Potato

Start your week off right with this delicious weeknight dinner of pork chops, potatoes, and sauteed pears. This dish will please the entire family - and it makes delicious leftovers, too!

They pack almost all your daily vitamin C.

Sweet potato as juice? You bet. This pumpkin-colored tuber is not only a surprising—and easily sourced—ingredient with an appealing flavor, it also helps you get your glow on. The carotenoids in orange-colored vegetables like carrot and sweet potato have such beneficial effect on skin, they have a scientifically validated "attraction factor"—meaning that warm glow you naturally acquire makes others rate you as more attractive.

The broccoli can be cooked early in the day, but toast the bread just before assembling so it doesn't dry out.

Cutting the vegetables into similarly sized pieces helps them cook at the same rate, so this entire dish—sauce included—can be made in one pan.

A mix of fragrant spices, garlic, and fresh ginger turn this stewed chicken into the most perfectly warming dinner for an October Sunday.

Cooking the potatoes on a wire rack lets hot air circulate around them, so they get extra crisp.

If you think mackerel is too fishy, this is the recipe that will change your mind. The fish's assertive, slightly oily character is tempered by the brightness of lemon juice and creamy richness of yogurt.

Preserved lemons add a wonderful salty-sweet hit to these simple potatoes, but if you don't have them on hand, you can use regular lemons instead. Thinly slice the peel of one lemon, then toss with the potatoes before roasting.

These are made with sweet potatoes, a superfood that helps you slim and energize. The sticks have kick, so dunk 'em in our cooling dip to put out the fire.

To cut baking time, fork the tuber a few times, then nuke for 5 minutes.

This may be more of a rémoulade than a tartar sauce, but we've been making it this way since I came to the Oyster Bar. Has it changed at all since 1974? There's no way for me to know—but I doubt it. Be sure the hard-cooked egg and potato are cold when you make this.

Like most Francophiles, when we are not traveling to French-speaking (and -eating) destinations, we are at home, dreaming of them and inspired by them as we cook the foods we love. Steak frites is the definitive French bistro dish; our portobello version features a juicy red wine reduction that sings with tarragon and a touch of Dijon. You can easily make restaurant-crisp fries at home with the Vedge method: start with baked potatoes, then crisp them up in a little oil.

I get no greater satisfaction than knowing we've snuck some sweet potatoes and red cabbage onto the dessert menu at Vedge. This dish was originally inspired by a trip to the Czech Republic, where I enjoyed plum dumplings dusted in powdered sugar and served with vegan sour cream. Here, we fill our turnovers with candied whipped sweet potato, and the kraut garnish offers a nice bright note from the sweet Riesling. If you want to go all out, try serving them with a dollop of vegan sour cream whipped with a little powdered sugar and orange zest.

The tang of sour cream gives the illusion that this recipe is not as rich as the cream, butter, and milk would imply.

The key to gratins is having all the ingredients—whether they're basic potatoes or the mixed root vegetables below—sliced the same thickness so they cook at the same rate. Make friends with a mandoline: It quickly yields precise, even slices.

Vegan When it comes to sweet potatoes, American cuisine needs some imagination, and these irresistible burgers are here to help. Just throw a cooked sweet potato into your trusty food processor, along with chickpeas, scallions, and spices, and buzz it into orange tastiness. Two complementary iterations of quinoa (whole cooked grains and flour) step in to balance the sweetness—and also to hold the burgers together—while upping the protein and calcium content. Green pea polka dots round it out in every way, making this taste and color fest even more fun and interesting. • Be sure to use the moist, orange variety of sweet potato (not the drier, starchier white type). • Regarding the quinoa flour: Don't panic. Just get out the inexpensive electric coffee grinder that you dedicated to spice grinding, wipe it out thoroughly, and add 6 tablespoons of whole quinoa. Buzz for less than 5 seconds, and you've got your ingredient—probably slightly more than the amount you'll need for the recipe. • If you're using fresh peas, they'll need to be steamed or blanched for about 5 minutes. Frozen ones require only to be defrosted in a strainer— a brief encounter with room-temperature tap water, then a shake to dry. Either of these steps can be done ahead. • Begin cooking the sweet potato well ahead of time, so it can cool before you assemble the batter. This is also a good use for leftover plain mashed sweet potatoes. You'll need 2 cups. • Toasting cumin seeds is most easily done in a small, dry skillet over low heat. Shake the pan as you go and pay careful attention. It takes only a few minutes to toast them—and a blink of an eye beyond that to irreparably burn them. You can use the same pan (and same method) to toast the peanuts, if you wish. • If you're cooking the burgers in batches, keep the finished ones warm on a baking sheet or an ovenproof plate in a 250°F oven while you make the rest. • These freeze and reheat beautifully after they've been cooked.

Susan O'Brien (adapted by Lori Sobelson) With yams, black beans, and amaranth, these burritos are seriously hearty fare. For a gluten-free meal, use brown rice tortillas, and for a vegan one, use a vegan sour cream substitute.