Nut

Here's an autumnal twist on pesto—with walnuts standing in for pine nuts and with a mix of herbs in place of summery basil. It's great on pasta or chicken.

To give this salad more crunch, add blanched soybeans (edamame) or fried wonton strips.

The butcher can bone the lamb for you.

There have been Lebanese living in Latin America for more than 100 years, and the community in Mexico is particularly large, so creating a Mexican version of tabbouleh is not as odd as it might seem. This version is less time-consuming than the original, because cilantro can be chopped up, stems and all, whereas parsley leaves need to be picked off the stems.

Guests are always tickled by their own individual desserts, and after a light summer meal, these tartlets are just the thing. A flaky crust cradles plump crescents of fruit accented with almonds and Amaretto.

Perfect for a Sunday-afternoon baking project, these light, crisp crackers take an hour to make (okay, maybe longer if you have a little helper).

Offering a good dose of calcium, zinc, and vitamins A and C, this Middle Eastern-inspired combination makes a healthy handheld breakfast or snack. Topped with honey, nuts, and yogurt as thick as ice cream, it might even pass for dessert.

Top with ice cream, lightly sweetened créme fraîche, or whipped cream.

This recipe makes plenty of cookies, so bundle up extras (with green ribbon, of course) to send home with guests.

This can be tossed with a pound of pasta (serve warm or chilled), used as a topping for grilled chicken, or spread onto toasted slices of baguette or focaccia.

The sweetness of this brittle is balanced by a sprinkling of salt.

This creamy semifreddo captures the heady flavor of ripe summer peaches. It's also a gorgeous showpiece that's perfect for entertaining, since it can be made well in advance of a dinner party.

One of the things we love about pesto is its versatility: Peas can take on basil's traditional role without missing a beat.

For this Spanish-inspired pasta, you break the dried noodles and cook them more like rice — the result is a silky mix speckled with crunchy almonds, smoky chorizo, and aromatic saffron.

Spinach and strawberry salad had its moment in the '80s, but this version will surprise you with its refinement. The salad is not sweet, just aromatic — and coming across fresh berries every now and then provides bursts of fruitiness. The pecans are simply toasted, but once they're coated with vinaigrette, you'd swear they were candied. Raspberries would work well here, too.

We're convinced that red trout is well worth looking for. We love its firm texture, its delicate flavor, and its gorgeous pink flesh, which here contrasts beautifully with the green pesto—an all-purpose sauce that would taste great with just about any type of fish or pasta.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Dinner After Dark: Sexy, Sumptuous Supper Soirées by Colin Cowie. For more about Cowie, click here. I can't remember a Christmas back at home when we didn't sit around the family table and enjoy my sister Anne's wonderful tart at the end of the meal. It's heartwarming and incredibly convenient: It can be made days in advance and frozen, with no effect on the delicious result. For Christmastime, add 1/2 cup glacéed cherries to the batter; these holiday treats are the red and green cherries, preserved in jars.