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If you want to impress at a dinner party, this is the dish to make. The secret ingredient? Jordan almonds, those impossibly hard candies handed out at weddings. They turn into a gorgeous caramelized crust on the roasted duck breast. Simply cooked baby turnips make an elegant accompaniment.

If you want the crunch of fried chicken without the fuss of cooking big pieces, you have to try this quick, streamlined recipe. My technique for cutting chicken steaks gives each person white and dark meat and makes for a hearty serving. This all-season dish is perfect with simply blanched vegetables. In the winter, I serve it with broccoli; in the spring, snap and snow peas; and in the summer, wax beans and haricots verts.

You don’t need bread crumbs in my take on chicken parm. The blend of finely and coarsely grated cheese with just a little flour creates a crunchy, savory crust. I love to serve this with Salsify in Lemon Butter (page 192).

Miso, A japanese fermented soybean paste, is the ultimate marinade. It infuses chicken with a subtle yet intense salty-sweetness. Both leafy and woody herbs add freshness to this summer cookout dish.

Imagine eating mussels in their purest form. One bite of this dish and you’ll feel like you’re at sea. Quickly steamed in a rich seaweed broth, the mussels here are simply amazing. Sticky rice is great for soaking up the sauce, although I also like slurping it straight from the mussel shells.

With both fennel seeds and fresh fennel, you get an intensely fragrant dish. I can’t think of a simpler or faster dinner. With good crusty bread for soaking up the juices and a simple salad, you’re all set. Look for small Prince Edward Island mussels—they’re my favorite.

Cold soup and hot shrimp—this is a fantastic combination on a warm night. Blending the honeyed sweetness of this summer melon with intensely savory vegetables makes this dish incredibly refreshing. And I give the hot, spicy shrimp a hit of freshness by grilling finely sliced mint right onto them.

I think tomatoes and summer squash always taste great together. The key to this two-vegetable simple spin on ratatouille is roasting the tomatoes first. It intensifies their sweetness and makes the whole dish rich in flavor.

Here I combine woody herbs with the potatoes and tender herbs with the fish. The result is an intensely flavorful and fragrant dish.

Barbecue sauce, especially a spicy one, may seem an unusual pairing for fish, but the richness of salmon not only stands up to the heat, it actually is enhanced by the flavor of the sauce.

When i was a kid, one of my favorite fall activities was hunting for wild mushrooms with my brothers in the woods around our home. For this pizza, make sure the mushroom pieces are all roughly the same size so they cook evenly. The runny egg yolk that sauces this pizza binds all the flavors together.

When I lived near Nice in the sunny south of France, I discovered that everyone there has a version of this summer salad. By tasting ones made by everyone from legendary chefs to humble housewives, I came up with my own. My sun-dried tomato vinaigrette makes this version distinctive. The perfumed sweetness of elderflower cordial highlights the concentrated sweetness of the tomatoes. Be sure to use the best sushi-grade bluefin or yellowfin tuna you can find.

One of the most fun things about traveling is finding food inspiration and ideas. I’m most drawn to simple preparations with creative twists. In Israel, I loved the myriad varieties of salads, which are served morning, noon, and night. I could spend a month in Israel just studying the salads. On a recent trip, my family’s last lunch before heading to the airport was at a lovely little café in the suburbs of Tel Aviv. One of the dishes we enjoyed was a mixture of sweet and white potatoes on a bed of greens. Nothing fancy, but it looked great and tasted even better. Once home, I made my copycat version of the salad, with two additions: a diced avocado mixed into the greens, and a topping of pumpkin seeds. It may look fancy, but it’s very easy to make. The pleasing presentation makes it a good salad to impress company, as well as to bring to potlucks.

Like the previous recipe, the combination of grains and beans in this salad makes it an ideal centerpiece for a meal.

This colorful mélange of flavors and textures is easy enough for a weeknight meal, yet gorgeous enough to impress guests.

Bursting with Southwestern flavors, this salad is as delicious as it is easy.

A feast of color and texture, this salad is, in a word, dazzling. As the centerpiece of a meal, it’s a pleasure to make and serve, ready in minutes.

I love this salad with mango, but since it’s not always available, pineapple is a good alternative. If you have more time, use fresh pineapple in season. Cutting it up is really not that time consuming, and the fresh fruit tastes amazing.

Pizza Margherita is a simple classic, emphasizing fresh tomatoes and basil. This version takes the concept a bit further with a few extra embellishments. It’s a wonderful pizza for late summer or for cool summer evenings when you don’t mind turning on the oven.

Big quesadillas make a filling one-dish meal that is easily completed with a salad on the side. Here is the first of a trio of such fare.