Celery

This is a staple in pretty much every professional kitchen, and with this easy method, it could be in yours, too. We like to eat the crudités with our Zesty Italian Tartare (page 245).

The foundation of this elegant soup? Peanut butter. Make your own by grinding dry-roasted peanuts in a food processor while you roast the garlic. You can use any mild-flavored honey to sweeten the whipped cream garnish, or go Southern with a spoonful of tupelo honey.

Anson Mills, the company behind the South's heirloom-grain revival, helped usher this beautiful little pea back into the limelight. Chef Ashley Christensen orders hers from ansonmills.com, though you can substitute dried black-eyed peas and cook them for about 1 1/4 hours.

Farro is an ancient grain that, despite its popularity in central Italy, was once impossible to find in the United States. With rising demand for it, more and more domestic growers are starting to cultivate it, including Eatwell Farm in Northern California and Bluebird Grain Farms in Oregon. This hearty fall salad works well as a vegan entrée or a side dish, or even warmed and served as a Thanksgiving stuffing. I like to add diced or pulled roasted turkey to turn this into an entrée salad. Small cubes of good-quality Pecorino Romano are also a nice addition and give the dish added richness and umami.

Celery complements blue cheese, and blue cheese complements steak, so Brian put the three ingredients together. The salad includes celery leaves, which contribute a refreshing herbaceousness. Spooned over the steaks like a salsa or relish, it helps cut their richness. Serve with Potato and Celery Root Gratin (page 165) or wilted spinach.

A colorful platter of crudités and dip is a sure crowd-pleaser for a party—or simply as a snack. As an alternative to lemon-thyme dip, serve the vegetables with the white-bean dip on page 51.

In this homemade version of the popular store-bought soup, chicken thighs and a wild-rice blend combine for a rich and nourishing dish.

THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST HAS A CORNUCOPIA OF MUSHROOMS: morels and porcini in the spring, chanterelles and black trumpets in the fall and winter, and fresh shatakes all year round. Earthy mushrooms bring a new dimension to stuffing. Serve the mushroom stuffing with Kale-Stuffed Chicken Breasts (page 118) or on its own as a vegetarian main course.

WHEN COLD WEATHER SETTLES IN, it’s time for this rich soup. Bacon adds even deeper flavor to the classic Italian white beans and sage combination. Using nitrate-free bacon is the best option, for both flavor and health reasons, and it’s becoming more widely available.

WHY THEY’RE LIGHT Waxy new potatoes, tossed in a flavorful mustard vinaigrette, easily outdo heavy, mayonnaise-based potato salads, while low-fat yogurt and dill dress up sliced cucumbers. Pack either low-calorie side for a picnic.

SMART SUBSTITUTION This lighter interpretation of a traditional Waldorf salad replaces the sweet mayonnaise dressing with one made from reduced-fat sour cream, white-wine vinegar, and just a hint of sugar.

Celery and celery root were developed from the same plant but now they are two distinct varieties. Celery is one of the staples of the kitchen, used to flavor soups, broths, and braises. It is also quite tasty as a vegetable dish and offers lots of crunch in salads. Celery has a powerful flavor, especially the leaves. Use it judiciously when cooking; too much celery flavor can be unpleasant in a broth, for example. Look for fresh, bright stalks when selecting celery. The outer stalks are best used for flavoring and the inner lighter ones for eating. Celery root, also called celeriac, has only a few short stalks and leaves; it is the large round knobby root that is eaten both cooked and raw. Its flavor is mild and sweet. Select smaller, firm, heavy roots that have fresh vibrant leaves. Avoid roots that have brownish, rusty stains or blemishes; these tend to be bitter. Trim the top and bottom of the roots and cut away the tough brown skin. If you are not using it right away, wrap it in a damp cloth to keep it from turning brown.

