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You need a palate-cleansing salad to balance the rich pork and hearty sides: This is it.

For a beautiful, almost bone-white soup, don't let the leeks and onion take on any color as they soften.

Parmesan crisps turn this simple fall salad into something extra-special.

Broiled shallot, leek, and scallions deliver a triple-onion punch to this creamy dip.

"Because it's cheese! And nuts! In ball form! Best of all, it's infinitely riffable, as these recipes demonstrate. Hurrah, freedom! Hurrah, cheese balls!"

Set this up in advance and serve it at room temperature. The cheese will be soft enough to scoop with a cracker-and will taste better, too.

The keys to achieving razor-edged triangles: Let the sandwiches cool slightly, then slice with a serrated knife.

For a dish that's easy to eat (and still has that classic barbeque-shrimp presentation), peel the shrimp, leaving the heads and tails on, before adding them to the sauce. If you leave the shrimp out, then you have a great New Orleans barbeque sauce recipe. Try substituting poached oysters for the shrimp.

If you can't find both red and yellow beets, just use all of one or the other, and pickle everything in one bowl. The pickles keep, refrigerated in an airtight container, for up to 2 weeks, making them perfect for snacking with holiday leftovers.

The popular side makes a great toast topper.

To give this velvety vegan soup a tiny bit of crunch and extra visual appeal, chia seeds are stirred in after the soup is pureed.

Chipotle aioli and sushi-grade tuna crown these modern tostadas, which come from Contramar, a lauded Mexico City seafood restaurant.

Telmo grew up in a Mexican neighborhood in San Jose, California. On warm evenings, he could be found at a busy roadside seafood joint called La Costa spooning up refreshing bites of coctel de camarón, or "shrimp cocktail." Served in a tall Styrofoam cup, the La Costa cocktail combines a sweet (but not cloying), tangy, and spicy tomato-based sauce, briny poached shrimp, avocado, cucumber, and pico de gallo, all topped with some shakes of a salsa picante and served with tostadas or saltine crackers. Our version is made with roasted fresh tomatoes instead of the traditional ketchup to brighten it up. The resulting sauce is more like a gazpacho than the typical country club-style cocktail sauce. The cocktail can be assembled a couple of hours ahead of time, but not too far in advance, as the shrimp becomes rubbery if left in the lime juice for too long. To make this shrimp cocktail into easy party fare, spoon it onto small store-bought tostadas, garnish with a little cilantro, and serve.

The best thing about making ranch from scratch? If you like a more garlicky or more herby ranch, the choice is yours to adjust the recipe accordingly.

Fleer's family enjoys indoor picnics with brandade (made here with a shortcut: smoked trout) and storebought fixings. "We just sit on the floor and chat and chew," he says.

Used in place of mayonnaise, yogurt brings tang and brightness to these crostini.

Charred to a crisp: Not a statement usually associated with salads, but delicious nonetheless in this Mexican-inspired romaine number.

Zucchini may not be the most loved vegetable, but when shallow-fried into patties, even kids will go crazy for them.