Egg

This simple, delicious dish hails from China's Shanghai region. It's a great way to use up leftover rice—if your rice is already cooked, you'll need 3 cups of it.

In this Spanish-style frittata, the potatoes and zucchini are characteristically creamy and filling. The dish is also a host's friend, since it tastes just right at room temperature.

The recipe and introductory text below are reprinted with permission from Gameday Gourmet by Pableaux Johnson. A fixture at pregame festivities at any SEC athletic contest, these little devils are simple to make. For a bit of added showmanship, keep the components (the cooked egg whites and the yolk mixture) separate until you get to the game. Assembling them on-site keeps them from getting watery (and makes it look like you know what you're doing).

The spirit of Japan comes through in this dish: It is lovely to behold and has a delicate, light quality, yet the extraordinary flavors will seize your attention with the culinary equivalent of surround sound.

The beer and cheese combo gets saucy, turning toast and fried eggs into a truly luxurious meal all about extras: extra-stout beer, extra-sharp Cheddar, and extra good.

In 1930, Simon Agranat, the chief justice of the Israeli Supreme Court, wrote to his aunt and uncle in Chicago: "I had my eighth successive egg meal during my three-day journey through the Emek (the valley)." Eggs have always been a main protein for the people in Israel. When I lived in Jerusalem, I would make for my breakfast—or even for dinner—scrambled eggs with sauteed spring onions, fresh herbs, and dollops of cream cheese melted into the eggs as they were cooking. Probably the most popular egg dish in Israel is shakshuka, one of those onomatopoeic Hebrew and North African words, meaning "all mixed up." The most famous rendition of this tomato dish, which is sometimes mixed with meat but more often made in Israel with scrambled or poached eggs, is served at the Tripolitana Doktor Shakshuka Restaurant in Old Jaffa. Doktor Shakshuka, owned by a large Libyan family, is located near the antique market in an old stone-arched building with colorful Arab-tiled floors. "When I was a young girl at the age of ten I liked to cook," said Sarah Gambsor, the main cook of the restaurant and wife of one of the owners. "My mother told me that I should marry someone who has a restaurant." And she did just that. Mrs. Gambsor, a large woman who clearly enjoys eating what she cooks, demonstrated that the dish starts with a heavy frying pan and tomato sauce. Then eggs are carefully broken in and left to set or, if the diner prefers, scrambled in as they cook. The shakshuka is then served in the frying pan at the table.

Indian flavorings give this vegetarian main some extra pizzazz.

Though you may not be familiar with the name, chilaquiles are the forebears of modern nachos. But the abundance of fresh, flavorful toppings—cool cilantro, salty queso fresco, crisp red onion—makes even the most fluorescent "nacho cheese" seem colorless.

This simple dish from Good Things Café is named after the British novelist.

Find the eggs in specialty markets

Fresh ricotta brings out the eggs' creaminess.

This lovely frittata can be served warm or at room temperature.

Getting rid of the crust for this clever play on quiche Lorraine is a win-win: The cooking process is simplified, and you're left with the very best part of the quiche.

It's not Easter dinner without the eggs. In this recipe, they are boiled just until the yolks are set, then sliced and topped with a fresh herb sauce.

Little bites of cauliflower add wonderful texture to this open-face omelet; salty-tangy feta gives it character.

You'll return again and again to this recipe since it can be assembled in advance and delivers serious flavor. The scent of ham gently permeates the eggs, whose yolks can be broken into the rest of the dish.

Make this recipe your own by using different sausages and cheeses. For a Middle Eastern spin, sub in lamb sausage and feta. Serve pizzas with hot sauce.

This style of frying eggs results in crisp, crackly whites and beautiful, barely set yolks. The spicy garlic oil and smoked mozzarella make this dish an unusual but delicious brunch or light dinner.