Side

Rinsing the cooked couscous stops the cooking and prevents it from sticking together as it cools.

Serving "green stuff" to kids can be a challenge. But a crunchy salad of bite-size vegetables holds plenty of appeal.

Use a metal cake tester or thin paring knife to check the potatoes; they should still hold their shape but offer no resistance when pierced.

Cassy Vires, Home Wine Kitchen, St. Louis: "I like to take a classic pairing and turn it on its head."

This is simply one of my favorite dishes, and it has a legendary place in the history of my marriage. My wife was not a fan of the vegetable—or of any vegetable. Fan might not be the right word. It's not that she just didn't like them; she actively campaigned against them, prosecuting them, all guilty as charged, although on scant evidence. It was this simple dish that got her to at least begin to consider laying down her sword. The crisp texture, the smoky, charred burn, the transparency of the whole process got her to let her guard down. And now it is a staple. So you might say that this recipe is a gateway vegetable. Other kale varieties are fine for this, but lacinato is the only variety that crisps rather than wilts, allowing you to get great texture very quickly. This is wonderful with a little Chunky Almond Oil drizzled over the top.

Kick off your Independence Day bash with a patriotic take on homemade chips featuring baking potatoes, purple potatoes, and beets that are sliced and then fried into a hot, crispy red, white, and blue snack. Gather your ingredients and check out our tips on the dos and don'ts of deep-frying.

"I like the fact that just three or four main ingredients can make a smashing result," says van Boven about this sweet and crunchy salad.

This salad can be made with raw fava beans, as long as they're especially fresh. But blanching them quickly makes them much easier to peel.

Parcooking in vinegar water helps set the starches so the potatoes get crisp, rather than floury, when roasted.

Scoop up this vibrant condiment with wedges of warm pita.

"Battering and frying green beans makes them addictive, obviously!" —Sue Li, recipe developer

"As a kid, I loved frenched green beans drenched in butter! Here, in a creamy raw slaw atop barely hardboiled eggs, they're all grown up." —Allie Lewis Clapp, food editor

For this juicy, herbaceous salad, feel free to combine different varieties of cucumbers and tomatoes, which are at peak season around the same time.

Adding veggies to the marinade while warm helps them absorb more flavor.

Mild, crunchy green papaya is not the same as underripe papaya. Look for it at Asian or Mexican groceries.

If you have a mandoline with a julienne attachment or julienne peeler, use it here. For the best texture, stop cooking before the squash goes limp.

Serve this rich, glazed eggplant as a starter, or with rice and a simply prepared piece of fish for a main course.

"Paris chef Alain Passard, who is famous for unusual pairings, inspired this dish." —Chris Morocco, associate food editor

Yes, making this rice is a time commitment and a labor of love. But the ingredients aren't difficult to find, and the finished dish is stunning.