Bell Pepper

This speedy, savory meal pairs well with a workout. Quinoa is an unexpected source of energizing iron and amino acids, protein's building blocks, to nourish newly toned muscles. Body bonus: Potassium in the grain can help beat bloat.

Fiber-rich bulgur and protein-packed shrimp in this mix will keep you full for hours—but it takes mere minutes to make.

In South Louisiana, any sauce is called gravy. This dish would be our equivalent of biscuits and sausage gravy, except we've got all this seafood down here that finds its way into nearly everything. Serve this gravy over biscuits ) with Oeufs au Plat , and you've really got something. As a chef, I make this a bit more complicated than it needs to be: I start with the shrimp in the pan, then remove them so they don't overcook, and then I add them back once it's all come together.

Editor's note: Serve this veal with Chef John Besh's Jalapeño Cheese Grits . Grillades is a Creole version of pot roast; the meat is sliced or pounded thin, then slow-cooked in a pungent sauce. If veal shoulder isn't available, substitute boneless, sliced Boston butts of pork. Sure, you can use a leaner cut of veal (and if you do, you'll want to cut the cooking time down by half). But I encourage you to find those cheaper cuts of meat that have much more flavor than either the loin or the leg.

Get your fix of two favorites (Chinese and pizza) in one crusty canapé—for fewer than 150 calories.

Rajas (strips) of crisp corn tortillas and sweet mini bell peppers make a colorful garnish.

Cooking by color might not be the surest way to devise holiday-appropriate recipes, but who can resist the lure of black linguine on Halloween? Tossing it with pumpkin-hued vegetables lusty with garlic and hot pepper might seem like hobgoblin overkill, except that the flavors work well together. Really well. So much so that you'll be making this pasta combination again and again, long after the jack-o-lanterns have disappeared.

Andouille, the heavily spiced and smoked sausage that is a linchpin of so many Cajun dishes, adds its inimitable heat to an able stuffing stand-in. A swirl of cream gravy (above) can help quell the spice.

A pilaf enriched with butternut squash, red pepper, and toasted pumpkin seeds is wonderful with Spanish white beans and spinach. It would also be terrific with roast chicken.

Look no further for a go-to recipe when making vegetarian stews and gravies. The stock here gets its deep flavor and color from roasting the vegetables and then deglazing the pan with red wine.

A huge hit for us: spicy, sour, sweet, and herbaceous. This is among the greatest noodle dishes ever.

This dish is particularly delicious in summer, when zucchini, peppers, and summer squash are farm-fresh. You can also pile the grilled vegetables onto crusty French bread that's been slathered in creamy chevre. Or make hors d'oeuvres by topping Crostini with slices of grilled vegetable and some crumbled chevre. The vegetables can be grilled up to 1 hour in advance; assemble just before serving.

This dish is a true Southern delight, our riff on Louisiana-style spicy shrimp combined with cheesy grits just the way we make ’em at The Lady & Sons. It’s amazing how easy this is to whip up. Make it for your family, and they’ll swear you spent all day tied to the stove.

Ratatouille is a vegetable stew from the south of France, traditionally made by slow cooking. By roasting the vegetables in a hot convection oven, the juices, flavors, and colors are quickly sealed in and the vegetables are succulent and remain distinguishable.

Red peppers and fennel add sweetness and color to this southern-style stuffing.

Sofrito, a sautéed vegetable mixture that typically contains garlic, onion, and bell pepper, is used as a seasoning in much of Latin America and the Caribbean. Here, it flavors yellow rice. The color comes from annatto seeds—which have an astringent, slightly peppery flavor—heated in oil until bright red-orange.

As a child, food editor Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez regularly enjoyed the hearty stew that her grandmother Mary Pacella prepared as a way to use up surplus produce from the garden. Today, however, Miraglia Eriquez makes it as often as she can during the summer and early fall, using garden produce at its peak.