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Hot, hearty and, yes, sloppy. This flavorful favorite is a meal in a bun. Serve it up and watch your family run to the dinner table.

This is a great way to use up leftover roasted vegetables and chicken and turn them into a light salad. The roasted veggies are more interesting the second time around in a vinaigrette as opposed to just on their own. Even when I don't have leftover roasted veggies, I have been known to toss some raw ones in the oven just to make this delicious dressing, which I eat on everything: pasta, grilled fish, and, obviously, chicken. The chicken for this salad can be warm or cold, straight from the fridge.

My Mom, Veronica, is pretty much a vegetarian these days. When she invites us over for "meatloaf," this is what we get—and I like it a lot; in fact, even Todd does. The lentils and the brown rice make it hearty while at the same time kind of fluffy and light. My favorite part about it is the fresh tomato sauce, which is almost like a salsa. Checca is a Southern Italian term for this fresh sauce, which is called by different names in different regions. Some of it goes into the lentil loaf and the rest is served alongside.

In every good restaurant kitchen, there's a combination of thrift and innovation. We always have a dish like this chowder on the menu because when we portion fish for main courses, there are inevitably some pieces of our excellent, sushi-quality fish too small to serve on their own. And that is another great reason to buy your fish whole: not only can you save the bones and head for fish stock, but you'll be generating two meals from one shopping trip. We call it chowder to give the idea of a hearty, chunky fish soup (sea bass, shrimp, mussels) with a lot of texture from vegetables. Our version shows off kabocha squash and ají dulce peppers. These are specific varieties of squash and pepper that I search for at the Greenmarket for their deep flavor and beautiful aroma. If you can't find these, use another variety of squash and mild pepper.

When Jade says, "Make me my breakfast sandwich," we know she means this recipe. This is an all-in-one, colorful, hearty wrap that's perfect for making your own. Customize this according to what's in your fridge, swapping spinach for the kale or jarred red bell peppers for the tomatoes. And if you don't have time to poach the eggs, just scramble them instead.

This recipe is a wonderful way to celebrate the spoils of the Southern hunt, though it is just as delicious when made with farm-raised quail. If quail livers aren't included with the quail, chicken livers would be a good substitute. The size of a quail makes each bird a perfect individual portion for a dinner party. To make the stuffing, we've used another reward of the "hunt": wild mushrooms. When we forage in the woods near Summerland Farm, the mushrooms we most often find are chanterelles and hen-of-the-woods, especially prolific during a moist season. If you are foraging, be absolutely sure you know what you are looking for, as poisonous varieties can sometimes look dangerously similar to edible ones. To be on the safe side, visit a gourmet market or natural foods grocery store for a nice choice of mushrooms. We serve the quail on a bed of Wilted Autumn Greens.

This is one of those serendipitous, stumbled-upon creations. I had made a big pot of polenta, and I poured the leftovers into a baking dish in a thin layer. The next day, foraging in the fridge for lunch, I came upon the polenta, a little fresh mozzarella, a little Parmesan (or was it Pecorino?). To make a pizza of sorts, I layered on the cheeses, added a splash of oil, crumbled over a handful of dried sage leaves, and put it into a hot oven. The result was completely satisfying. So what if it's not truly a pizza?—though perhaps it has a culinary ancestor somewhere, since there's really nothing new under the sun.

This is a perfect autumn salad: not so much cooked as wilted greens in a warm, savory-sweet vinaigrette. Here in the South, we are lucky to have so many different greens that grow remarkably well virtually all year round. From the traditional collards, spinach, mustard, and turnip greens to the international varieties that have recently made their way here, including bok choy, tatsoi, and komatsuna, there are a variety of tastes and textures to choose from. No matter where you live, experiment with seasonal greens until you find your favorites. If you're shopping at the farmers' market, most of the vendors will be happy to let you have a few nibbles for taste-testing. The same goes for the squash—you can use butternut, acorn, pumpkin, African, or any similar variety. At Summerland Farm, we are lucky to have American chestnut trees planted by my ancestors, and even luckier that those trees survived the chestnut blight that killed most American chestnuts in the first half of the twentieth century. Fresh chestnuts—often grown in California—are available in many natural foods stores in the cooler months. If you can't find chestnuts, hazelnuts or cashews would make a good substitute.

Cabeza—or beef cheek—tacos are some of the best things this planet has to offer as food. I ate so many of these and other tacos growing up in both L.A. and Orange County that it became part of me and, in a way, prepared me to cook my own tacos. Splash some salsa verde on there, and that's it: SoCal, and especially L.A., on a plate.

You can have almost no money and still have enough to live off this stuff for weeks, months, years. Eat enough and you'll start to look for ways to make it different: add a little more sauce, a little less sauce, cook the noodles less, cook them more, add more water, less water, add an egg, scramble the egg, etc. Me, I've become a freak when it comes to my instant ramen. Don't fuck wit it, don't fuck wit me, let me do my thing. This is how I do my own thing.

Adding onion delivers moisture; forming thicker patties prevents them from cooking too fast and drying out. Both steps are key when working with grass-fed ground beef.

Get the pan smoking hot so the fish won't stick. Let it get a good sear on the first side, which will also help it release.

You'll see fibers running through the cooked steak; make sure to cut across them for tender slices.

You're going to want to add this gently spiced and meltingly tender fish to your simple weeknight meal rotation.

It might look like a lot when the greens are raw, but add them all anyway. They'll quickly wilt down to a silky texture.

If you think mackerel is too fishy, this is the recipe that will change your mind. The fish's assertive, slightly oily character is tempered by the brightness of lemon juice and creamy richness of yogurt.

The salmon absorbs more teriyaki flavor as it sits, making it even better (and breakfast that much quicker) if done in advance.

Rubbing the marinade onto only the flesh side puts it in direct contact with the meat and lets the skin get extra-crisp with no fear of burned bits.

Make extra grains on Sunday and use them for this lightning-quick weeknight dinner.

This dish was inspired by pasta e fagiole, the classic Italian pasta and bean stew. Unlike macaroni, the grains stay nice and chewy, even when reheated days later.