Jeremy Schweitzer, Recipe Tester

The much-ballyhooed Italian Christmas classic, Feast of the Seven Fishes, stars one fish in Domenica Marchetti’s home. Calamari. And it’s the centerpiece of her Christmas Eve dinner.

After trying this Southern good-luck charm of black-eyed peas, we say forget the luck. Just pass more of these peas, please.

Silken, garlicky mashed potatoes manifest in mere minutes thanks to a super simple technique that’s perfect for when you’re entertaining or just plain hungry.

This cauliflower gratin recipe from Dorie Greenspan is French comfort food, yet it wouldn’t be out of place on a distinctly American Thanksgiving table.

Unlike humdrum store-bought chips, these have some semblance of sophistication, not to mention healthfulness. And yes, it’s still hard to stop at just one.

Forget the pan when you make this tart. The edges of the tart crust are folded around sweet caramelized onions, smoky bacon, and rich goat cheese.

Never give zucchini away again with these equally tempting yet uniquely different slaws. You get to choose—rich and creamy or tart and sweet.

Summer at its simplest, not to mention its most splendid. Five minutes of effort yield a meal that rivals round-trip tickets to Italy.

The quintessential summer sandwich, this stack is stuffed with grilled eggplant, bell peppers, red onions, and zucchini. Open wide.

A United Nations of flavor adorn this Spanish pizza with chorizo and Manchego mingling with mozzarella and poblano chiles.

Quiche for one? It sounds a lot more ambitious than it actually is. It’s truly a cinch to make. So go on. Love yourself a little. Or a lot.

Cinnamon is the solo act in this sophisticated but simple gelato. Creamy, indulgent, and complex tasting, this gelato is sure to become a new favorite.

Dark chocolate cake stacked high and smothered with gooey caramel and coconut and pecans? Don’t mind if we do.

This turkey meatloaf is not the dry, crumbly meatloaf of your childhood. Thanks to an immodest amount of barbecue sauce, this pleasing rendition turns out moist and lovely and craveable.

The classic cookie benefits enormously from a hit of ginger here with these surprise sleeper hits of your Christmas season.

Confession. This isn’t exactly ice cream. Yet it’s not frozen yogurt, either. It falls somewhere blissfully in between with its not-too-sweet creaminess. And no ice cream maker required.

There’s a week or two midsummer when peak blueberry and tomato seasons overlap. You’ve been warned. Go.

This rich, buttery, unabashedly sweet Southern tradition is a twist on a classic and becomes even more indulgent with a heavy-handed drizzle of caramel glaze.

A quietly, healthily, nuttily pleasing alternative to your same old oats. Go on. You know you want to try it. So get your quinoa on.

All the usual suspects—butter, sugar, eggs, nuts, and, natch, bananas–are here, save for gluten. And we were so tempted by the resulting taste and texture, we didn’t even miss it.