Q: I recently had some delicious shishito peppers at a restaurant and I want to try and make some myself. Does anyone have ideas about how to prepare them? Or suggestions for what they might go well with?

Sent by Madeleine

When I see cabbage at the market, I think about it in one of two ways: coleslaw in the warmer months or braised red cabbage in the cooler months. Sometimes I'll make an Asian-type salad with peanut dressing that veers from this, but generally I sit pretty reliably in the two camps. This week, Mark Bittman set me straight. There is, indeed, a whole other world of cabbage that goes far beyond braising and chopping it for slaw. More

Avocado. Fried eggs. Pizza dough. I probably don't have to tell you that combining three of the world's greatest foods gives you one fine breakfast: a warm round of chewy crust topped with a bright, cilantro-speckled avocado mash and the perfect oozy egg.

I think there are levels of salad dressing mastery. It begins when you stop buying store-bought bottles of vinaigrette in favor of making your own. (This took me some years to really get right!) Then comes dabbling with citrus juice, a shallot or two, maybe even a few attempts at homemade blue cheese dressing. But beyond these levels and sitting atop of the salad dressing food chain (if there is such a thing) is a nutty brown butter dressing. Butter on a salad? Oh yes — hear me out! More

Eggplants were on sale at the market this week, so I picked one up and challenged myself to do something other than fry it. Since fried eggplant is so delicious in dishes like Eggplant Parmesan, I think it tends to be my easy go-to answer. I had something else in mind this time: an afternoon snack with a quick, delicious tahini dip that would carry us through until dinner. More

I taught a whole grain breakfast class in Seattle a few weeks ago, and my favorite dish of the morning surprised me. Was it the more elaborate kale quiche? How about the seasonal baked risotto topped with toasty hazelnuts? Those were all great, but the star of that morning for me was actually a humble pot of morning barley. I left class thinking, "It's about time barley got its day in the spotlight!" More

The cold mid-winter weather always brings out my nesting side. I gravitate towards anything that'll make me feel warm and cozy: hot coffee, nourishing soups, warm bread and butter. But this time of year I'm still trying — trying, not always succeeding — to keep things light. (December was pretty indulgent!) Enter this delicious sweet potato ravioli from Laura of The First Mess. It hits all the right notes: creamy, filling, comforting, and all without using any dairy. More

I recently began testing a quiche recipe for an upcoming whole grains breakfast class I'm teaching here in Seattle. I'd made the recipe once before many months ago, but I wanted to test it again to refresh my memory before getting in front of a room of students. Back then, I'd written the recipe to call for shallots, but when I went to pick up the ingredients last week, two grocery stores in a row were out, so I buckled and bought a white onion instead. Was the result the same? More

Poor, unglamorous cabbage. It doesn't get all the cool-kid attention that kale does, even though it's just as dependable during the dark days of winter, and with its mild sweetness and amazing versatility, maybe even easier to love. These 10 recipes are a reminder of how adaptable and tasty cabbage can be, whether served shredded in an addictive peanut-dressed slaw, stuffed into sausage sandwiches or simmered quickly with yogurt in an Indian-style curry. More

For as long as I can remember I've loved broccoli. It went with about everything...steak, chicken stir-fry, pasta, or even turkey and dressing. My mom didn't have to remind me to eat my veggies when broccoli was on the plate, and to this day, I'll eat right through a big bowl of it. Not everyone has a love affair with vegetables though. For those less enthused about nature's catch of the day, here's a quick stove-top method for turning almost any vegetable into a dynamite weeknight side dish. More