Onion

What a great way to use up some of those veggies that are beginning to look a little tired in the fridge. Start with a few fresh ingredients and be creative with your trimmings. Use this stock for a bit more flavor when making soups, moistening bread stuffing, deglazing a roasting or sauté pan, or stirring up a risotto.

These sweet, sour, and slightly spicy onion slices add zest and color to just about any salad or sandwich. They are also a great accompaniment to a roasted meat, paté, or terrine, and they’re delicious piled atop quesadillas!

What’s not to like about a roast beef sandwich? In true Danish tradition, this one is served open-faced, but it’s the added golden brown crispy-fried onions that make this sandwich unusually delicious (and require a knife and fork to eat). It’s been a favorite of mine since I was a kid, and I still love it when my mom makes her smorgasbord luncheon, because this sandwich is always on the menu.

If you’re making this salad ahead of time, you’ll want to lightly salt the cucumbers, let them sit in a colander to drain for 10 minutes, drain, then pat dry with a paper towel. If you’re going to serve this salad right away, you can skip that step.

Orecchiette are small ear-shaped pasta shells; fusilli or farfalle can be used instead. You can also replace the arugula with two cups whole fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves.

Serving a sandwich for dinner can make even the busiest day feel less complicated. Start with a mixed-green salad, and try Parmesan Steak Fries (page 83) on the side.

Think of these as open-faced Mexican sandwiches, topped with grilled summer vegetables, tangy feta cheese, and fresh tomato salsa.

Look for hoisin sauce and rice vinegar in the Asian foods section of your supermarket. Although ingredients vary, hoisin is generally made with soybeans, chiles, and spices. It’s used as a seasoning at the table and in cooking.

I had never tried quinoa before testing this recipe, and my verdict is that the grain with the funny name is good. The combination of vegetables and quinoa is so delicious that I would be happy with a big bowl of just that. This is even better though, because stuffing it into the onion makes an awesome and impressive dish.

One taste of this and you will be hooked. The caramelized onions are so sweet that this could practically be a dessert. Other than the onions taking a while to caramelize, it’s so easy to put together, too. Be sure to let it cool completely, and then use a really sharp knife when cutting it so the squares come out clean.

In my family, I’m the sloppy joe guru. I stand there for a ridiculously long time adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that, getting the taste just right. Needless to say, I was skeptical about a veggie version. What are sloppy joes without the beef? Well, I can tell you with confidence that they are amazing. In fact, no one even realizes that they don’t have meat in them.

Lentils get a bad reputation, largely because they can look like lumpy mud, even though they taste really good. This lentil and potato salad is delicious, and because we used yellow lentils, it actually looks pretty, too. This is great to take to a potluck to share with friends.

Everyone who has ever tried this says it’s spectacular. Even my mom, who doesn’t like cheese, likes this soup, which is saying a lot. The soup itself is an awesome combination of cheese and onions. And the soda bread is so nice and crunchy on the outside and squishy on the inside. It’s quite perfect. The only proper way to eat this is to dip the bread in the soup, which means it’s an excuse to eat a lot of bread. This is a great cold weather food, although sometimes in summer I suffer through eating it with the air-conditioning turned way up.

The secret to this recipe is the second layer of fl our on the tofu. It makes for a nice thick layer of batter that stays crispy even once the barbecue sauce is on it. The tricky part about his recipe is the frying. Even though you only use an inch or two of oil, be sure to use a big, deep pot or pan just in case it splashes, and use a long spoon or spatula, preferably slotted, to turn the onion rings and tofu because it hurts like heck to burn yourself with hot oil. And please don’t be scared off by these tips; frying is really pretty easy as long as you take the proper precautions, and your tastebuds will definitely be happy with the end result!

I know what you’re thinking: “Aren’t tortillas those Mexican things that you make quesadillas out of?” Well, yes and no. In Spain, tortilla is an eggy dish a lot like an omelet or a frittata. When I was in Spain, my friend took me out for tapas (Spanish hors d’oeuvres) and one was tortilla. That one was gigantic—really thick, made in big round pans, and sliced for individual servings. Here is a smaller version, but it’s just as delicious. It can be served warm or at room temperature.