Bell Pepper

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from The Skinny: How to Fit into Your Little Black Dress Forever by Melissa Clark and Robin Aronson. Dressed with roasted red peppers, olive oil, mustard, and garlic instead of the usual bland mayonnaise, this chicken salad packs a punch. It's great made into a sandwich for lunch at the office. Or if bread isn't on your menu, serve the chicken salad on a bed of greens tossed with a little olive oil and sprinkled with salt.

Top this hearty vegetarian omelet with sour cream and chopped red onion. Serve with warm tortillas.

Stout makes the beef taste beefier in this chili. For best results, pick out a five-pound boneless chuck roast and have the butcher grind it for you. WHAT TO DRINK: Sam Adams Cream Stout has a malty sweetness that's just right.

Piquillos are sweet Spanish peppers with a rich, full flavor.

This recipe was created by chefs Slade Rushing and Allison Vines-Rushing of the Longbranch in Abita Springs, Louisiana. It's part of a special menu they created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program.

Serve this Basque-style dish with rice or bread to soak up all the juices.

I developed this light and tasty Italian-style tuna salad for Parma, an Italian fresh-made fast-food company that had quite a successful run in Philadelphia, including Air Parma at the airport. The salad is light because the tuna is dressed with olive oil and fresh lemon juice instead of the usual mayonnaise. The fresh herbs give it brightness, and the red bell peppers and purple olives make for a colorful and appetizing preparation. The important thing here is to use the tasty tuna packed in olive oil enjoyed throughout the Mediterranean region, rather than the drier, rather mealy white tuna packed in water.

Surprise your party host with a jar of this ruby-red jelly — its sweet heat flavors pair beautifully with soft cheeses.

This vegetarian pâté, satisfyingly rich with a silky texture, will entice even the most die-hard carnivores. If you're not worried about keeping it vegetarian, you can substitute an equal amount of unflavored gelatin for the agar flakes.

If crawfish are hard to find, shrimp make a good stand-in.

Here's a classic stuffing to suit all tastes. For a vegetarian version, substitute vegetable or mushroom broth.

Blood orange juice gives the dressing great flavor and color. If you can't find it, use 1/2 cup pomegranate juice mixed with 1/4 cup regular orange juice.

This bolognese lacks one traditional main ingredient—meat. However, with hearty vegetables, you'll hardly know it's missing.

Nutty wild rice pairs nicely with turkey, and the addition of roasted red peppers makes the dish visually stunning.

These showcase all that's great about Indian food: They're vibrant, light, and fragrant. For a spicier patty, add a second stemmed and minced serrano chile.

Full of fiber-rich garbanzo beans, an Indian staple, this healthy dish from Maneet Chauhan is an ideal side or starter. Add grilled shrimp or chicken to make it a meal. You can use the marinade recipe from our tandoori tilapia with hearts of palm salad .

Instead of pairing shrimp with sausage, we've taken this spicy gumbo in a more sophisticated direction by adding duck meat.