If you’re wondering how I ever came up with the idea to put pesto on potatoes, it’s like those old ads for you-know-what, where a guy walking the street eating a chocolate bar bumps into a girl with an open jar of peanut butter: a complete accident, but what an outcome! I was staring into the refrigerator as fingerling potatoes were coming out of the oven, and what should my eyes chance upon but a container of the pesto. Normally I’d use the pesto with pasta, but as I  discovered that night, it’s also wonderful with potatoes. 

Bread croutons are so yesterday. This recipe is incredibly easy to make; just some torn up kale coated with olive oil and salt that gets popped into the oven. The alchemy of the cooking takes away the kale’s bitterness, leaving you with an irresistible garnish on top of a bowl of soup.

This simple preparation is Japanese comfort food, good for everything from a cold to fatigue to an overworked digestive system. Miso is a traditional fermented food, made for centuries in Japan, with myriad health benefits.  To avoid damaging the beneficial microorganisms it contains, never cook it.  Shiro (white) miso is made from salted barley, rice, and soybeans inoculated with a fungus (Aspergillus oryzae) cultivated on rice and also used to make saké and soy sauce.  The flavor of shiro miso is milder and sweeter than darker types made with more soybeans.  All miso is salty and needs to be diluted with water or other ingredients until the salt level is right for you. This quick and easy preparation is one of my favorite soups.

Fresh salmon fillets are baked gently and smothered with a flavorful preparation of shiitake mushrooms. Quick and simple but also elegant, this is a main course for any occasion. The salmon must not be dry; be careful not to overcook it.

Okonomiyaki is a savory Japanese pancake (okonomi means “what you like” and yaki means “grilled” or “cooked”) made with cabbage and other vegetables and a variety of seafood and meats. In Japan it’s popular street food and is also served in restaurants, some of which let diners choose ingredients and cook the mixture on a personal hot plate. Too often, okonomiyaki is smothered with a thick, sweet sauce.  I prefer this version with a miso mayo topping.  I think you’ll find it to be a great comfort food, either as a starter or main course.

I’ll admit it: I’m a ham. Take the last time I demonstrated how to make sauerkraut. The recipe is pretty basic: pulverize some cabbage, pour some salt over it in a crock, cover, and ferment. Not the most exciting of demos—unless you’ve got a friend, like my friend Jo, with a great sense of humor and knowledge of moi. I told her I needed a mallet for the demo; she lent me her mother’s mallet. It was about eighty years old and five feet tall, and was so big I had to get on top of a milk crate to wield it. It was chancy—the room was filled with three hundred health care professionals—but we all got a good laugh out of it. Hijinks aside, sauerkraut is easy to make—and it’s a great probiotic, leading to a sound gut, which, as scientists are learning, makes for a sound mind.

I can’t imagine any green bean more maligned in American culture than the string bean. The canned versions often resemble a Seattle drizzle and are about as tasty as a one-note piano (salt...salt...salt). The restaurant versions are at least pretty to look at (sometimes), but they’re still bland. I’m here to tell you that string beans can have pizzazz. I start by giving them a special bath: a quick dip in boiling salted water followed by an even faster plunge into a cold pool. This parboiling cooks the beans and brings out their beautiful color.

Whether you’re under the weather or just looking for an immunity boost, this is a great go-to broth. Here I introduce you to burdock root. It’s loaded with potassium, iron, magnesium, and ever-important zinc. In the olden days, physicians used burdock root as a blood purifier, and clearly science has shown they were onto something. Here I combine burdock with shiitake mushrooms, ginger, and garlic to create a delicious earthy broth that’s full of antiviral, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory goodness.

I’ll admit it; I’m a bit obsessive when it comes to chili. Most people have one chili powder blend in their pantry. I have four, all of which I buy online at wholespice.com: Chili Powder Dark; ancho chili powder; Chili California Powder; and Chili New Mexico Powder. You get the idea. But my recipe tester Catherine was having none of it when I suggested this recipe include all four of my chili powder blends. “No,” she said. “I have one blend, just like any other normal person. Either this is going test well with one blend, or it’s not going to fly at all.” Fortunately, it achieved the correct flying altitude with just one blend—whichever one you happen to have on hand—but if you want all three (I can’t resist), look at the Cook’s Note. I love this chili straight up, topped with avocado-cilantro cream, while Catherine likes it best topped with poached eggs. Talk about a protein hit! And for a brain boost, there’s nothing like the choline that both black beans and eggs provide.

Drizzles are designed to brighten up everything they touch, and they can be found in nearly every culture’s cooking. France? It’s a pistou. Italy? Pesto. Morocco? Chermoula. They’re all made similarly; herbs, olive oil, lemon juice and salt go into the Cuisinart, and what comes out is a fine dining refinement, if you will, for everyday soup.

I find cashew milk to be the perfect substitute for milk or cream in soups, sauces, and desserts. You can make it rich or lean by varying the ratio of nuts to water. The 1 to 2 ratio below approximates the richness of whole milk. I prefer to use whole raw cashews, as they are of better quality than broken ones. You will want to keep some of this on hand; it will hold in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

Sometimes it’s just fun to play with your food. I want people to eat omega-3 rich wild salmon— it’s great for heart and brain health—and this recipe is a blast. The salmon is cubed, threaded onto skewers, baked for a few minutes, and voilà: instant salmon kebabs. The Asian pesto, with ginger, cilantro, and mint, makes the skewers a kick to eat. I like this dish served with Watercress, Purple Cabbage, and Edamame Salad with Toasted Sesame Seeds. Talk about a color blast!

Languid days, firefly twilights: this salad just yearns to be made when the calendar hits July and refreshment needs to be close at hand. This quenching dish is an homage to the fruits of summer (and the herbs as well), with watermelon and tomatoes combining with mint to form its heart.

People have been deviling eggs for almost as long as there have been eggs to devil. Recipes can be found in writings from ancient Rome, thirteenth-century Andalusia, and current culinary blogs worldwide. I’m into deviled eggs both for their flavor and for practical reasons.