Steam

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.

Asian flavors add some heat to the classic French dish moules marinières.

Xiao Fan's spicy sauce will transform not only this steamed chicken but also plain rice, noodles, tofu, even grilled steak. The sauce can be doubled and leftovers chilled for a week. To reheat, add a bit of broth or water and simmer for about a minute.

Sertl appreciated the basic recipes he learned at The CIA the most. "When you're crunched for time, you're grateful to have these go-to techniques under your belt," he says. These buttery, parsleyed red potatoes have just a suggestion of saffron.

Carrots are gently infused with a sweet, minty flavor.

Thin green beans add ribbons of color as well as bite to a celeriac rémoulade.

This fresh salad could be served family-style with the rest of the meal or as a plated first course.

Be sure to buy a colorful assortment of baby vegetables. Serve as a side for roasted meat or fish, as an antipasto with salumi and breadsticks, or as an appetizer with crusty bread and goat cheese.

There's enough garlic butter here to drench every morsel of lobster meat—you'll want to serve crusty bread on the side to soak it all up.

Here, a velvety sauce studded with salty nuggets of country ham strengthens, rather than hides, the meaty savor of asparagus. But what we particularly love about this dish is the toast, made from a sturdy white sandwich loaf, one from a bakery (not from the packaged-bread aisle at the supermarket), the kind of bread that doesn't disintegrate under an extravagant topping but instead turns succulent.

Because broccoli thrives in cooler weather, this is a terrific winter variation on the classic green beans almondine.

Encased in smooth dark chocolate is a light, refreshing mint candy, perfect for closing out your Christmas dinner. To give these holiday treats sheen, use tempered melted chocolate.

Don't let the much-touted health benefits of this fluffy grain put you off—it also happens to be absolutely delicious. The light, lemony taste of this version makes it a great accompaniment to a whole host of dishes, and it pairs particularly well with the Spicy Calamari with Bacon and Scallions.

Beware—once you've had a few bites of this rice, you'll surely be back for seconds and thirds. Loaded with bits of treasure—smoked oysters, meaty mushrooms, Chinese sausage that tastes almost candied—the rice itself has an amazing chew that exemplifies the Chinese genius for varying textures in a meal. Though the lotus-leaf wrapping is optional, the rice gains a beguiling aroma, suggestive of tea, if you do use it—and the drama of unwrapping the stuffing at the table, like a lovely present, shouldn't be underestimated.

This impressive dish requires very little prep work, and the whole thing is cooked in just one pan. Serve with toasted slices of crusty bread.

Though this rice mainly functions to sop up the meat's red sauce, a quick sauté with garlic and onion and the use of chicken broth as well as water means it can hold its own.