Carrot

Like most little kids, Dahlia loves macaroni and cheese, and I've made it for her in many guises, running the gamut of techniques. My aim is always the same—to make the dish quickly with a minimum of fuss, and to use a maximum of vegetables that she will tolerate and not pick out. This is one of both our favorites. It's comforting, crusty topped, soft centered, and very cheesy—but not at all sophisticated. Just simple, kid-friendly, homemade food with the added grown-up appeal of lots of healthful carrots tossed into the mix. I got the idea from a chef's recipe in a glossy food magazine. The chef called for cooking carrots in butter and orange juice, pureeing them, and using the puree as a sauce for mac and cheese. I tried the recipe as written and was disappointed. It was a lot of work, and I didn't like the sweetness of the citrus fruit interfering with my cheesy goodness. So I decided to come up with my own simplified and ultra-Cheddary version. It was a huge hit with the under-three crowd and their parents, too. It's a straightforward recipe that comes together without much fuss, other than having to grate some carrots. But to make up for that, I've eliminated the need to make a cheese sauce on the top of the stove. Instead, I toss the hot pasta with grated cheddar, butter, sour cream for creaminess, and eggs to hold it all together. The grated carrots get boiled along with the pasta, so cooking them isn't an extra step. And the tiny orange shreds look so much like the cheddar that your kids might not even notice they are there. Dahlia certainly hasn't, and while I've never lied to her about their inclusion, I might have left out the word carrot in the dish description—accidentally, of course.

When it comes to nutrition, cherries don't bomb. They're rich in anthocyanins, which can jump-start your immune system and mop up free radicals.

Serve this terrine as an elegant starter to a summer meal.

For the best results, chill the produce first.

Candy-stripe beets (also known as Chioggia beets) won't bleed into this yogurt dressing as their red cousins would, so they make this summer slaw beautiful. They're available in better supermarkets and at farmers' markets.

Using a combination of red, white, and yellow carrots will make this slaw even more striking.

"I make this dish almost once a week during high carrot season. Dill brings out carrots' earthy sweetness, and I can work on the rest of the meal while this cooks." —Eva Worden, Worden Farm, Punta Gorda, FL

Latkes combine an ingredient and a technique that have gone together very well for centuries: potatoes and frying. This variation on a traditional crisp potato pancake is enhanced with the addition of carrots, which add a hit of earthy sweetness. For more seasonal recipes, download the free Gourmet Live app and stay tuned to the Gourmet Live blog for the latest updates.

Tender and succulent, this red wine-braised beef stew is the ultimate one-pot meal, loaded with tender potatoes and carrots. Don't forget to bring over a loaf of crusty French bread for sopping up the rich sauce.

Chef Cathal Armstrong of Restaurant Eve in Alexandria, Virginia, shared this recipe as part of a St. Patrick's Day feast he created exclusively for Epicurious. Armstrong suggests serving a Rhône-style wine such as Syrah or Grenache with this full-flavored dish.

Roasted potatoes are good and all, but a roasted root vegetable medley is just as easy to make and a little bit fancy too. Substitute any root vegetable, including starchy potatoes, turnip, parsnip, celery root, or rutabaga. While the veggies are roasting, toss a garlic bulb or two into the pan at about the 30-minute mark—the result: easy, creamy garlic! Yum.

Make this rich stew on a leisurely weekend. You’ll probably get a good three meals out of it, if you follow some of the suggestions below. When buying stew meat at a supermarket, you don’t always know what you are getting, so ask the butcher. If it’s a lean meat, it will need less time cooking (in fact, it will be ruined if you cook it too long), but the fattier cuts can benefit from at least another half hour.

All sorts of neglected or leftover vegetable bits can be transformed into these lovely, lacy-crisp, colorful tempura pancakes.

Chef Grossman whips up this drink to "cleanse and recharge." Be sure to pick firm pears because soft ones may clog the juicer.

The technique: Roasting is as basic as baking something uncovered, but this simple process does something magical to vegetables.
The payoff: Roasting caramelizes the sugars and creates veggies that are browned on the outside and tender on the inside.