When I serve roasted vegetables, my guests often ask me, “How did you cook these vegetables? They are so delicious!” I tossed them with a bit of oil and salt and threw them in the oven, is my answer. Eyebrows rise in disbelief, but it’s true: roasting vegetables is that easy and that delicious. As vegetables roast, their flavors intensify and the brown caramelized edges they get add sweetness and texture. Very little oil is used during the cooking so they are quite light as well. Most any vegetable can be roasted, either simply with salt and olive oil or with garlic, herbs, and spices for added flavor. The critical points for roasting vegetables are: the shape in which they are cut; the seasoning and oiling; and the temperature at which they are cooked. Winter root vegetables should be peeled and cut up into smaller pieces, though the very tiny ones can be left whole. Carrots, turnips, celery root, rutabagas, parsnips, and kohlrabi are all excellent roasted. Cut the vegetables into pieces more or less the same size so they will cook evenly and be done at the same time. Avoid shapes that have thin edges, as they tend to burn before the centers are done; and don’t cut the vegetables too small or they will be mostly browned bits with very little soft flavorful vegetable left to eat. Toss the cut vegetables in a large bowl, using your hands or a spoon to coat them evenly with salt and olive oil. They only need a light coating of oil; if oil is accumulating on the bottom of the bowl you’ve used too much. Taste a piece to see if they are seasoned correctly and keep adding salt until it tastes right. Lay the vegetables out in a single layer on a baking sheet that has low sides. The sides make it much easier to stir the vegetables while they are cooking and keep them from drying out. Cook the vegetables in a hot oven preheated to 400°F. A lower temperature will dry out the vegetables while they cook, making them leathery before they are done; a higher temperature will burn them before they are cooked all the way through. Stir the vegetables a few times while they are cooking, turning those along the edges into the center. Cook them until they are tender and nicely browned here and there. Probe a piece with the tip of a knife to test for doneness, or better still, taste one (be sure to let it cool first). Don’t let them go too far: a little browning makes them sweeter, but if you let them get too dark they will taste bitter. Potatoes can be roasted whole. Use small new potatoes (fingerlings or creamer-size potatoes work really well). Wash the potatoes and peel them or not, as you prefer. Put them into a baking dish with sides as high as or slightly higher than the potatoes themselves. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with olive oil. Add a head or more of garlic cloves, separated but not peeled, and a few sprigs of fresh herbs. Shake the pan now and then while the potatoes are cooking; turn them if they are browning too much on the top or bottom. Smaller winter squash, such as Delicata and acorn varieties, can be roasted in halves to serve right in the shell. Halve the squash and scoop out the seeds, place the halves cut side up on an oiled baking sheet, drizzle lightly with oil and sprinkle with salt, turn cut side down, and roast until soft. Unpeeled butternut or Delicata squash, once halved and seeded, can be cut into slices and laid on an oiled baking sheet to roast. The skin is so tender after roasting that it is fine to eat. Squash can be cut into cubes and roasted as well; it is wonderful with lots of fresh sage leaves tossed in before cooking. Fat asparagus—the butt ends snapped off, the spears peeled and tossed with oil and salt—roasts very well. Lemon thyme is an intriguing herb to use with asparagus. Stick to larger spears when roasting; the smaller spears tend to shrivel and dry. To roast broccoli, peel and cut the stems into thick slices and break the head into florets. O...

This Szechwan specialty gets its heat from fresh chiles and its flowery, smoky aroma from Szechwan peppercorns. Since the beef is cut into such thin shreds, it takes little time to cook. Serve this with rice or noodles, along with stir-fried greens (page 463). Other cuts of meat you can use here: pork, preferably from the shoulder or leg (fresh ham); lamb, preferably from the shoulder or leg; boneless chicken.

A crunchy mixed vegetable salad given a twist by the addition of bread. Feel free to improvise with whatever is in your garden or kitchen. The key to this salad is not the choice of vegetables but slicing them as thinly as possible. Use a mandoline if you have one.

Raita is salad, relish, dip, and side dish in one. Yogurt-based, it usually includes something sharp to balance the sour blandness: onion, spices, mustard, even chiles. (It’s most closely associated with India, but similar mixtures are made in the Middle East.) The recipe here is the basic foundation of many raitas and is usually not eaten as is but added to according to preference. There are infinite variations, of which the ones that follow are among the most popular. All balance spicy curries well but are also good eaten on their own or as a dip for flatbreads, like those on pages 559–565.

The peppery bite of radishes is the featured player in this crunchy salad, which is served all over the Arab world in one form or another. Salting the radishes first improves both flavor and texture, but if you’re pressed for time, just salt the salad as you normally would.

This vegetable stock is not unlike Jus Rôti (page 163) but without the meat—the roasting step adds a layer of flavor that is a welcome addition to otherwise one-dimensional vegetable stocks. Although this is hardly a bare-bones stock, the addition of mushrooms or more root vegetables (especially parsnips) will give it even more oomph.

Sadly, throughout Mexico, you see rice cooked with mixed frozen vegetables Birds Eye rice, essentially. Fortunately, the real thing is not that difficult to make and it’s infinitely better.