American

For a richer dressing, add half a cup of coconut milk and a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter to the dressing.

A beautiful-looking meal with a multitude of colors, flavors, and textures just right for hot weather and as a festive cold-weather treat as well.

Serve this right out of the pan for a quick home-style meal. Warm, at room temperature, or straight from the fridge, this omelet also makes a great sandwich with mayonnaise and tomato. (See photo)

In the Caribbean, red beans and rice are cooked together, but at Moosewood we like to ladle saucy red beans over a bed of fragrant coconut rice and garnish with a little greenery.

Black beans and rice with an interesting twist: fuchsia-colored pickled red onions. Make extra! They’re a flavorful condiment for sandwiches, soups, and salads, and they keep in the refrigerator for several weeks.

Inspired by a Southwestern Native American dish, this is a sunny, colorful stew of roasted vegetables in a hot and smoky mole-type sauce.

Whole wheat and spelt pastas have a pleasant, nutty flavor that stands up to the flavors in this sauce, but any kind of pasta is fine for this recipe.

The classic combination of chocolate cake, cherries, and cream found in the traditional Black Forest cake was our inspiration for this cream’wich. In the summertime, fresh cherries can be used in lieu of dried. As is true of all of our ice cream sandwiches, we advise that you make them at least a short while in advance of when you want to serve them. Otherwise, the ice cream tends to squeeze out the sides.

While we provide a meatloaf recipe here, we know how particular people are about their meatloaf recipes, so feel free to use your own. You’ll often want to make this sandwich with cold, leftover meatloaf, which is perfect because it’s easier to slice. But how to heat it up without drying it out? This is where the liquid from the tomato relish comes in: Put the meatloaf slices into the sauce and pop them into the microwave or oven. The meatloaf is gently heated, absorbing all the flavor and moisture of the sauce. Now just layer on some aged Cheddar, bacon, if you like, and the tomato relish, and you have a hearty sandwich—the ultimate comfort food.

This American classic is available at deli counters year-round, but at ’wichcraft, it’s a seasonal sandwich served only when local tomatoes are at their peak. For us, this is a tomato sandwich, with crisp bacon (be sure it’s good quality!) and Bibb lettuce serving almost as condiments. We use a thick slice of tomato, say 1/2 inch, well seasoned with sea salt, really good pepper, and even a little olive oil. This is one of the sandwiches for which architecture matters, so please pay attention to the assembly instructions. For a special kick, rub a peeled garlic clove over the bread before assembling. A mix of heirloom tomatoes is ideal, combining colors and tones, sweetness and acidity. Imagine a slice of red plum, a slice of green zebra, and a slice of German yellow: summer in a sandwich.

What could be better than a chocolate milkshake? A double chocolate milkshake made with premium chocolate ice cream and chocolate syrup. You can turn this into a malted by adding the malt powder or into a chocolate soda milkshake by adding a splash of seltzer water.

This is my take on my favorite frozen coffee drink from that endlessly popular coffee chain—you know the one. As with most things, the homemade version beats the store-bought hands down. Top yours with lots of freshly whipped cream and, if you are really looking for a jolt, a smattering of chocolate-covered espresso beans, and the mass-market variety doesn’t stand a chance.

This is the seasoning mixture that I use to flavor the Southwestern fries at my Mesa Grill restaurants. It’s not hot, just subtly spicy and earthy in taste. The fresh cilantro provides a bright touch of both color and flavor.

Who out there doesn’t love barbecue-flavored potato chips? Toss this seasoning blend with Homemade Potato Chips (page 98) or Perfect French Fries (page 86) to satisfy your craving at home.

Pickled onions such as these are most often used as a garnish for tacos, burritos, and guacamole in Mexican cuisine. I think they are just as delicious on most of the burgers in this book, and they add a level of intrigue that raw onion slices could never do. The fresh lime juice is essential for its fresh, clean flavor as well as its acidity. If you want to pump up the volume on flavor and add a bit of heat, try adding a few whole jalapeño or serrano chiles to the mix.

I love the spicy, vinegary punch of pickled jalapeño chiles. There’s no need to reserve these for nachos only; this pickle goes well with any Mexican- or Southwestern-inspired dish—and that includes burgers—that could use an acidic touch of heat. It’s simple to make your own, and I think you’ll find that the freshness of home-pickled jalapeños beats any jarred or canned supermarket version, hands down.

I created this barbecue sauce to top the Dallas and Cheyenne burgers (pages 37 and 39), but it’s also an ideal dipping sauce for Perfect French Fries (page 86). After you’ve made this quick and easy sauce once, you’ll want to slather it on grilled chicken, steak, pork chops . . . you might never go back to the bottled stuff.

Sometimes an onion ring is all about the sweet, tender onion, and sometimes the coating is given the chance to share the spotlight. Well, if you are looking for an onion ring that falls into the latter category, this is the one for you. Beer acts as a leavening agent, making for an extremely tender batter, and the deep malt flavor of dark beer makes this delicious to boot.

I never turn my nose up at potato chips out of a bag—what’s not to like? But there is something incredibly satisfying about making your own, and eating them when they are hot. Considering how easy homemade potato chips are to make, there’s no reason to deny yourself this pleasure. Just make sure that the potatoes are uniformly cut into thin slices and that you salt them as soon as they come out of the fryer. Now I like these chips just plain out of the fryer, but I love them dipped into warm, tangy, gooey Blue Cheese Sauce (page 110).