Shellfish

This garlicky, simple seafood dish was once served in a coccio (a traditional clay pot).

A savory soup with ginger, saffron, and curry.

Wake up your taste buds with this lowfat recipe. It is sure to satisfy — and provide a spicy kick!

Geung Chung Jing Hin Editor's note: This recipe is reprinted from My Grandmother's Chinese Kitchen: 100 Family Recipes and Life Lessons, by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo. Clams are the fruit of the sea that represent prosperity and are, to be sure, permissible to be eaten by observant Buddhists, including nuns.

Jah Sang Ho Editor's note: This recipe is reprinted from My Grandmother's Chinese Kitchen: 100 Family Recipes and Life Lessons, by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo. Oysters are one of those three fruits of the sea permissible to Buddhists and were therefore insisted upon for New Year lunch by my grandmother. Cooking them with a batter is traditional. Their name, ho see, sounds like the Chinese words for good business.

Who needs lobster? Mussels bring a similar richness to this soup.

This nontraditional spin-off of an old-fashioned favorite makes a fun dinner-party appetizer plate or main course for more intimate gatherings.

While reminiscent of a marinara sauce, red bell pepper, cognac, and jalapeño add hints of newness to this luscious, traditional favorite lobster dish.

Quickly braised cabbage adds subtle crunch to scallops infused with a combination of warm, aromatic spices.

In this marriage of give and take, shallot-dill butter makes jumbo shrimp taste as sweet as langoustines. In return, the shrimp impart their juices to the butter as they bake, creating a silky sauce. With toasted brioche in hand, you’ll want to sop up every last drop.

The clams and sausage make a warm and comforting one-pot meal. Toss with cooked linguine, or just serve with toasted pain rustique.

The tradition of Sicilian cooking is well documented in Anna Tasca Lanza’s works, and she is the zen mistress of all of the island’s fascinating food lore. Her school at Regaleali winery is one of the best I have visited and it was an experience to cook shoulder to shoulder with a modern national treasure. This is a variation on a dish from her first book, Flavors of Sicily.

A light sauce of white wine and tomatoes lets the seafood shine in this iconic Italian pasta dish.

A simple white wine, garlic, and parsley sauce is all that's needed to complement the fresh shellfish in this Italian pasta dish.

This is one of my all-time favorite recipes—with its corn, tomatoes, basil, and unexpected nectarine, it sings out "summer." The first time I made this warm salad, I served it to Michael Newburg and Amelia Hunt, the owners of Falls Brook Organic Farm. Everything was from the market, including the scallops, so Michael and Amelia knew the provenance of every ingredient (including their own basil and tomatoes), which made this delicious dish even better.

You can tell this recipe hails from a tropical environment because of the way the first bite of chiles causes a light sweat to break out on your brow. Then a breeze blows by, and— ahh—you're instantly cooled off and refreshed, able to fully enjoy the sweetness of plump shrimp and an evolving harmony of spices.

This is the sort of food that seems too messy for a picnic. But a jar captures the juicy flavors of a Mexican shrimp cocktail.

Tzatziki is a popular Greek sauce made from yogurt, cucumbers, garlic, and dill. Here we've subbed in shallots for garlic and used it to top skewers of shrimp. Serve any leftovers with pita chips, as a substitute for mayo on roast chicken sandwiches, or as a sauce for grilled lamb.

Indian-flavored hush puppies? Try them—we're sure you'll get hooked.

These saucy shrimp spiked with cinnamon, allspice, and feta quickly disappeared in our test kitchen. Have plenty of bread on hand for sopping up the juices.