
Confession: I didn't eat salads until I was way into my teens. The reason? I never found them filling and was typically bored after a few bites. It wasn't until I tried a Cobb salad, filled with all sorts of hearty ingredients, that I changed my mind about leafy green meals.

The rainbow spread of toppings in a classic Cobb include bacon, tomato, egg, blue cheese, avocado, and shredded chicken, positioned neatly over a bed of romaine lettuce. While any dressing, from creamy blue cheese to balsamic vinaigrette, will complement the salad, my favorite way to eat it is with a tart red-wine vinaigrette, which helps cut through the rich flavors.
Ever since I was first introduced to roasted bone marrow, it has been a must-order appetizer — if I see it on the menu, my mind is almost unimpeachably made up — but until I tried my hand at cooking the
To say that making this recipe was a revelation is a major understatement. Truly, the most challenging (and not terribly difficult at that) step is procuring the bones. I found mine at the butcher counter at Whole Foods, though this required calling slightly ahead of time to make certain they had enough in stock, and to ensure that the bones were cut to my specifications. If this buttery appetizer is up your alley, try your local butcher. All it takes is a short phone call to see if they can wrangle up a few pounds of bones to brighten your meal (and day). Trust me: it's worth the extra step.

A collective term for the entrails and organs of a butchered animal. Examples include organs such as tripe, tongue, intestines, brains, liver, kidneys, and thymus glands (also known as