I owe this one to my mom, who taught me all about peaches, in her own inimitable style. Didn’t matter what peach dish she was making—peach kuchen, peach cake, peach you-name-it—Mom had a scrumptious way with peaches. These peaches are simple and absolutely intoxicating; take peaches at the height of their season and toss them with cinnamon, ginger, and just a spritz of lemon juice. You’ll find yourself making excuses to be in the kitchen while these goodies roast, cause they just smell soooooo good. 

Eating a crisp is heaven’s way of saying you must have done something right (or nice) today. My cooking buddy, a serious baker, says crisps need to look “abundant.” All I know is that her nectarine and blueberry crisps, which served as my inspiration here, take abundant to the limit. The smells that suffuse the kitchen as this dish bakes are absolutely intoxicating, nectarines and blueberries blending with coconut oil, cinnamon, and nuts to create an olfactory orgasm. (Can I say that? Wait, I just did!)

This is so good, it might leave you speechless. I mean, what’s not to love? Almonds, pecans, walnuts, dark chocolate chips, dark cherry, coconut . . . are you dizzy yet? I’m not trying to brag, but when we gave a friend of ours some of this granola, he took one bite and asked, “Will it travel?” When we said “Yes,” he said, “Good . . . I’m taking it to Honduras with me!” I hope the customs folks there don’t ask for a nibble. We put some into a jar on the top shelf of my kitchen to see how long it would hold up; turns out it held up longer than we did. We got to a week before we devoured it all. And believe me, that was after employing a lot of willpower.

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.

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.

I asked my editor if I could get away with a two-word headnote for this: “Eat these!!” But she said, “No, Rebecca. You need to say more.” Sigh. How about “Eat these now!” That’s what my dog Lola did. We left them on the kitchen table, wrapped in layers of parchment and foil. Lola didn’t care. Her doggy delight senses shorted out her inhibition system (such as it is), and when we returned to the kitchen, she had jumped up on the table like a mountain goat and absconded with eight cookies. Fortunately, the chocolate content was low enough, and Lola big enough, that the vet said she’d be fine; she was, but there was no dinner for her that night. These are flourless, a blend of almond butter, egg, vanilla, cocoa nibs, and chocolate chips. The chocolate is guaranteed to elevate your mood. It sure elevated Lola’s!

Talk about fun rendezvous. This little devil took a while to figure out, so my recipe tester, Catherine, and I kept meeting halfway between our homes. We’d sit in Catherine’s VW bug and she’d pull out a small container of the pudding; we’d taste, figure out what needed to be tinkered with, and off we’d go on our separate ways. I wanted something that would take me back to that comforting feeling pudding gave me as a kid, yet be a little more sophisticated for an adult palate. What we ended up with was a cross between pudding, custard, and pot de crème. If that sounds a bit decadent, well, guilty as charged. Coconut milk, dark chocolate (mood enhancer!!), cinnamon, cardamom . . . yup, this one will get your motor purring.

Here’s a surprising combination. Rosemary tends to be assertive, while pears go mellow; together they make an unbeatable team. This muffin is as Mediterranean as they come. Draw a direct line from Florence to Provence, and this puppy’s flavor lands right in the middle.

My dad, Jay, had this delightful habit; whenever you told him something that struck his fancy, he’d roar, “That’s FANTASTIC!” and gleefully clap his hands for emphasis. This was doubly true if you told him he was getting chocolate for dessert. Jay never met a piece of chocolate he didn’t like, and I have a feeling that just hearing what’s in these truffles—dates, cherries, and walnuts, smothered in chocolate, rolled in coconut and curry—would’ve given him cause to offer up a standing ovation. Studies suggest walnuts may boost memory, while chocolate, as we all know, is the ultimate moodboosting agent. One bite of this dessert and you’d be hard-pressed to feel any stress.

This recipe was featured in the Weekly Yum, on Stirring the Pot radio. Cookbook author and culinary translator, Rebecca Katz joins the conversation with Stefanie Sacks to deconstruct Summer Berry-Coconut Milk Ice Pops from Vibrant Food by Kimberley Hasselbrink. Sacks and Katz lure you into the kitchen to create meals that enhance your health and well being while caressing your tastebuds. Nutritious always meets delicious on the Weekly Yum.

Roasting strawberries reminds me of Carly Simon’s song “Anticipation.” When you can take your time in the kitchen—or at least wait awhile for something to cook—magic happens. When you roast strawberries sloooooowly—I’m talking for 90 minutes—the alchemy that occurs is wondrous. Their flavors become so condensed and intense as they shrink. In this recipe, the strawberries are bathed in pomegranate molasses and maple syrup before roasting, for even more flavor. The last step, post-roast, is a mouth-blast of basil (a super anti-inflammatory).

One day my friend, Mat, was reminiscing to his mom, Clair, about an ice cream store he worked at while in college. “I told her that I got so sick of ice cream that for two years after I quit I couldn’t go near it.” At which point Clair mentioned that as a girl she worked for years at the chocolate counter at Gimbel’s, one of New York’s famous retailers. Gimbel’s let you eat as much chocolate as you liked on the job, so long as you didn’t take any home. “I asked Mom if she ever got sick of chocolate. She just looked at me like I was nuts and said, ‘Why would I?’” Which brings us to these little morsels. For chocolate aficionados, nothing provides a better fix than a truffle. My friend Wendy, an incredible chocolatier, designed these confections from a scrumptious mélange of chocolate, dates, orange zest, and ground nuts, all rolled in coconut. I could tell you that the reason to eat these is because they’re high in protein and phytochemicals, but how ’bout we just call that a nice side benefit of yum! Since you’re going to indulge in a chocolate dessert, be sure to make it the best by using high-quality chocolate.

In New York City they run on what I like to call heavy fuel. I learned this during my time in culinary school. There are only two real times in Manhattan: B.C. and A.C. B.C.—before coffee—the Big Apple is the big grumpy. AC—after coffee—everyone’s happy. Then they fall asleep, because they’ve usually downed their coffee with a massive muffin. But muffins don’t have to do that to you. These mini-muffins are easy on the constitution. The key is they’re made with almond flour, so they’re grain and gluten-free. Many folks can’t tolerate gluten, especially as they get older; it creates inflammation which messes with the gut and digestion. Here I’ve canoodled with almonds, eggs, blueberries, vanilla, and honey to create a pick-me-up in every bite.

Even for the chronically baking-impaired, this is one of those easy desserts people will think you slaved over. This flourless torte relies on egg power for leavening, so beat those yolks until thick and foamy, but watch the egg whites—without added sugar they can get too dry in a hurry. Don’t have a stand mixer? No problem! Pull out the hand mixer and whip yourself into a frenzy. If you beat the egg whites first, you won’t have to wash the beaters when you move on to the yolks.