Anita Lo

This tiny handmade pasta is a labor of love, but you'll be glad you devoted an afternoon to fresh pasta-making once you've tasted it. The tender orecchiette is irresistible once tossed in the rich, buttery sauce studded with savory mortadella and bright peas.

My introduction to skate took place when I was a child, during a summer spent on Cape Cod, where, with my older brother and sister, I ran into a fisherman. He was an old salt, his arms deeply tanned and wrinkled from the sun, his beard scraggly and speckled with dried seawater. We asked what he had been catching. "Skate," he replied. Not familiar with the fish, we inquired further and he told us, "In New England we call skate poor man’s scallops." He explained that "back in the day," people on the cape would cut out rounds of the meat as a substitute for scallops because the species shared a common sweetness. What he didn’t tell us is that skate is notoriously difficult to work with when whole.

I learned that lesson the hard way and, at the same time, realized the true value of the fish. In the fall of 1999 I had a lot of free time on my hands. Annisa wasn't open yet and I was just learning the art of angling. Jen and I had driven all the way from Manhattan to Shinnecock Canal on Long Island because we heard that striper fishing was particularly good there. After a few hours, and a rough time of it, I landed my skate.

I am by no means squeamish, but this fish broke me. None of my extensive culinary training prepared me for what followed. It was the skate that would not die. It took hours; multiple gashes in the head; a three-and-a-half-hour airless trunk ride from Long Island back home to Manhattan, and a drag-out struggle on the cutting board. We gave up the good fight and decided to let the skate die while we watched TV in the next room. Since that traumatic experience, I have not personally killed another skate, but it’s often on the menu at annisa. It is robust and, yes, sweet-flavored, but to call it "poor man’s scallop" is inaccurate and doesn’t do justice to the distinct character of the fish.

As if the butterscotch wasn't enough, we packed this bread pudding recipe with pecan and bourbon. Yep. Bourbon.

The brown rice in this side dish is full of fiber. (Cooked white has none.)

Not a fin in sight here—just a light, sweet finish to a healthy meal.

Drink up and get a healthy dose of cancer-fighting lycopene.

This summer side cooks quickly, so the veggies retain their nutrients.

This shrimp appetizer almost has the iron of steak but far fewer calories.

Scallops are rich in iodine, essential to a healthy thyroid and metabolism.