Gussied-Up Mashed Potatoes: Blake Royer mixes black Tuscan kale from his garden with creamy Yukon gold potatoes, a little warm milk, garlic, olive oil, and a sprinkle of Parmesan to create luxurious kale-flecked mashed potatoes.

Funky Chicken Dinner: Mustard-baked chicken with a pretzel crust is a simple, unique dish that would make for a fun dinner party when paired with a selection of beers.

A Frittata Fan is Born: Nick Kindelsperger tries his hand at making a frittata with corn, scallion, and potato. The result: a dish that is wonderful hot, even better cold, and completely worth the trouble.

Braised Beef from Shun Lee: The Chinese technique known as "red cooking" involves braising meat in a mixture of soy sauce, sherry, sugar, and spices until it is incredibly tender. Red-cooked beef short ribs are simmered with ginger, cinnamon, chilies, and star anise so that they are incredibly flavorful, too.

Chow Down on Chowder: "Most of us," Robin Bellinger says wisely, "could bear a few more healthy dinners that aren’t depressing or bland." Quinoa chowder with spinach, feta, and scallions is neither, just tasty, filling, and full of good stuff.

Crunchy Granola: My granola is a big hit at Serious eats HQ.