lunch

This Mexican street-lunch staple makes great use of day-old bread.

Piled high with deli meats then pressed down into a dense and delicious sandwich, this crowd-pleaser can be sliced into meal-sized servings or bite-sized appetizers. Be sure to dress the bread generously with olive oil when assembling; it helps the sandwich to settle and flavours to mingle while it chills.

A popular salsa that, in my opinion, also qualifies as a salad, pico de gallo hits every note I want in a fresh and savoury dish: salty, sour, a little bit sweet and as spicy as you’d like it to be. Adding corn and beans ups the vegetable and protein content and turns it into something resembling a meal. Now I can feel good about eating salsa all day—and you can too.

Welcome spring with this Sardinian greens-loaded soup that comes together quickly with canned beans, but packs a special punch when you use dried: the cooking liquid’s starches add body to the broth.