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Use a variety of peppers to make this side dish colorful. Use leftovers to make sandwiches on fresh bread with spreadable goat cheese.

The eggplant is also great grilled. The yogurt sauce is my version of tahini.

The thing about hors d’oeuvres is that they should not only taste good, but they should look really cool, too. These do just that. You need espresso cups, sake cups, or fancy shot glasses for these. These “pea shooters” are great to make ahead and put together at the last minute. Drinking an hors d’oeuvre is the cool way to go!

Roasting brings out all the aromatics in this seasoning mix.

Roast chicken is a simple but perfect dish when convection roasted: the meat is juicy and the skin is brown and crisp. I reach for fresh herbs in the summertime or dried ones in the winter and a bit of butter, then slip them under the breast skin before baking. When there’s absolutely no time, I just put the chicken in the oven. Be sure to place the chicken on a rack above a shallow roasting pan for perfect air circulation. To turn this into a one-dish meal, add some vegetables—carrot chunks, potato cubes, onion wedges, fennel sticks, cut-up zucchini, or anything in season. Roast them in a single layer in a shallow baking pan beneath the chicken. Following this basic recipe, I give my favorite variations.

This is a simple and tasty way to grill boneless pork chops, and you can roast vegetables at the same time by placing them in a pan on the rack beneath the meat.

This is a festive roast for a holiday meal. Ask the butcher to prepare it so the chops can be cut into serving portions easily. Allow one to two chops per adult serving. Because the crown roast of pork is a very lean cut, it should be cooked to 160°F. It has a tendency to be oval rather than round because it is made from two pork loins trimmed and tied together. To improve the shape, I place a lightly oiled, heatproof glass jelly jar down into the center (described in step 3).

Leg of lamb is a traditional Easter and Passover dish, but it makes a wonderful company meal any time.

Boneless leg of lamb is versatile and easy to prepare. One of my favorite and easiest rubs for lamb combines the flavors of garlic and rosemary.

This is definitely a special-occasion cut of meat, but there is absolutely no better way to cook it than in the convection oven. Cooking time will be reduced by one-third to one-half to achieve the doneness you prefer. Use the probe that comes with your oven, or follow the timing and check doneness with a meat thermometer inserted into the roast or with an instant-read thermometer.

Roast beef tenderloin is a special-occasion meat even though it is about the simplest cut to prepare. Here’s the basic method plus a wonderful variation.

The rib eye is the prime rib of beef minus the bones. It is usually trimmed and tied. I prefer the roast taken from the small end of the loin. In the convection oven, the roast cooks in one-third to one-half the time it takes in a conventional oven. If your oven has a probe, use it for accurate timing.

Roasted garlic becomes sweet, losing the sharp pungency that makes raw garlic so powerful. You can spread roasted garlic like butter on bread or vegetables. Add it to soups, sauces, and dressings, or smear it onto a pizza. You can roast a number of whole heads at one time.

If you make this ahead of time, keep it refrigerated but bring it to room temperature before serving.

This is the definition of minimalist Thai cooking. The steam not only gently cooks the fish until just tender but also creates an instant, complex sauce from a handful of basic ingredients. Scoring the fish's flesh allows more of the flavor to season the fish and facilitates faster steaming. The fish is cooked on a plate that fits inside the steamer, to catch the juices.

To save yourself some chopping, look for bags of mixed, pre-cut braising greens, available at some supermarkets. (Buy spinach separately for the gremolata.) Serve with warm bread for a filling main course.

This one is Italy, pure and simple. Which is precisely what Italian cuisine is all about: Get yourself fresh, pure ingredients in season, plus some fine, real condiments and seasonings, and put it all together without a lot of fuss, and ecco! A simply superb meal, as healthy as they come and as good as eating gets. It's also beautiful on the plate. Note that scampi does not, in fact, mean shrimp, as many people think, but rather refers to the popular lemon, garlic, and oil preparation for shrimp in so many red-sauce Italian joints.

The acidity of the tomatillos beautifully balances the fat of the pork shoulder, so when serving the tacos there is no need for lime wedges. The onion and additional cilantro provide crunch and fragrance.

Gravlax, typically made with salmon, gets an aromatic twist with grapefruit zest and crushed green peppercorns. Plan to make this at least 3 days ahead to let the fish cure.