Blueberries contain lots of pectin, which helps soothe the stomach, and one of their active compounds can help prevent cancer cells from getting nourishment. Also important: this is delicious! Try it over my Best Oatmeal Ever.

For ages, buying rice in America was like walking into an ice cream store and finding they had only two flavors. The vanilla of the rice world is bleached white rice, which has had its nutrients strip-mined away. Its chocolate counterpart is taste-less short-grain brown rice, which gave rise to the phrase “hippie gruel.” Fortunately, many different types of rice are now available. Basmati, jasmine, sushi rice . . .  Forbidden Rice (Purple Rice), is a terrific choice for rice salads because of its nutty taste and firm texture

Chicken isn’t given its due as a brain food, and that’s an omission worth correcting. It’s absolutely loaded with tryptophan, which can boost mood and make sleep come easier. It’s also high in vitamin B3 (aka niacin), which the Chicago Health and Aging Project, in a study of more than 3,700 individuals, found may slow cognitive decline. Here we take chicken thighs and jazz ’em up with a tantalizing mint chimichurri: with its South American roots, it’s one of my go-to sauces for chicken.

This is nothing like your grandmother’s egg salad. Instead of a heavy mayonnaise dressing, eggs are tossed with vibrant slivered mint leaves and a light dressing of olive oil and lemon. What makes this salad unforgettable is Paula grates the eggs, so they are ethereally light. (As her longtime editor Fran McCullough notes, grating also makes traditional egg salad velvety smooth.) Paula offered this recipe as an accompaniment to köfte, Turkish grilled meat skewers. But it’s so good, it’s been doubled here to be enjoyed as a stand-alone or with a green salad as a light meal.

You know that old Sesame Street song that goes, “One of these things is not like the others . . .”? Put a cashew next to butter and margarine and you’ll probably think, “Hey, I know which one of these doesn’t belong.” Think again. By using nut creams—in this case pulverized cashews—I’ve pleased many a client who swears by butter but wants to go dairy free. Not only is the cashew taste fulfilling and delightful, but nuts are far better for you than any store-bought buttery spread made from corn oil.

All I can say is get out your camera, cause when you make this dish, you’re going to want to take a picture of it before you serve it. It’s just that pretty, with the peach of the salmon, the ruby red jewels of the pomegranate seeds, the vibrant green of the parsley. The taste is no less sensational, the citrus and herbs playing wonderfully off the salmon’s healthy blend of omega-3 rich fats. This one will energize all your senses.

Painting, like cooking, is all about getting into a zone, which is probably why I like doing both. They’re complementary in another way; I’m visually driven, and when I’m working on a painting—as I was this past summer—I’m drawn to foods that create a color sensation on the plate. Don’t ask me why— maybe there’s something about color that impacts taste—but foods that blend well visually also taste fantastic together. I know that not many people would put pomegranate seeds together with olives and fennel, but you gotta trust me on this one; it’s not only a dance party for the mouth, but your eyes will widen at how good it looks.

Working with the youth of America in the kitchen keeps me both in stitches and on my toes. A sassy Jersey girl named Katie Bealer is one of my trusted assistants. Hanging around Katie is like learning a new language, one I think of as Text-o-Talk. She took one taste of this soup and exclaimed,“OMG!” I LOL’d in response. (See, I’m learning.) I was actually thinking of calling this recipe RGSPS in her honor; anyone who comes up with descriptor “ridiculously good” deserves to be honored. In any case, her unbridled enthusiasm for this soup made it a keeper for the book. If you enjoy traditional split pea soup with ham and want that smoky flavor here, just add smoked paprika or ground chipotle chiles. However, it’s the blending of the split peas that drives the taste in this recipe, creating a velvety mouth feel that’s perfect for transporting the flavors of the garlic, carrot, onions, and thyme that round out the soup. As a bonus, especially for those concerned about diabetes, split peas are great for you, being rich in fiber, which fights cholesterol and helps regulate blood sugar levels. As for Katie and me, all I can say is we’re BFFs.

