Nut

Bacon and maple are a classic combination. Here, the dynamic flavor duo teams up in a sweet-and-salty maple sauce studded with caramelized bacon. The sauce is spooned over ice cream and sprinkled with toasted pecans to create the ultimate sundae. Serve any leftover sauce with pancakes or waffles.

In this delicious dessert, tender spice cake is layered with maple-sugar frosting, candied pecans, and a salty-sweet caramel sauce

Fresh figs should look plump and unbruised; ripe ones will give when pressed gently. Loosely covered and stored in a single layer, they'll keep for a few days in the fridge.

The addition of 1/2 cup miniature marshmallows is popular with children.

Many a copy of JOY has been sold on the strength of this recipe. One fan says her family is sure these are the cakes St. Peter gives little children at the Gates of Heaven, to get them over the first pangs of homesickness. The lemon glaze should be spread on warm cakes or Christmas cookies. It has a fine consistency for embedding decorative nuts and fruits.

Cheese balls were all the rage in the 1970s, an easy, tasty, fab party food for any occasion. What's old is now retro-chic—this lightened-up cheese ball seduces with the sweetness of dates, the savory bite of blue cheese, a hint of shallot, and a teasing whiff of lemon zest.

It's hard to improve on grilled cheese with tomato soup—but that's exactly what the folks at Noca are doing. The restaurant layers red heirloom tomatoes and smoked mozzarella on the sandwich. It transforms the soup with green heirlooms—and serves it cold. The mix of flavors, textures, and colors takes this classic to a new level.

Colt & Gray galloped onto the Denver dining scene in the summer of 2009. Since then, diners have lined up for the casual, pub-like atmosphere and the modern take on comfort classics (burgers, pork chops). One of the most delicious examples? The salty-sweet caramel corn studded with cashews and bits of bacon.

Preparing the pesto a day ahead makes this a quick supper.

Although herb salad mix tastes especially good here and makes for speedy assembly, feel free to use any type of flavorful salad mix you like.

Ponzu, a citrus-infused soy sauce, can be found in the Asian foods section of some supermarkets.

THIS SABBATH RICE DISH, typical of Provence, reveals the history both of pilau or pilaf, as it is called in French, and of Persian Jews who settled in the area near the Camargue, the rice-growing area of southwestern Provence located on the triangle of land between the two major tributaries of the Rhône River. Jews, first by barge and later by boat, used the river to bring goods here from the Mediterranean. The word and the dish pilau come from Persia, taking various forms as the dish traveled around the world. In India, it became pulao; in modern-day Iran, it is called polo; and in Provence, pelau or pilaf. Rice, and therefore pilaf, traveled with the Jews to Provence, where many Persian Jewish merchants and scholars settled and lived until the end of the fourteenth century or even later. These Jews, who traded rice, cooked it for the Sabbath with fragrant spices like nutmeg, garlic, cumin, cinnamon, and saffron. Some scholars believe that Jews brought saffron to Europe from Asia Minor for their Sabbath rice. The late Karen Hess, author of The Carolina Rice Kitchen, repeatedly told me that Jews first brought rice to the Camargue. In their Inventory of the Culinary Patrimony of France, Philip and Mary Hyman relate that emigrants from the Piedmont paid a dîme of rice to noblemen in the year 1497. And although pilau and riz au safran are no longer particularly Jewish dishes in Provence, they are clearly rooted in the Sabbath tradition. This simple recipe is typically eaten on Rosh Hashanah, alongside a symbolic whole roasted fish with a Sephardic sweet-and-sour greengage-plum sauce.

Chef Max Mackissock of The Squeaky Bean in Denver takes a back-to-nature approach to ingredients: He uses produce straight from the garden at his restaurant or the farmers’ market the eatery hosts weekly. With veggies like that, who needs meat? This tasty vegan dish has plenty of protein, plus healthy carbs, thanks to whole-grain, fiber-rich farro.

This no-cook salad is a refreshing (and lovely) way to use up lots of zucchini—and also impress your dinner guests. A vegetable peeler makes it easy to create the zucchini ribbons.

Carrot cake was the inspiration for this delicious dessert. Grated zucchini, which makes the cake extra-moist, takes the place of the carrots.

The season's best beans shine in this salad. Shaved pecorino fresco—a mild, fresh sheep's-milk cheese—is a delicious finishing touch.