Side

Think beyond the salad bowl: Cooking escarole tempers its slight bitterness; pine nuts are a mellow complement.

Inspired by an antipasto that's popular at New York City's Lupa, this substantial salad takes a hearty, rich green that's usually cooked and proves how delicious it can be when served raw.

Versatile store-bought polenta, turned cheesy with mascarpone and Parmigiano, is the simplest way we know to make cornmeal mush sexy.

The recipe and introductory text below are from Alex Jamieson's book, The Great American Detox Diet.

A perfect balance of sweet, savory, soft, and crunchy.

The colors are pale, but the flavors in this winter mix are vivid and fresh.

It is said that eating Hoppin' John on New Year's Day will bring good luck. Here's a fresh take on the southern dish traditionally made with salt pork (we've subbed in andouille sausage) and served over rice.

Elena slow–cooks her polenta the traditional way, which can be a soul–satisfying experience if you set aside the time. When polenta is cooked properly, each grain of cornmeal slowly absorbs the liquid until it swells, becoming perfectly tender and seeming to disappear within the whole.

•Ragù can be made 1 day ahead and cooled completely, uncovered, then chilled, covered.
•Ragù can be made with 1 1/2 pounds boneless veal shoulder, cut into 1–inch pieces, in a 6–quart wide heavy pot. Add veal to pot in place of rabbit and, after cooking until no longer pink on outside, add 4 cups water and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced to about 1 cup and veal is very tender, about 10 hours. Proceed with recipe.

>Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are adapted from Floyd Cardoz's book, One Spice, Two Spice. The dish is also part of a special menu Chef Cardoz created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program. I first visited Kashmir, up in the mountains of northern India, when I was in my late teens, and the food made a huge impression. Although the cuisine is most famous for its meat dishes and Persian-inspired rice pilafs, the treatment of greens is exceptional as well. In Kashmir, this dish is made with kohlrabi greens in season, but it is equally delicious when made with any hearty braising greens such as collards, chard (the colored varieties are very pretty), mustard greens, and/or turnip greens. Bok choy and pea shoots are good additions to the mix.

Cracked wheat, or bulgur, has a nutty, sweet taste that I love. In India, it's eaten with milk and sugar for dessert, but I like to serve it as a savory pilaf. I use chicken stock for added richness and flavor, but you can substitute vegetable stock if you want to. And, depending on what else you are serving with the pilaf, feel free to embellish with chopped fresh chiles, cilantro, and/or mint.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Seasoned in the South by Bill Smith, the chef at Crook's Corner in Chapel Hill. Throughout the South, collards are a traditional New Year's Day dish — because their flat, green leaves resemble dollar bills, collards are said to bring monetary fortune in the new year. Hardly a workday passes that I don't eat at least a spoonful of collards. I never grow tired of them. I also love to drink their broth and to pour the broth over rice. My great-grandmother used to say that this "pot liquor" was like medicine. She also said that eating collards was how poor people survived the Depression, because collards will grow almost anywhere under almost any conditions and are very nourishing. People would plant them in their yards back then, and they still do. Essentially all you do to collards is boil them for a long time with salt. At Crook's I almost always have a ham bone to add. Most butcher shops and meat departments will have some sort of ham bone or ham hocks for sale.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from The Glory of Southern Cooking by James Villas. As Villas explains, hoppin' John is eaten on New Year's Day because black-eyed peas look like coins and are considered lucky. Wanna know why this age-old dish of black-eyed peas and rice is eaten all over the South on New Year's Day to bring good luck? Because the peas look like little coins that swell when cooked, that's why. (Some say for ultimate success and prosperity, you should eat exactly 365 peas.) Stories abound about the obscure origins of the name hoppin' John, one being that, in antebellum days, a certain lame black cook named John hopped about a plantation kitchen on one leg while preparing the dish. Of course, the debate rages from region to region over the correct approaches to hoppin' John. Must the peas be served with rice? Should they actually be cooked with rice? Are tomatoes a key ingredient, and if so, should they be stewed and spooned over the peas and rice or simply chopped raw over the top? Should the peas be cooked till they're almost mushy or just al dente? Herbs added? Everything cooked in a saucepan or cast–iron skillet? Here's the way I do hoppin' John, which is wonderful with baked spareribs or braised country ham or chitlins — or anything else you can think of.

Serve with roast pork or cottage cheese.

This creamy-crispy take on mashed potatoes, similar to a giant latke, is ideal for a dinner party because it can be assembled ahead.

With different hues of orange and gold, this dish makes a great holiday side.