5 Ingredients or Fewer

This is a great way to use up leftover roasted red peppers. When I and my two brothers and sister were kids, my parents often served it as an afternoon snack to ward off our hunger before dinner was ready.

The classic recipes for roasted pepper use just red peppers, but you can use an assortment of colors—red, orange, and yellow. Keep a close eye on the yellow variety while they cook under the broiler to ensure that they don’t char; their flesh is delicate and you’ll lose the beautiful yellow color.

The perfect snack food—sweet and spicy and crunchy and totally satisfying. The nuts can be made two days ahead; store airtight at room temperature.

Throw these pantry ingredients together and you’ve got a terrific salad. You could add other ingredients to jazz it up, like 1/2 cup capers, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, and some fresh basil leaves, and you could even serve it over 2 cups fresh arugula.

I love the flavor of granitas but the texture is usually quite granular and icy; the mascarpone smoothes this version out so it is more like a sherbet. Don’t scrape it until just before you serve it, as it will melt and look less appetizing

The addition of Marshmallow Fluff gives this a mousse-like consistency and makes it the perfect topping for the Lemon Meringue Pie Milkshake (page 141), Double Chocolate Milkshake (page 134), and Peanut Butter–Banana–Marshmallow Milkshake (page 145).

What can I say about this one? Sometimes the best things in life are the simplest, and a thick and creamy vanilla milkshake is definitely one of those things. The fresh vanilla bean will give you a shake flecked with tiny dark specks of recognizable vanilla, but its true and intense flavor is a quality far greater than cosmetic. Basic but never boring, the vanilla shake can also be doctored up in dozens of ways. I’ve included a couple of my favorite variations below.

Don’t laugh . . . it works, and it’s good. The key is to make sure that your marshmallows are really toasted to a deep golden brown color on all sides to get the most flavor. Don’t walk away from the oven because the marshmallows brown quickly. Would a dollop of “Fluffy” Whipped Cream (page 154) on top be overkill? I think not! In the mood for S’mores? Just blend the toasted marshmallows into the Double Chocolate Milkshake (page 134) and add a few tablespoons of crushed graham crackers on top of the whipped cream.

I love the nuttiness and crunchiness that toasted and chopped almonds add to this milkshake. Just a tiny drop of almond extract is needed to enhance the flavor of the nuts; it should veer toward subtle as opposed to overwhelming. Though the basic recipe is delicious as is, you can also take some liberties, and I have given a couple of suggestions for doing so below. I am partial to the Chocolate Almond Coconut Milkshake, which tastes just like one of my favorite candy bars.

This milkshake is so simple but so incredibly amazing and rich. I put this on the menu at Bobby’s Burger Palace and I have one every time I am there.

The three varieties of pepper in this seasoning blend all bring their own dimension of pepperiness: the white is mild yet pungent, the black hot and biting, and the pink slightly sweet and floral. (Technically, pink pepper-corns are not peppercorns at all; they are the dried fruit of the Baies rose plant.) Together they make an appealing combination of both tastes and colors. A touch of sugar balances the assertive nature of the pepper.

I happen to love sweet potatoes and think they are great fried. One thing that you have to keep in mind when making this recipe is that sweet potato fries will never, ever be as crispy as fries made with regular potatoes; blanching them in oil or extending the soaking time won’t change that. Sweet potatoes are very high in sugar and this keeps them from getting crisp. Their sugar content also makes them darken faster than standard potatoes, so don’t walk away from the pot when making them! I prefer my sweet potato fries with the skin on, but if that’s not to your liking feel free to peel them. For an extra hit of flavor, try seasoning the hot fries with a few tablespoons of either the Barbecue Seasoning (page 117) or the Mediterranean Seasoning (page 118).

Here’s the answer when you have to have a kid-pleasing entrée in next to no time. This recipe even gives you a bonus—planned-overs to use in Asian Chicken and Wild Rice Salad (page 87).

Barbecued chicken reaches a new level with the addition of rosemary and flavored mustard.