Sole Meunière

This classic French preparation of fish in a lemony brown-butter sauce with parsley is quick, easy, and arguably one of the best ways to serve delicate fillets.

Fish Piccata

This incredibly easy recipe yields tender, pan-fried fish fillets with a bright, caper-studded lemon-butter sauce.

Beet and Citrus Salad With Pine Nut Vinaigrette

Sweet as candy, rich and earthy, with a great sorta-soft-sorta-crisp texture, fresh beets are one of my favorite vegetables to work with.

Roasted-Beet Salad With Horseradish Crème Fraîche and Pistachios

Sweet roasted beets, paired with the heat of horseradish = a winning combo.

Dinner Tonight: Pan-Roasted Whole Fish with Olives

I turned to Mario Batali for this recipe from his book Molto Mario. The sauce is marvelous: black olives, capers, white, and lemon zest are spooned into the skillet after the fish gets a thorough searing over high heat. In the oven, it practically melts with the pan juices.

Glazed Winter Vegetable Medley With Chestnuts and Caper Berries From 'Feast'

The final savory chapter in Sarah Copeland's new cookbook, Feast, focuses on a few larger, celebration-sized meals. These recipes take a bit longer to prepare than those in the rest of the book, requiring more attention to detail, but they're worth the time—think paella, vegetable tagine, and silky (bread crumb-free) eggplant parmesan. Her glazed winter vegetable medley is the centerpiece of the chapter.

Whole Roast Fish for 2 With Mushroom Pesto and Roasted Wild Mushrooms

This is an elegant meal for two, but not too elegant to make at home. A big sea bass or bream, stuffed with mushroom-truffle pesto, full of parsley and basil and pine nuts, and topped with crisp-broiled mushrooms. Who could resist that for dinner?

Roasted Beets With Citrus, Feta and Walnuts

Roasted beets pair beautifully with citrus, feta, and walnuts in this refreshing winter salad.

Slow-Baked Atlantic Salmon with Tabouli from 'Flour, Too'

There's good news for fish-averse cooks: Joanne Changs recipe for slow-baked salmon in her new cookbook, Flour, Too, is not only easy (and pretty foolproof), but it also keeps that intense salmon smell at bay. The filets are well-coated in olive oil and then cooked in a gentle 300º F oven until just firm to the touch. They stay delicate and buttery, with no stringy flesh in sight. To pair with the rich salmon, Chang whips up a fluffy, lemon-y tabouli salad. It's heavy on the bulgur to make it a ...

River Cottage's Steam-Braised Sea Bass with Thyme and Lemon

Steamed fish doesn't exactly have the best reputation outside of spas and health-centric restaurants, but in the hands of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Nick Fisher, gently cooked fillets are anything but dry and boring. Dubbed "steam-braising" in The River Cottage Fish Book, their method consists of using a rich (read: butter and olive oil) sauce full of herbs, wine, and garlic to gently steam (and braise, I suppose) small medallions of sea bass (or most other white, flaky fish). The emerges f...