I bought our panini pan—a rectangular grill pan with a matching rectangular lid that sits inside the pan—in the clearance section of a department store years and years ago, but it wasn’t until we had kids that I put it to use on a weekly basis. Quick grilled sandwiches are not only delicious but incredibly versatile—and, it turns out, very practical because they hold together in your lunchbox no matter how much you might throw your school bag around in the yard before going to the classroom for the day! This combination of peach and goat cheese is my eldest daughter’s favorite and this is the sandwich that she takes on the first day of school every single year. The start of the school year coincides with the height of peach season, but for all those times when local fruit is not available, I buy imported peaches and grill them on the panini pan before assembling the sandwich, to bring out their peachy sweetness.

When I have guacamole, I don’t want just a little bit—I want to go hard on the stuff. That’s part of the reason we developed this recipe at the Harbord Room back in the mid-aughts. In addition to being fairly health-conscious, this version is also a little easier on the pocketbook. Beyond that, though, I like the way the peas take what is traditionally a relatively heavy dish and lighten it up while imbuing it with this vibrant green color. Besides, it makes you feel better when you consume shocking amounts knowing that half of it is peas.

Carrot cake is so ancient that historians do not quite agree on exactly where it came from, but it has enjoyed immense popularity since the Second World War in Britain, a time when carrots were used to add sweetness to cakes when sugar was being rationed.

This cake is so good that our best friends in Scotland chose it to be their wedding cake. For a delicious celebration cake, it can easily be doubled and baked in two or three 9-inch (23cm) springform pans, then layered with Cream Cheeze Frosting. It is easier to make a big batch of frosting in a stand mixer, but if you only have a hand-held electric mixer, you can halve the recipe below. Leftover icing can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 1 month. The frosting should be thawed in the fridge overnight before using.

Gnocchi are easily made deliciously chewy dumplings that are part mashed potato, part pasta. They’re particularly tasty simply browned and crisped in butter. Tender spinach is puréed into a bright green sauce scented with fragrant nutmeg. Orach is an ancient vegetable with a savoury mineral flavour like spinach and chard. Its microgreens and tender leaves pair beautifully with earthy potatoes.

This is a go-to lunch in Thailand. There are many steps to make our Thai version of Hainanese chicken rice, but it is well worth it. The ginger rice cooked in chicken broth combined with the poached chicken and fermented sauce give it an incredibly deep profile.