Easy

Stew fruit in parcels to infuse it with vanilla and bourbon, then serve it with a dollop of Greek yogurt (or ice cream).

Toasting the dried chiles first brings out their deep flavor.

This is a gem from my mother's notebook of Nonna Mary's recipes. I remember Nonna Mary serving these tomatoes along with assorted grilled meats during the summer in Cesenatico. They are also a perfect accompaniment to veal cutlets, and together they make a great sandwich, one of my favorite lunches that my mother would pack for me to take to school.

When I was growing up in New York, from third grade through high school, I was blessed with the opportunity to spend my summers in Italy. I would stay with my grandmother in Cesenatico, hang out at the beach with my friends, and eat the wonderful food my grandmother cooked. I have never become accustomed to the traditional American breakfast of eggs and fried pork products, or even cereal. Some fresh bread with butter and jam and caffèlatte is my preferred breakfast, with the proportion of coffee to milk increasing as I have gotten older, from just a drop in a large cup of milk when I was little, to mostly coffee with a splash of milk as an adult. But even better than bread and butter is a breakfast sweet such as my grandmother's ciambella. She always seemed to have some on hand. It's very easy to make and keeps wonderfully on the kitchen counter for as long as a week. It may well keep even longer, but I've never been able to resist eating it for long enough to find out. The classic shape of a ciambella is a ring; in fact, there is a saying for when something doesn't work out: non tutte le ciambelle riescono col buco, which means, "not all ciambelle come out with a hole." My grandmother always made hers in the shape of a loaf—it was no less delicious for it, and that is how I still prefer to make it.

Soft, creamy risotto topped with warm roasted vegetables makes a complete meal in a bowl. If you don't like the idea of standing at the stove and stirring risotto to a perfect consistency, this is the method for you. Thirty minutes in the oven and this risotto comes out cooked to perfection while you and your beloved wind down from your day. If you've made Roasted Winter Vegetables earlier in the week, you can reheat leftovers as a topping here. If not, roast a favorite combination {mine is winter squash, yellow onion, and tomato} in the oven with your risotto.

{for a small crowd} I grew up thinking strata was my mom's signature dish, until I realized every mother has her own version. You should know how to make it too, but {just between us}, yours can be much more elegant than your mother's, especially when you make it in a small dish to serve two and pair it with a large salad.

Effort Level: I This is a pretty common and easy trip dessert. You can use fresh or dried apples. Often people add rolled oats or granola to the topping, but in my opinion that can taste too much like breakfast. Without the oats and with lots of sugar it's a gooey and crunchy dessert.
-Mark Scriver

{sweet and toothsome} Roasting is a no-fuss way to put a lot of vegetables on the table. Roasting brings out the natural sweetness in fall root veggies and winter squash. Roast them in big batches to top Baked Risotto , and throw them into fall and winter salads.

With the neo-eco-bio-cool. We'll pick our own apricots, cut some rosemary from the garden, a little organic honey…

With different girls

After three glasses of wine and about six chocolate chip cookies, my friend Andrew had the idea that I should make a dessert that incorporates the flavors of his favorite sweet drink, Thai iced tea. Despite having had a sufficient amount of wine and cookies myself, it was clear to me what a brilliant idea it was, so the following weekend, we baked a cake.
The sweetened condensed milk in the cake creates a lightly caramelized crust and the Thai tea gives it a beautiful bright orange color. This cake stayed on my mind for days to follow.
Note: look for the Thai tea at Asian specialty grocery stores.

This creamy pesto is indulgent without being overly rich, thanks to heart-healthy avocado and just a touch of olive oil. Also, since it uses a fresh avocado for its creamy consistency, rather than pricey Parmesan cheese, it's less expensive to make than traditional pesto.
It happens to be vegan, but don't let that deter you (if you're the sort of person usually deterred by vegan recipes)—it's fabulous, particularly with fresh heirloom tomatoes. I also like it as a dip for vegetables or slathered over grilled fish or chicken. Use soon after making it though, as the fresh avocado will go brown if it sits for too long.

This is the basic pickle that I use for vegetables; it can be prepared ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator for up to a month. I like to keep it around for any last-minute pickling needs.

I see no reason why salads should be limited to greens. This one has a ton of different textures and flavors and is as visually rewarding as it is delicious. Vermont is famous for its fall color, so when I thought of this dish, I wanted all the components to come together on a platter in the same way that autumn leaves fall together in a collage of color on the forest floor. There are bits of roasted squash, blanched squash, pickled squash, and even toasted squash seeds. While I don't like dishes that are so fussy and manipulated they look less like food and more like art, I can't deny that we eat first with our eyes.

Since I've spent so many years eating and cooking in Spain, I would be remiss if I didn't include a gazpacho in this book. But alas, this is not your abuela's gazpacho. In this version, peaches, plums, and watermelon all come together in a bright, colorful, chilled soup that is topped with a single seared diver scallop. The tart sour plums allow the sweet plump scallop to feel a little less self-conscious in its summery dress. If you can't find sour plums, substitute sweet plums, preferably golden plums, plus the juice of 2 lemons.

Sweet nectarines balance the earthy green peppers in this colorful side.

A salad this simple requires the finest ingredients to make it shine.

If you can't find almond syrup, floral, almond-flavored orgeat syrup is a fine substitute.

This pink-hued cake is filled with rhubarb, which is in season during the spring and early summer. The cake freezes nicely and has a high ratio of fruit to cake—always good in a brunch sweet. Sliced into wedges, this coffee cake is a nice way to round out a seasonal bread basket of fruit muffins.