Seafood

Serve this dish with toasted bread to soak up the juices. To debeard the mussels, grab the beard with a kitchen towel for a better grip.

A twist on ratatouille, this beautifully constructed casserole swaps out tomatoes for sweet potatoes.

Frazzled? Feast on fish! Tuna is high in vitamin B12, which stimulates the brain's production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps you relax.

Bengali Dahi Maach Tender pieces of tilapia are marinated with caraway seeds, turmeric, and cayenne pepper and then pan-fried until crisp and golden brown. The dish is finished with a yogurt curry enhanced by the spicy flavor of mustard seeds. The result is a great mixture of flavors and textures, and a simple way to prepare versatile tilapia.

At Peels in New York City, chefs Preston and Ginger Madson tweak this Low Country favorite with two secret ingredients: a little Budweiser and a lot of tasso, a Cajun-spiced ham, which you'll find at specialty foods stores and cajungrocer.com. You can sub in andouille sausage if tasso is not available.

For all the robustness of the ingredients of this dish, the end result is notably delicate. One might ask, "Oh, but won't the bracing scent of pine make the dish taste of Christmas fir or, worse, freshly waxed parlor?" It will not. The smoked needles impart a light, balsamic flavor akin to rosemary (indeed one might substitute a bundle of that herb in this recipe), and the light glaze allows the pine flavor to shine through. The overall effect proves an excellent complement to the moist, flaky fish this cooking technique yields. Should one desire a more intensely flavored glaze, one might make a bit extra to brush over the fish before serving.

A saganaki is a traditional two-handled skillet in which Greeks serve aromatic one-pot dishes, typically topped with cheese. This recipe is a play on the classic shrimp and feta saganaki, to which I have added millet for a deliciously satisfying meal, finished with a dash of ouzo to infuse the shrimp with its distinctive anise flavor. A Dutch oven doubles beautifully as a serving vessel, or transfer the cooked millet to a shallow serving bowl and top the ouzo-infused shrimp.

Strawberries are a gem at the gym. Their vitamin C helps you melt up to 30 percent more fat during exercise.

Watermelon is a heart-health heavyweight. It has about twice as much ticker-protecting lycopene as tomatoes do.

The Seattle Mariners serve tuna "Ichirolls" in honor of all-star Ichiro Suzuki.

An aromatic broth of garlic, scallions, and ginger infuses the fish and helps keep it incredibly moist.

This soup is equally delicious served hot or chilled.

Serve this no-frills feast with cold beer and bowls of melted butter and steaming broth for dipping. The broth cleans the clams, particularly steamers, of any stubborn grains of sand. To serve 4, halve the recipe and divide ingredients equally between two large (8-10 quart) pots.

Crab cakes are so popular in Baltimore, they're even sold at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Use lettuce instead of a bun, and serve with a squeeze of lemon.

Sometimes we forget that there is more to Mexican food than our favorite enchiladas and puffy tacos. In fact, there are many specialty seafood dishes throughout the country, varying in style and preparation, yet equally delicious. Veracruz is a central Mexican city on the Gulf of Mexico, and it’s where many Spanish conquistadors landed when first coming to the Americas. Here, culinary traditions began to meld—not only Spanish but also Mediterranean, French, and Caribbean. The result is Veracruzano—Veracruz style. We love serving our version of this dish over a bed of fluffy quinoa, which is an excellent vehicle for soaking up the delicious juices.

This dish has been a favorite at T. W. Graham & Co. for more than 30 years, due in no small part to the quality and freshness of the local crabmeat used.