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Salmon is something so healthy that we just had to put mayonnaise on it. The lemon mayo gives it a great zesty flavor and oomph—it keeps the fish moist, too. Our lettuce and cucumber salad is a perfect match for this light dish.

If you’ve ever had Frito pie down South, then you know where we’re coming from here. This creamy turkey casserole, topped with a crispy layer of melted cheese and crushed corn chips, is the kind of thing that can make grown men cry on Super Bowl Sunday. Bobby loves to serve this with a side of crunchy, garlicky broccoli.

Can you guess how many turkey-bean burgers we ate when we were growing up? Zero! We’re big beef burger fans and we could eat a burger every few nights if we let ourselves. So every now and then, we lighten things up with turkey and black beans in this Mexican-inspired twist on a traditional burger. It’s about as healthy a burger as you could ask for, and it’s a real crowd-pleaser, too—even little Jack likes it! And since we usually serve this burger without the bun, we like to make our corn bread to go with it.

This is our Granny Paul’s recipe for fried chicken, and it’s as simple a taste of Southern home cooking as there ever could be. Serve it with collard greens and some mashed potatoes, and before you know it you’ll be whistlin’ “Dixie.” And you don’t need to save this meal for Sunday suppers—if you’re short on time, just skip the refrigeration and season the chicken right before you fry it to have yourself a down-home after-work treat.

Coating chicken with mayonnaise and spices before you bake it not only makes for a beautifully browned outside, it also helps bring out the flavor of your seasonings. We use the same technique for our beer-in-the-rear whole chicken on the grill. But chicken breasts cook up faster, and this preparation couldn’t be simpler.

Serve this lean, veggie-heavy stir-fry with white rice to sop up the delicious Tabasco-spiked soy sauce.

We can get behind any recipe with peanut butter in it! This savory dish, with just a hint of fiery red pepper flakes, is a nod to our favorite Thai take-out dish from Kao Thai in Savannah. Best of all, it’s based on ingredients you probably already have in the house.

Baking chicken on top of zucchini is a great way to get your green vegetables in. The zucchini absorbs all the chicken and herb flavors in the pan and winds up tasting a whole lot better than any vegetable really should. We love to bake chicken pieces with a slice of lemon on top because the lemon browns right along with the chicken skin and adds a nice zesty flavor.

Drumsticks are always our favorite, but Mama always likes the thighs, so we make it so that everyone can get what they want. Rosemary really complements the new red potatoes and gives them a hearty garden flavor, and using dark meat keeps the dish juicy. We love this with a light side salad like our crunchy iceberg lettuce salad with blue cheese.

We try to eat a healthy, balanced diet, but you know Paula Deen’s boys have a taste for rich, creamy sauces. One of our favorite foods in a jar is Alfredo sauce, and it’s the perfect base for the world’s fastest chicken and pasta casserole. We throw in peas for a little green color, and add a nice tomato salad to get our veggies in.

We perfected making honey mustard during the early days at The Lady & Sons, where it’s served mostly on the side as a condiment, or as a dipping sauce for the kids’ menu (see The Lady & Sons Honey Mustard Sauce, page 159). At home, we throw store-bought honey mustard in with chicken for this family-pleasing dish that’s a little sweet on the outside and nice and juicy inside. Warm macaroni and mozzarella salad is a nice complement to the chicken.

Southern cooks love to serve Swiss steak—a dish made with a tougher cut of beef that’s been pounded and braised with enough red sauce that it becomes so tender you can eat it without a knife. And that’s where the idea for this dish came from—pork chops cooked in marinara sauce and topped with cheese. We like to serve the chops with a bowl of egg noodles tossed with butter and chopped fresh parsley or with our Garlic Mashed Potatoes (page 21)—anything to soak up some of the delicious sauce.

In his late twenties, Jamie spent a lot of time eating at his favorite pizza place in Savannah, called Cousin Vinny’s. He became obsessed with their pesto pizza, which uses savory basil sauce in place of the usual tomato. We don’t eat quite as much pizza these days, but we do keep pesto in our freezers for whenever we want fresh garlic and basil flavor. Try tossing pesto with cherry tomatoes and leftover grilled chicken and serve it on top of greens for a main-course salad, or make this easy, healthy recipe, which takes about fifteen minutes and looks as good as it tastes. For a little decadence, try serving it with Cheesy Garlic Bread (page 102).

We hadn’t had Mama’s pork chops and rice bake in years when Bobby—who is on a pork chop kick—decided it was worth reviving. We brown the chops like Mama taught us, to give them a really rich flavor and seal in the juices. Then we smother them in cheese, which is our own addition to Mama’s classic recipe, and bake them with cream of chicken soup and rice for one of the most luscious one-pot suppers ever. We make a version of this at The Lady & Sons, where it’s a real crowd-pleaser.

We do so many pork chops at home and at The Lady & Sons these days because they’re fast—you can make as many as you need—and they’re a good change from red meat or chicken. This recipe is a really nice way to enjoy them. Orange marmalade gives them a sweetness that’s perfect for adding a little zest to your meal.

We’re big fans of pork tenderloin because it cooks pretty fast and you don’t need to do much to it for it to come out meaty, satisfying, lean, and juicy all at once. Here the pork is a little sweet from the apple cider and tangy from apple cider vinegar. Roast some sweet potatoes and make a salad while the pork is cooking, and you’ve got a beautiful meal for the family or for company.

We love how crisp and tasty the ingredients in this dish turn out when you stir-fry them. Stir-frying is a great way to make a healthy meal. And using fresh ginger adds an irresistible kick—as well as an aroma that will call everybody to the table. Put on a pot of white rice as you start cooking, and dinner will be as fast as it is flavorful.

London broil is a great, affordable way to serve steak to a crowd, and it’s nice and thick, which makes it our favorite cut for grilling or for a sandwich the next day. Or you can slice leftovers, throw them in a pan, and make the world’s best steak and eggs for breakfast. We brush the meat with balsamic vinegar, then broil it for a tangy-sweet glaze. You’ll be amazed how many compliments you can get from such a simple recipe.

As kids growing up, we always loved Mama’s tasty “hobo” dinners. Super easy to make—she would just throw everything together in an aluminum foil packet—and easy on the wallet, these complete meals in a pouch were on the table each and every week. To dress up these humble-as-a-hobo meals for company, try adding baby carrots, fennel, and other root vegetables, along with some nice ground sirloin. The aluminum foil seals in all the flavor of the ingredients and makes the sacks—fancy or simple—even more delicious than they ought to be. And though they are a whole meal in themselves, we love to serve them with our Moist-and-Easy Corn Bread (page 45).

There’s just something about layers of ground beef, salsa, tortilla chips, sour cream, and cheddar cheese that appeals to the soul—at least when your mama has been making seven-layer salads and dips for as long as you can remember. Mexican flavors are particularly popular for parties—Brooke is definitely a big fan of them—but this dish is quick enough to fix for a fun weeknight fiesta, too. You can use up the broken bottom-of-the-bag tortilla chips for this meal, and you don’t need a side dish other than a little guacamole for dipping the extra chips in.