Bread croutons are so yesterday. This recipe is incredibly easy to make; just some torn up kale coated with olive oil and salt that gets popped into the oven. The alchemy of the cooking takes away the kale’s bitterness, leaving you with an irresistible garnish on top of a bowl of soup.

People have been deviling eggs for almost as long as there have been eggs to devil. Recipes can be found in writings from ancient Rome, thirteenth-century Andalusia, and current culinary blogs worldwide. I’m into deviled eggs both for their flavor and for practical reasons.

Nuts are little superstars when it comes to improving brain function; cashews are phenomenal at promoting good blood circulation so plenty of oxygen gets to the brain. That’s the nutritional reason to eat cashews, but the taste alone should convince you.

This is pure aromatherapy. There’s nothing like the smell of baking apple pie to raise the spirits, so in this recipe I pulled together the spices that make apple pie special and gave them a new home— walnuts. Walnuts, with all their nooks and crannies, catch all the spices, especially after they’re coated with a little olive oil and maple syrup (just writing this is making me practically salivate). Walnuts happen to be loaded with the omega-3 known as alpha-linolenic acid, which in animal studies exerted an antidepressant effect. Tossing them with plump raisins is the kicker.

If age is any indicator, hummus has been popular since at least the 13th century, where it was listed in an Egyptian cookbook. So as far as it being too exotic to cook, well, that’s really not the case. Hummus is a mix of pureed chickpeas, lemon juice and tahini-- which is just ground up sesame seeds that, fortunately for your brain, are full of zinc. Hummus is a great foundation for experimentation, and here I’ve pumped up the colors and flavors by introducing sweet potatoes topped with pomegranate seeds and mint. There’s an earthy, mellow taste to this creamy hummus that resonates on a deep level, with cumin, curry, and ginger spicing providing just the right level of ahhhhhh….

I thought I’d experienced olives every which way possible until a dinner party years ago, when I watched as Carolyn Brady, an incredible artist, popped a bunch of olives in the oven and roasted them. It seemed so exotic, and the results were incredible. The brininess was replaced by a sweet flavor heightened by the oven’s heat. In my version, I’ve surrounded the olives with garlic, fennel seeds, rosemary, red pepper flakes, and Meyer lemon. You’re not going to find anything like this at a supermarket olive bar.