Recipe Sifter

Pork and apple salad for two with toasted almonds, grapes, and a curried soy-mayo dressing. A quick, elegant lunch salad that uses leftover cooked pork or chicken.

Plum-almond tart on puff pastry with toasted almonds, fresh sliced plums, lemon zest, and a built-up pastry border. Uses store-bought puff pastry for an elegant dessert in 40 minutes.

Flourless chocolate cake made with four kinds of nuts, bittersweet chocolate, and citrus zest, served with honey-glazed grilled orange sections. A Sephardic-inspired dessert.

Pumpkin and mozzarella lasagne layered with sage-spiced pumpkin mash, melted mozzarella and Parmesan, topped with chive sour cream and toasted flaked almonds. A vegetarian autumn lasagne with no red sauce.

French pear tart with almond frangipane, kirsch-soaked apricot glaze, and vanilla-poached pears. Crushed macaroons fold into the pastry cream for chewy depth, finished with green pistachios.

Moroccan fish couscous: halibut poached in a golden onion t'faya sweetened with raisins and deeply spiced with saffron, ginger, turmeric, and cinnamon. Served over whole wheat couscous with toasted almonds.

Silky apricot cheese dip with cream cheese, sour cream, apricot preserves, brandy, and almonds. A sweet, creamy no-cook dip for vanilla wafers and pound cake cubes.

Buttery shortbread base topped with a honey-almond caramel, double-baked into golden bars and cut while still warm. Crisp underneath, chewy on top.

Ham mousse with peaches, a savory baked custard of ground ham, eggs, cream, Dijon mustard, and port wine, unmolded and garnished with fresh peaches, pickled watermelon rind, and almonds.

Chicken Hawaiian with pineapple tidbits, cream of chicken soup, soy sauce, and green pepper served over rice and topped with butter-toasted slivered almonds.

Buttery snowball cookies with ground almonds, walnuts, and hazelnuts rolled in powdered sugar. A melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookie also known as Mexican wedding cookies.

Varicose Veins on a Leaf is a creepy Halloween appetizer with French-style green beans dyed red to look like veins, arranged on lettuce leaves with sliced almond bones. Spooky, edible, fun.

French meringue strips with a buttery shortbread base topped with vanilla meringue, cinnamon sugar, and chopped almonds. Elegant bar cookies that yield 8 dozen.

Seared chicken breast with Mexican ancho mole-orange sauce served alongside okra rice with wild rice, almonds, and cilantro-yogurt finish. Layered weeknight dinner.

Honey-nut ladder loaf bread made in just 60 minutes with rapid-rise yeast. A braided bread filled with almonds, raisins, coconut, honey, and cinnamon.

These sweet and delicious cakes are filled with slivered almonds, honey and mixed candied fruit.