This is certainly a case for visuals drawing you to the plate. Served with salmon, this rice—an indigo delight—pops like a painting, beckoning you to come closer, closer . . . and that first bite seals the deal. The rice and bell pepper play delightfully against the creaminess of the avocado, while the mint and cilantro roll all around your mouth like pinballs, blasting taste here, there, and everywhere. This salad enchants all the senses—and the rice is a whole grain as well, feeding the mind in more ways than one.

Congee is an ancient Chinese porridge, dating back more than two thousand years. When Americans think about porridge, oatmeal comes to mind. This broth-based congee is thinner, but it’s stimulating and satisfying. It’s whole grain brown rice base is perfect for jump-starting digestion (some people even eat it for breakfast), and it’s a nice canvas for adding taste-enhancers ranging from scallions to cinnamon.

Can you say “za’atar?” Sure you can. In fact, if you lived in the Middle East, you’d be invoking the name of this herb-and-spice mix nearly every day. Za’atar has long had a reputation as a brain enhancer, and science may be providing a clue; researchers wrote that, in low concentrations, the carvacrol found in oregano and thyme may increase feelings of well-being. Chicken is particularly rich in brain-enhancing nutrients. This recipe makes about half a cup of za’atar, which is a lot more than you need for the chicken; store the extra in a jar and use to sprinkle on top of vegetables, dips, salad dressings, fish, eggs, or anything you would like to add a touch of the exotic.

Back in the days when I was a kitchen serf, I received a great piece of culinary advice from a cook. She said to take a food you wanted to work with and imagine preparing it thirty different ways. That’s a mental exercise that has served me well over the years, because certain foods are so valuable from a health perspective that they need to show up time and again in new and interesting forms. So it is with lentils. They’re so versatile, and they act as a great backdrop for salads and side dishes. In this recipe, they’re the foundation for a wonderful blend of citrus and crunch, with fennel, sweet roasted beets, and walnuts all gleefully playing together in the sandbox. Now I just have to come up with twenty-nine more lentil combinations to satisfy that cook.

I come by making salad dressing honestly, as my dad was in the food manufacturing business. Many a day I’d come to my dad’s office with my latest vinaigrette concoction in a yogurt cup and take it to the lab, where I learned to measure ingredients precisely so we could reproduce the taste in my little yogurt cup when it was scaled up to a two-hundred-gallon drum (talk about the importance of learning how to write down a repeatable recipe!). This airtight dressing is easy to prepare and delicious.

Getting in the swing of eating veggies is like igniting a pilot light on a stove: it may take several tries, but once it’s lit, the flame burns steadily. My challenge is to present important vegetables—and, none is more vital for brain health than kale—in ways that will kick-start your taste for this superfood. Here, I’ve paired kale with an autumn favorite, delicata squash, along with garlic, red pepper flakes, and freshly squeezed lemon juice to create a dish that’s both a delight to the eyes and the taste buds. The chopped roasted hazelnuts take the entire concoction completely over the top. It’s ablaze with flavor and should leave you burning for more.

Talk about counterbalancing tastes: Here the überhealthy kale and coconut milk are a magical pairing, with the sweetness of the coconut neutralizing the natural bitterness of the kale. The ginger and lime are like Fourth of July sparklers on top of the flavor profile. The soup is purposely a bit thin, and many people enjoy it as a broth in a cup or take it to go in a thermos. If you want to give it a little heft, try adding glass noodles or shredded sweet potato.

Am I allowed to say I love this broth? This is like taking your taste buds on a trip to Thailand—infusing Magic Mineral Broth or, if you prefer, chicken broth with lemongrass, ginger, shallots, kaffir lime leaves, and coconut milk.

Sometimes food needs a little love, a little bling to provide some zing to what might otherwise be a bland taste. That’s where this salsa provides both some eye candy and a bright, fresh, crunchy taste.

During the summer months, I take advantage of the abundance of tomatoes and put them in the oven to roast. The heavenly smells take me back to Italy, where I first learned how to make this version of tomato sauce. 

The last thing you want to do on a steamy day is turn on the burners in the kitchen. That’s where this chilled soup comes in. Watermelon is so refreshing and hydrating (not to mention it’s full of the outstanding antioxidant lycopene) that it’s the perfect summertime soup.

Talk about longevity: Pistachio trees can bear fruit for two hundred years, and they’ve been
doing that for a long, long time. Pistachios are even mentioned in the Bible.