Quick

Soba are buckwheat noodles and cook very quickly.

Be sure to use a dry skillet when browning quesadillas.

Yogurt dressing best complements the flavor of these veggies.

Baby arugula is sold prepackaged in markets. It has a clean, sharp flavor.

Cooking time may vary, depending on the thickness of the chicken. Check for doneness.

Editor's note: To read more about Raichlen and barbecue, go to our feature The Best Barbecue in the U.S.A. ** Peppery and piquant, this vinegar sauce is the preferred condiment of eastern North Carolina. In the western part of the state, the sauce becomes more tomatoey, while in southern parts of the Carolinas, mustard sauce reigns supreme. **

Grilled fruit is a newcomer to the traditional Mediterranean table. This dish was inspired by a friend and chef, Nena Ismirnoglou, and then adapted by me for the menu at Pylos, a Greek restaurant in Manhattan's East Village.

The faint flavor of smoke and caramelized brown sugar do exquisite things to a banana. A drizzling of rum or liqueur gives this simple dessert "gourmet" status. Tips for success: Choose firm, just-ripe bananas so they don't fall apart, cut the bananas as instructed for ease of handling, and use a clean grill rack or a fresh piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil to cover the grill.

Ruggiero couldn't figure out what made the salad dressing at New York's Natori so irresistible and was shocked when she finally got the secret ingredient out of the sushi chef: grated apple. Nor would you ever guess it from a bite of this dressing, since it's not at all sweet or fruity, just perfectly balanced and lip-smackingly delicious. Its slight pulp extends the unctuous richness of avocado and complements the clean assertiveness of watercress.

A dish that may help prevent cancer, from Chan Le at Le Colonial in Chicago.

This soup from Tien Dinh at Pho, in Las Vegas, delivers vitamin A.

The glaze, which goes on the asparagus as well as the steak, has a rich sweetness that is transformed into something wonderfully complex once it hits the heat of the grill.

Visually, this dish speaks softly, but it combines quite a number of sensations: a buttery fish, sautéed for a crisp skin, and a broth of such depth you'll never believe it was simmered for just five minutes. The mixture of enoki and shimeji mushrooms looks gorgeous and lends a meatiness, punctuated by an elusive woodsy smokiness, to the sansho-flecked broth.

Food editor Maggie Ruggiero became enamored of a sesame-dressed salad at Donguri, a Japanese home-cooking restaurant in New York City. This is her take on it. Because the sesame seeds are unhulled, they have a richness that flatters the freshness of spring vegetables—here, cool kohlrabi and sweet pea shoots.

Travel editor William Sertl took a weeklong boot-camp course at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. For this classic French dish, students were taught how to sauté the chicken on one side—without touching it—until it's golden, before turning it only once. The pan-sauce lesson that followed yielded a simple, elegant cloak for the very juicy chicken.

Our Australia correspondent, Pat Nourse, attended the Sydney Seafood School. The combination of flavors here is quintessentially Australian, inspired by far-flung sources and joined together in a unique way. The brininess of preserved lemons brings out the sweetness of the king crab you'll find in each twirl of pasta.