Sara Dickerman

This simple bok choy recipe, flavored with shallot, garlic, and soy sauce, is ideal for when you’re short on time and ingredients.

My fried rice axiom is this: always use a little more ginger than seems appropriate. This is especially true with this fried rice version, enriched with smoky pork and rich bites of sautéed mushrooms.

There may be no better way to stretch odds and ends around the kitchen than to make a frittata: there’s no crust to fuss with, the eggy matrix can handle almost any savory inclusions, and the frittata itself can be enjoyed hot or at room temperature.

Served with a bright, zesty grapefruit-cabbage slaw, this crisp salmon is an easy weeknight dinner that takes less than 20 minutes to make from start to finish.

The ingredient list for a curry can be a little daunting with all those spices, but the technique isn’t very far from a pasta sauce: you just toast the whole spices and then move on to a sort of sofrito of onion, garlic, and ginger. From that flavor base, you add tomatoes and whatever veggies you desire. At the end, a quick chutney, really just a rough chopped blend of herbs and coconut, gives the stew a bright pop of flavor (the way a few torn basil leaves make that tomato sauce sing).

If you're ever cornered by a bland bowl of vegetables or whole grains, throw a handful of herbs on it. They instantly make the meal more beautiful and flavorful—without adding any salt, fat, or sugar.

We've flavored the lamb shanks with North African spices and woken up the rich meat and vegetables with a handful of pomegranate seeds and fresh mint leaves sprinkled on just before serving.

This fresh take on tabbouleh eliminates the bulgur entirely and uses the golden seeds of millet instead, which give a nutty, cornlike taste to the salad. (Here's how to master millet). But it's really all about the green herbs: Feel free to add too many!

These fast-cooking legumes, high in protein and fiber, pair delightfully with our healthy sockeye salmon.

Five-spice powder plays wonderfully off fruit. In this recipe, stem-on grapes are tossed in the oven alongside chicken breasts to concentrate their sweet-tart juices. The method works wonderfully with plums, too.

Pick a small to medium celery root and peel off its hide with a sharp knife. Inside you'll find ivory-green flesh that's crisp, a bit nutty, and utterly delicious in salads. This take on a classic remoulade provides perfect contrast to the silken luxury of seared scallops.

The crisp-skinned salmon is warmed up with spices and the sweetness of carrots. Then it's cooled down with one of the most refreshing combinations of all time: cucumbers and yogurt.

Hanger steak is the king of what I call weeknight steaks, casual cuts of leanish meat that deliver delicious flavor without a lot of expense or fuss. The skinny strip of flesh tastes best cooked hard and fast, for a crispy char on the outside, and left nice and pink inside. Slice it with a significant slant across the grain for the best eating texture. If you can find a grass-finished hanger steak, you’ll get leaner meat and a higher proportion of healthy lipids, such as omega-3s and CLAs. The bad news: hanger steak—or onglet, as it is sometimes known—can be hard to find. Even my regular butcher runs out somewhat frequently. Don’t fret—just substitute flank steak.

If you're ever cornered by a bland bowl of vegetables or whole grains, throw a handful of herbs on it. They instantly make the meal more beautiful and flavorful—without adding any salt, fat, or sugar.