If we were lucky, my family would have some seriously interesting fish for dinner—but we often had dry spells, when my mom would buy dirt-cheap tilapia or basa (a type of catfish) from the Asian grocery store. Look, I’m not saying those fish species are bad—they just didn’t excite me. But in my mom’s hands, whatever excitement the fish lacked was more than made up for by the vegetables she added to it. This hot pot recipe is just one case in point.

Fertilized for years with fish bones and guts and watered with spoiled milk, the garden’s soil was steeped in nutrients. It was a sort of long-game marinade, and it resulted in candylike cherry tomatoes; vibrant, meaty stalks of dill bursting with vigor; and leafy Korean celery, full of sweetness and natural salinity. I know you don’t have access to my mom’s garden, but here’s hoping you get a little window into its flavors with this recipe.
 

If you were to ask my dad which of all the dishes my mom makes is his favorite, he would say Taiwanese chow mein. This recipe has been perfected and passed down from my grandma. It has the perfect combination of salty and slightly sweet and uses simple pantry condiments for the sauce. My mom made it all the time when we first immigrated to Canada because of how accessible all the ingredients were. Don’t leave out the fried shallots—they make this dish truly special.

There is something so comforting about rice soup. This dish is so easy to make, especially if you have leftover cooked rice, and the perfect way to settle an empty stomach between the calming ginger, chicken broth, mild tender fish and shrimp, soft rice, and silky poached eggs. The famous soup places in Southern Thailand really focus on the quality of the broth, and have passed their recipe down for generations. In your house, you may use a good-quality storebought chicken broth, and while we eat this for breakfast, you can find your own tradition and make this any time you want. This is a family friendly dish that everyone will love (but it can also cure a hangover).

Growing up, there were three desserts my mom loved to bake: brownies (for lunch boxes), cookies (for snacking), and coffee cake (for breakfast). As in, our whole household would snag slices of cinnamon–chocolate chip coffee cake as we headed out the door for school or work. Now, I love to reimagine coffee cake as a cookie. Specifically, a soft brown sugar and cinnamon–swirled cookie topped with a crunchy streusel and vanilla icing. It’ll leave you wondering why putting streusel on your cookies isn’t standard practice. And for the record, I like them at any time of day.

I first fell in love with grain salads during my cooking lab in university. Yep, us food nerds got to cook and enjoy delicious food as one of our classes (but organic chemistry more than balanced things out). Grain salads are the perfect batch-prep meal. They soak up the flavors of the dressing without getting soggy and truly taste better with time. Some of the nutrition highlights of this one include brain-healthy omega-3 fats, gut-nourishing prebiotics, and a flood of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. A true meal that can’t help but make you mindful, bursting with the pomegranate arils’ jewel tones, the richness of toasted walnuts and creamy blue cheese, and a slightly our crunch from the green apple, this salad’s somewhat loud flavors just have a way of complementing each other and leaving you with the perfect balanced energy to move through the afternoon.

This is a wonderful soup when you’re feeling under the weather because the beta-carotene helps to protect the lungs when fighting a cold or flu. Squash is one of the first foods offered to babies, as it is easy to digest. Ginger root is a great reliever of nausea and is a warming herb. If you need to speed up this dish, you can use canned lentils and shave 15 minutes off the cooking time. Use only 8 cups of cooking liquid if you choose to use canned lentils. (See Tip 2 if intolerant to lentils.)

This is a simple, delicious, and very pretty dessert that requires a baked pâte brisée tart shell and a cooked cranberry filling. If you are entertaining, this can be made the day before and kept chilled. It slices into lovely wedges and is complemented nicely with dollops of whipped cream. Every Thanksgiving, I create a list of pies to make for the farm staff. For the past three years, this cranberry tart has been the most popular, along with the Pumpkin Pie with Phyllo Crust (page 276). I like to use fresh cranberries, if possible, but frozen are also acceptable. The pâte brisée can be made in batches and frozen in flat disks for pie making anytime. I often make four or five batches at a time for the freezer. No excuses for lack of time when your family needs or wants a homemade pie or tart.