Lemon

Flip the script on a winter vegetable that's usually stewed: Collards are great when briefly sautéed.

A colorful and spicy (but not fiery!) side breaks up all the heavy, rich dishes on the table.

This dark-red mixture will bubble and spit like a vat of lava as it cooks. Okay, slight exaggeration, but really: Cook this in a deep pot, and use a long whisk.

Slow-roasting halibut and leeks in olive oil is one of the easiest, most elegant ways to serve fish at a dinner party.

If you can't find both red and yellow beets, just use all of one or the other, and pickle everything in one bowl. The pickles keep, refrigerated in an airtight container, for up to 2 weeks, making them perfect for snacking with holiday leftovers.

Since these pancakes already have a fair amount of melted butter in the batter, there's usually no need to cook them in additional butter if you're using a nonstick pan. If you're not, feel free to brush the pan with melted butter before you cook each pancake.

We make the shells for these tarts with packaged graham cracker crumbs to save time. If your brown sugar contains hard lumps, force it through a sieve before using. Otherwise, it won't dissolve in the filling.

Piuma makes big batches of this bright North African sauce to minimize at-home chopping, then uses it all week.

Cakey on top, pudding-y on the bottom, tart all the way through.

We're now obsessed with this snail-shaped pasta (which is made from scratch at Tosca).

Not your ordinary side of rice. Two types means more textures to layer with crunchy nuts and tender beans.

Because of the brothy marinade, the skin won't get as crisp as with other roast chickens, but the flesh will be so tender, you'll want to eat it with your hands.

Sugared, roasted lemons are edible from rind to flesh and give this salsa-like mix a bracing jolt of sourness.

Three Cheese Asparagus Ravioli flavored with lemon, garlic and basil make a delicious meal to enjoy any night of the week. This one comes together in about 15 minutes so "too busy" is not an excuse.

Quick and easy homemade strawberry syrup melds with creamy vanilla ice cream when fizzled with club soda.

These shrimp are so big and sweet you'd never know they weren't lobster. Hinged grill baskets make turning them super easy.

Be sure to use only silken tofu for this dairy-free lemon dessert. You'll find the tofu in shelf-stable packages in your grocery store.

Grilling the lemons brings out their aroma and natural sweetness. It also adds a roasty complexity to a super refreshing cocktail.