Melissa Clark

When the nights turn blustery and the temperature drops, I know that roasted vegetable season has arrived, and I embrace it with reckless abandon. I'll roast any kind of sturdy vegetable that I can cut up and fit into my oven, but one of my favorites is cauliflower, preferably tossed with whole cumin seeds. Not only does the cumin act as a natural remedy to help reduce the dreaded intestinal gas factor (or so I've been told), but it also adds a pleasant earthy flavor to balance the assertive tang of the vegetable. Roasted cauliflower with cumin makes a nice and simple side dish. Even Dahlia will eat it if she's distracted enough. But recently I made it into lunch. I roasted up a head all for myself, and added a topping of salted yogurt (which is simply a good, full-fat yogurt with a little kosher salt mixed in), a few leftover pomegranate seeds (which I can buy at my local market already picked out of the husk), and a smattering of bright green chopped fresh mint. It was a perfect light lunch. It could even be dinner, served over brown rice, bulgur, or some other filling, toasty grain, for a warming meal to start out roasting season right.

Like most little kids, Dahlia loves macaroni and cheese, and I've made it for her in many guises, running the gamut of techniques. My aim is always the same—to make the dish quickly with a minimum of fuss, and to use a maximum of vegetables that she will tolerate and not pick out. This is one of both our favorites. It's comforting, crusty topped, soft centered, and very cheesy—but not at all sophisticated. Just simple, kid-friendly, homemade food with the added grown-up appeal of lots of healthful carrots tossed into the mix. I got the idea from a chef's recipe in a glossy food magazine. The chef called for cooking carrots in butter and orange juice, pureeing them, and using the puree as a sauce for mac and cheese. I tried the recipe as written and was disappointed. It was a lot of work, and I didn't like the sweetness of the citrus fruit interfering with my cheesy goodness. So I decided to come up with my own simplified and ultra-Cheddary version. It was a huge hit with the under-three crowd and their parents, too. It's a straightforward recipe that comes together without much fuss, other than having to grate some carrots. But to make up for that, I've eliminated the need to make a cheese sauce on the top of the stove. Instead, I toss the hot pasta with grated cheddar, butter, sour cream for creaminess, and eggs to hold it all together. The grated carrots get boiled along with the pasta, so cooking them isn't an extra step. And the tiny orange shreds look so much like the cheddar that your kids might not even notice they are there. Dahlia certainly hasn't, and while I've never lied to her about their inclusion, I might have left out the word carrot in the dish description—accidentally, of course.

A nice thick bone in steak is our favorite kind of splurge. Uncle Bubba loves to gnaw on a steak bone, so we came up with this simple recipe for steak rubbed with brown sugar and spices especially for him. Rib eye is Bubba's favorite cut, but you use this rub on your favorite cut, too. It's also great on grilled chicken.

Bobby loves biscuits soaked in gravy, and he loves cake soaked in berry juice, so you can bet he’s always loved Mama’s shortcake. Our version ups the ante with some fluffy pink strawberry whipped cream that is so pretty that you just know it’s going to taste like heaven.

Rather than making pizza dough from scratch, patting out biscuit dough for mini pizzas is a quick, fun shortcut that older kids, like our eleven-year-old niece Lauren, will enjoy joining in on. And the kids can top their own pizzas, too, if they like, piling on the cheese and pepperoni or, if you’ve got a strange kid who likes them like Bobby always did, with sliced olives.

When Jack’s cousin Baby Lizzie first started picking up food and feeding herself, we started making macaroni and cheese in mini muffin pans for her. Big cousin Jack likes to take a large bite, so for him regular muffin pans fit the bill. You can make these in either one. The crispy Ritz cracker crumbs on the outside form a little crust for these pies, making them perfect to eat with your hands. We’re not saying they will be much neater than regular mac and cheese, but these sure are fun and delicious.

We hit upon our favorite recipe a few summers back, when we helped out a buddy with his annual Labor Day pig roast in Connecticut. In addition to the 125-pound porker we were planning to serve, we decided we should have some chicken just in case not everyone at the party wanted to partake of the sacred swine. We got about 100 birds, halved them, and soaked them in a simple marinade of just lemon, sage, and cracked black pepper. It turned out to be one of the first times—maybe the only time—there was a pig roast where chicken was the hit of the day. What really made it special was the marinade. It lent a nice acidity to the meat, which became really tender, and the sage and lemon flavors just exploded. For the most classic presentation, roast a whole bird and carve it tableside. If you want an especially crispy, golden-skinned chicken, have your butcher halve it, and roast the halves skin side up so they can self-baste as they roast.

Peppery, uncooked mustard greens make a great base for this modern-day Caesar salad. Cook up any leftover greens and use them in an omelet.

This stir-fry gets its hit of green from bok choy and mizuna, a Japanese salad green.

Mashed potatoes take on a new form in this delicious dish. A mixture of mashed potatoes and wilted kale is shaped into patties and pan-fried, then paired with a dressed-up mayo. Serve as a first course or with a salad for a light lunch.

Slightly bitter Swiss chard (which is a variety of beet) was reportedly named for the Swiss botanist who identified the green. In this dish, chard's earthy flavor balances out the rich, creamy béchamel sauce.

It's the watercress that makes this new riff on a classic greener—and zestier, too.

Turnip, mustard, and collard greens star in this southern-style soup.

Jamie’s favorite meal in the world is his wife Brooke’s meat loaf. Making meat loaf in muffin pans means everyone gets his or her own, which kids always love. Of course, if you’re a fan of meat loaf like Jamie is, it means you have to admit to eating two—or more—at a time. We glaze the tops with a mixture of ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard for extra flavor, but for kids, you can also serve ketchup alongside or as “frosting” on top after it comes out of the oven.

This dish is a true Southern delight, our riff on Louisiana-style spicy shrimp combined with cheesy grits just the way we make ’em at The Lady & Sons. It’s amazing how easy this is to whip up. Make it for your family, and they’ll swear you spent all day tied to the stove.

If you’ve been to Savannah, or if you live here (hey, neighbor!), then you know that we’re one shrimp-crazy city. We like shrimp so well we are happy just boiling them up and eating them out of their shells. But every once in a while, we do something a little more substantial for dinner, like this Cajun-flavored dish, which goes great with our colorful Broccoli and Red Pepper Salad (page 109).

We love the sweet-sour taste of classic veal scaloppini, but we have started using turkey cutlets in our peppery version. Turkey has such a rich taste, plus it’s leaner and less expensive than veal. This recipe is simple enough for everyday dinners, but it tastes special enough that you can eat it by candlelight, especially when it’s served with our almond rice pilaf.

Guess whose is whose. Yogurt and sorbet with fresh fruit is a luscious and healthful way to get your sundae fix. Or you can go whole hog and pile on the ice cream, peanut butter, fudge, and cookies! As kids growing up, we always got single scoops at the Dairy Queen; we couldn’t ask for the banana split—it was the most expensive thing on the menu. It’s safe to say we’ve made up for lost time on that one, though!

Here's our slightly simpler version of Bud's fantastic pie (which you should mail-order if you love gooey chocolate chip cookies). Chocolate chip whipped cream is a pretty good substitute for the ice cream Bud insists you eat with it.

Where we come from, barbecue means a great sauce, like this one, and good old chicken, the mainstay of our family business.