Recipe Sifter

Italian-style quiche bakes a tomato-oregano custard in a pie shell with black olives, sauteed mushrooms, and Swiss or mozzarella cheese. Pizza-meets-quiche brunch dish that puffs golden in the oven.

Pan-seared salmon with an herb crust, cumin-coriander yogurt crema and smoky chipotle salsa. Restaurant-style plated fish with bold Mexican-inspired flavors.

Roasted potato and surimi salad: red potatoes roasted hot with garlic, then tossed with imitation crab, hard-boiled eggs, and a dilled mayo-yogurt dressing. A lighter upgrade to classic potato salad.

A chilled shrimp and vermicelli salad loaded with peas, green onions, dill pickles, hard-boiled eggs, and bell pepper in a tangy sour cream and mustard dressing. A hearty make-ahead salad that feeds a crowd.

Greek baked rabbit (lagos kounelli fournou) marinated for days in red wine and herbs, then slow-braised in a tomato-wine sauce warmed with allspice. A rustic, fall-off-the-bone game dish from the Greek countryside.

Drunken leeks braised in red wine with garlic, finished with a splash of red wine vinegar and fresh parsley. A simple, elegant side dish ready in 30 minutes.

A rich shrimp quiche with mushrooms, two kinds of cheese, and a buttery press-in crust made from scratch. Creamy sour cream filling bakes up golden and custardy in about an hour.

Sole fillets rolled around leeks, parsley, and sun-dried tomatoes, then baked on a bed of parsley in white wine. A light, elegant fish dish with concentrated tomato flavor and no added fat.

Saffron-infused fisherman's soup with steamed halibut, red potatoes, tomatoes, and fennel seeds. The fish steams separately over the broth for flaky, perfectly cooked results.

Arkayagan abour is the Armenian royal meatball soup with tiny lamb-and-rice meatballs floated in a lemony egg-thickened broth. Light yet deeply savory, finished with parsley.

Old-fashioned white bean soup with navy beans and ham hock simmered low and slow with celery, onion, garlic, and parsley. Thick, hearty, and filling.

Potato salad with smoked turkey, artichoke hearts, and green olives in a cumin-spiked lemon-garlic vinaigrette. A mayo-free, Mediterranean-inspired picnic salad.

Onion and tomato tart with anchovies bakes caramelized onions, tomatoes, briny anchovies, and Nicoise olives on a thin yeasted crust. The Provençal pissaladière at home.

Spicy jalapeno pesto with fresh basil, parsley, pine nuts, and garlic. A no-cook, no-cheese pesto with a kick of green heat that's ready in 5 minutes flat.

A slow-simmered minestrone built on beef bone and ham hock broth with kidney beans, broken lasagna noodles, cabbage, and crumbled blue cheese. Rich, meaty, and deeply satisfying.

Lemons are available year round with a peak season in the summer. Choose specimens that are firm, smooth, brightly colored, heavy for their size, and devoid of any blemishes or green splotches, a sign of underripeness.