30 Minutes or Less

Successful whipped cream means starting with the best-tasting, freshest cream you can find. Buy heavy or whipping cream that hasn’t been ultrapasteurized, if you can. Before you start whipping, make sure your cream is very cold. If you chill the bowl and whisk beforehand, the cream will whip much faster, which is especially important in warmer weather.

This decadently thick sauce is perfect if you’re nostalgic for the incredibly thick hot fudge sauce served in old-fashioned ice cream parlors, many of which are disappearing. I was inspired to use airy marshmallows (which hopefully won’t be disappearing anytime soon) as a foundation by the sauce served at Edy’s, a well-loved ice cream fountain in Berkeley, California, that (sadly) no longer exists.Warning: This sauce is very, very thick!

This sauce is easy to put together and is lovely served with any of the dark chocolate ice creams or sorbets in this book. I appreciate it for its creamy sweetness, and it rarely fails to impress. Be sure to use top-quality, real white chocolate, which is actually ivory colored, due to an abundance of pure cocoa butter.

This is my favorite all-purpose chocolate sauce. Although the name says lean, it tastes anything but. It’s a wonderful alternative to richer chocolate sauces spiked with cream or butter, and gets its flavor from lots of chocolate and cocoa powder (an important reason to use the best you can find). This sauce gets gloriously thicker the longer it sits, which I find makes a reasonable excuse for keeping a batch on hand in the refrigerator at all times.

This sauce is very rich and very thick. If you prefer your hot fudge on the sweeter side, this is the one for you.

A chef once asked me if all pastry chefs were crazy. To be honest, we do have that reputation, since many of us are indeed crazed perfectionists. If we get something in our minds, we’re not satisfied until it’s just right. When I imagined the perfect hot fudge sauce, I envisioned it being gooey, shiny, silky smooth, and full of deep, dark chocolate flavor. So I tinkered around until I came up with the perfect version of this sauce.

A rich, dark honey color, this tart-sweet-savory sauce does not resemble the cloying, sticky, bright red sauce that’s often served at Chinese restaurants. You can whip it up quickly to enjoy with snacks such as fried wontons. For spicy tropical flair, use unsweetened pineapple juice instead of water and include 2 teaspoons of minced ginger and a chopped Thai chile with the other seasoning at the beginning.

Miso is a fermented soybean paste, and is, well, the namesake ingredient behind miso soup. It is available in most natural foods stores and certainly in Asian supermarkets. Look for it in the refrigerated section near the tofu. Serve alongside steamed rice and vegetables for a spicy, sensible meal.

I created this cookie recipe as a way to sneak some veggies into my daughter Sofia’s diet when she went through the “I’m not eating any vegetables” stage. She loved them then and still adores them, zucchini and all. These moist, soft cookies are low-fat, high fiber, and a perfect not-too-sweet treat. They also freeze well.

These irresistible cookies are so versatile. For something special, fill them with peanut butter and juice-sweetened jam to make a cookie sandwich. Dip half the sandwich in chocolate ganache and place on waxed paper–lined baking sheets to firm up the chocolate. There’s only one word for this—outrageous.

These muffins are loaded with good-for-you veggies, fruits, and seeds—and they’re vegan, too. The silken tofu replaces the dairy and eggs, and adds moistness and protein for a tasty breakfast or afternoon snack.

I keep a batch of these low-fat muffins in my freezer at all times. They stand in as cupcakes when my daughter, Sofia, asks, “What’s for dessert?” For a quick and easy low-fat frosting, spread a little Greek-style yogurt over the top, drizzle with agave nectar, and add a sprinkle of cinnamon. Perfect!

This recipe is a little like karaoke: not exactly the original, but still a a lot of fun, and without all the production. One of my fondest kitchen memories is making the dessert or sweet topping that the French call sabayon and the Italians call zabaglione. A combination of whisked egg yolks, marsala wine, and sugar, it’s a high-wire act that has to go right from the heat to the plate. Get it right, and it’s a froth of pure delight. Put it under the flame for a few seconds too long, and you’re toast. This immensely more healthful version, which features mango and coconut, provides a similarly flavorful lightness, minus the need for perfectly timed kitchen pyrotechnics. It’s great alone, or serve it drizzled over berries or rice pudding.

Like the Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette, this recipe works wonderfully with salads or as a quick way to dress up fish or meat. The lemon kick makes this a great partner for My Family’s Favorite Chicken (page 111).

The flavors in this wonderful chutney make it a good choice for brightening just about any dish.

A lot of people wonder why adding healthy items like flaxseeds to a decent-tasting smoothie destroys the taste. The answer is that the smoothie recipe didn’t take into account the items you’d want to add. The normal fix is to add a ton of sweetener, but I don’t agree with that approach, especially in recipes for cancer patients. But the berry blast of this smoothie plays well with the vital flax and whey. The abundant antioxidants make this smoothie one for the books.

Sometimes I think that if we could get cars to run off almonds, you wouldn’t need more than a handful to go from San Francisco to L.A. Yeah, they have that much energy—twenty nuts are more than enough to get most people I know through a hunger rush—and they’re nutrient dense, so the body can put every calorie to work. It’s really easy to prep up a whole bunch of these; all it takes is a little olive oil, some seasoning, and a few minutes in the oven and they’re ready to rock. I often tell my clients to leave little bowls of these around the house so they’re constantly tempted to grab a healthy nibble.

Sometimes I feel like the United Nations is meeting in my kitchen. This time around it’s India and Lebanon at the table. It sounds exotic, but this is really just a nice, simple hummus (that’s the Lebanese part) with a zingy curry buzz (hello, Sri Lanka). Chickpeas are rich in protein and essential amino acids for keeping the body strong, while the sesame seeds in the tahini have high levels of anticancer phytochemicals; and since the seeds are ground into a paste, they’re easy to digest.

Wasabi is rich in chemicals that some studies show cause cancer cells to starve. The combination of wasabi and ginger might be a bit much for those with swallowing difficulties, but for everyone else this dip’s creamy coolness makes it perfect for slathering on rice crackers or dipping veggies into, especially jicama.

This salad was inspired by one of those gorgeous, colorful Bollywood flicks that offer a feast of singing, dancing, and romance. I love Indian food, as it was my first real introduction to all things curry. Only much later did I learn that turmeric, a typical spice in curries that gives them a yellow tint, has tremendous antitumor and anti-inflammatory properties. And to think, I loved it just for its taste! Here, I was hankering for a swirl of flavors with an Indian feel. The chicken makes a great starting point because it’s full of protein and amenable to all sorts of accessorizing. In this case, the mango and raisins play delightfully off the curry spices.