Leafy Greens

This slaw is a delightful companion to spicy dishes, veggie burgers, and bean dishes. It’s festive enough to serve with more elaborate meals and at holiday celebrations.

Cabbage and corn kernels are a salad marriage made in heaven.

With a generous portion of tofu, this soup is perfect to team with a light noodle dish.

If you find yourself with too much lettuce and some leftover rice, here’s a great way to use both.

Classic, old-school New Orleans flavor, slightly updated. Because of the expense of the oysters, these are better for smaller crowds, 10 to 12 people max.

Opposites definitely attract: The slightly bitter endive married with the sweet cantaloupe. It’s a perfect summer dish and incredibly easy … what more do you want?

The black olive and watermelon are a perfect salty-sweet yin-yang that goes great with the grilled salmon. This is a very crisp, refreshing dish for a summer cookout—like a cool drink of water. This vinaigrette is good on almost anything, so save any that is left over and use it within the week.

The key to success with this sandwich is knowing which way to slice the flank steak: against the grain of the muscle fibers. Hey, Philly never had it so good.

Pork roasts are perfect for picnics. One dish and you’re set—all you need to do is slice it and serve it (with a dollop of slaw on the side, of course). Leftovers, if there are any, make a dynamite wrap the next day. Brine the pork roast the morning you plan to serve it for dinner. The meat needs a good 6 hours to break down. Do not let it soak overnight or the pork gets too mushy. The result is the most tender pork on the planet. Serve with Corn Roasted in Its Own Jacket (page 265) if you wish.

These pork dumplings can also be served by themselves without the soup. Just steam them instead of boiling them in the broth. You will have leftover filling, so you can make it once and serve it twice.

This is what I like to call a fancy schmancy dish, but it’s so easy to do and you can make it a day ahead. You will need a springform pan.

This is basically a classy open-faced pizza.

Salads are quick and painless to throw together on a work night, and you won’t feel like you’ll have to do double time at the gym the next day. If you’re on your own, this is also a speedy and healthy dinner for one: Just use one tuna steak and a few less vegetables. The colors of this sophisticated and simple salad really pop. I like hothouse cucumbers because they have minimal seeds and tender skin. The mustard packets that you get from Chinese takeout are really put to good use in this Asian vinaigrette.

Hong Kong is a truly eye-popping place for a food lover. The dai pai dong (food stalls) around Stanley Street on Hong Kong Island are full of noodle shops, fishmongers, live chickens, and a dazzling display of the strangest produce I have ever seen. The whole place smells like ginger and fresh coriander—I had a blast. When I got back to New York I was playing around with some of the flavors that I had experienced and came up with these crab cakes. Although crab cakes are not exactly Chinese, the flavors are pure Hong Kong. These crab cakes can easily be prepared ahead of time. Serve with Perfect Steamed Jasmine Rice (page 240).

Avoid using a salad spinner to wash and dry the arugula—the leaves bruise easily. Instead, dunk them in a sink of cool water and lift them into a colander. Pat dry with a kitchen towel. Simple salt and pepper will form a crust on the steaks when you sear them. I don’t normally serve anything else with this warm steak salad except the rest of the bottle of Cabernet used in the vinaigrette recipe.