nine children in their house in Aix-les-Bains (see page 212). The meal was delicious, consisting of a vegetable soup, an apricot tart for dessert, and this Savoyard tomato-and-cheese quiche as the main course. This is one of those great recipes in which you can substitute almost any leftover cheese you may have in your refrigerator.

This is a meat stew with pasta. I am assured that it only tastes right if small Italian pasta called “orzo,” which look like tiny bird’s tongues or largish grains of rice, are used. In Egypt, families used to make the pasta themselves with flour and water, rolling tiny bits of dough into little ovals between their fingers. A friend recalls spending hours doing this with her brother every Sunday as a small child.

Here’s a super way to use up leftover cooked green vegetables.

This is good with either of these greens, but try it in late summer or early fall when gardens are overflowing with Swiss chard.

This is good at room temperature as well as warm. Try it out on kids; leftovers are good to pack in brown-bag lunches.

The contrast of whole grain and pasta makes for a very satisfying side dish. You can also make this by substituting whole grain couscous or quinoa for the bulgur. Serve this with Baked Barbecue Tofu and Peppers (page 141) and a tossed salad for an easy, hearty meal.

Risotto is a classic Italian dish made of Arborio rice, a starchy, short-grain variety that cooks to a creamy consistency. Most well-stocked supermarkets carry it, either near other rice products or with specialty grains.

This quick and colorful pasta dish will give you a summery feeling any time of year.

Use hearty pasta from the frozen foods section for this filling dish. All you need to complete this meal is a bountiful salad and some fresh bread. If you’d like, add a steamed green vegetable as well.

I like to use a fairly flat noodle, such as farfalle, with mushroom sauces. Do try to use one of the varieties of brown mushrooms suggested for a full-bodied flavor.

Here’s a simple dish that borders on the sublime. In my family, we are all fans of broccoli, so this combination never fails to please. Serve with Mixed Greens with Oranges and Almonds (page 52).

In my family, we like the unembellished flavor of fresh spinach. I often serve it briefly steamed, with just a touch of nonhydrogenated margarine, which makes a great topping for grains as well as mild pasta dishes like this one.

Start with a well-flavored prepared pasta sauce, perhaps one made with chunky vegetables, mushrooms, or bell peppers. With the addition of roasted peppers and dried tomatoes, a special pasta meal can be yours in a flash.

Combine one filled pasta with one mild vegetable, and if you are lucky as I am, your kids might actually like this as much as you do! Serve this with fresh bread or focaccia and a platter of raw vegetables. Or, to make this a more sophisticated meal, serve with any of the mixed greens salads on pages 50 to 53, and some good wine.

Here’s a simple way to say “happy spring.” Do try this with goat cheese—the contrast of its slight bite and the mild flavor of asparagus is tantalizing.