The pressure was on — an invitation to dinner from a close friend I’ve known since school days. Barbara and I often cook cooperative dinners, but this time I was going to bring the food. But this time she would make the main course. She wanted to try a sweet potato entree from Yotam Ottolenghi’s award-winning cookbook Flavor. A salad was the most she would accept from me. Clearly, it couldn’t be just any salad.

Flipping the pages of Ottolenghi’s Plenty More, I realized I should try him again: I’d attempted one of his recipes and found it daunting. Many of them feature long lists of ingredients, some hard to find, and lengthy preparation techniques. It turns out that I am not alone. Two of my food writing colleagues at this newspaper said they like to read his recipes but actually making them can be a heavy lift.

The fact that Barbara is a biochemist may explain why she’s not afraid of Ottolenghi’s recipes. I chose a relatively approachable salad with arugula and orange slices perfumed with orange blossom water.

The dusk view over Quisset Harbor and the candlelight as we sat down to dinner contributed to the warmth of the evening, but the sweet potato stew, served in a large rondeau, was extraordinary by any standard. Even my husband, Hugo, and my cousin Bruce, omnivores to the core, thought so. The salad held its own. Hugo and I went home determined to tame these recipes and make them easier while honoring the wizardly flavor profiles that yield so much more than the sum of the parts.

The first time I prepared the salad, it took 55 minutes. The second time, knowing where I was headed, what could be done more simply, and what could be omitted, it took just 15 minutes. I experimented with vanilla, unorthodox, I know, in place of orange blossom water, with a fine result. Neither did anyone miss the radishes, the “three leaves” of lollo rosso, the cilantro, the lightly toasted and crushed fennel seeds, or the half cup of parsley in my version. Mint from the garden, plus a few end-of-season chives, provided full flavor. Orange and date salad is a Moroccan classic, but if you don’t have dates you could substitute raisins for the sweet-acid play of tastes.

As for the sweet potatoes, Hugo gamely offered to develop a simpler recipe. The full-on version, with caramelized potato rounds simmered in a spicy tomato sauce and a bright green gremolata drizzled on top, took Barbara about two hours. Hugo tried twice and the second time achieved an excellent result in under an hour.

The affinity of cardamom and sweet potatoes has been recognized by many, including the great Southern cook Edna Lewis, so Hugo honored the flavor pairing in his adaptation. For the tasty green gremolata that is drizzled on the finished dish, Hugo and Barbara both preferred cilantro to the dill in the original recipe.

Hugo concentrated on simplifying the technique. “If you understand the essence of the dish,” he notes, “it can be modified. This sauce is essentially marinara with two Middle Eastern spices.” And so, with a tip of our hat to the maestro, here are the results.

CARAMELIZED SWEET POTATOES WITH TOMATO, CARDAMOM, AND CILANTRO
Serves 4 as an entree, 6-8 as an appetizer

3-4 medium sweet potatoes, skin on, sliced crosswise into ¾-inch rounds, about 16 rounds
2 limes, one zested and juiced, the other cut into quarters

For the marinade

½ tsp. ground cardamom
½ tsp. ground cumin
3 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
Salt and pepper to taste

For the sauce

4 Tbsp. olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
6 oz. canned green chiles, drained and diced
1 small onion, minced
1 14-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, pureed in blender or food processor
2 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. ground cumin
1½ tsp. sugar
Zest of 1 lime
1 cup water

For the gremolata and garnish

Juice of 1 lime
3 Tbsp. finely chopped cilantro
Lime wedges

1. Stir together the marinade ingredients in a work bowl; add the sliced potatoes and toss to coat them well.
2. In a large cast-iron pan, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat until it shimmers. Add the potatoes and cook them in a single layer so they caramelize on one side, which will take 5 to 10 minutes. Do not turn the potatoes but do watch over the process and control the heat to avoid burning. It may be necessary to cook a second batch depending on the size of your pan. Remove the potatoes from the pan and set aside.
3. To prepare the sauce: put 1 tablespoon oil in a small sauté pan and gently fry the garlic and chiles until the garlic softens, about 3 minutes. Set half this mixture aside in a small bowl for the gremolata and add the rest to the large sauté pan along with the pureed tomatoes and all remaining sauce ingredients except the water. Stir well and cook for 5 minutes, adding water as needed to thin the sauce. Return the sweet potatoes — caramelized side up — to the pan and simmer slowly, covered, for about 5 to 10 minutes. Test the potatoes for doneness with a fork.
4. For the gremolata: stir the lime juice and chopped cilantro into the small bowl of fried garlic and chiles. Taste for salt.
5. Drizzle the gremolata on top of the potatoes and serve them right from the cooking pan with lime wedges as garnish or arrange them on a platter. Serve alone as an appetizer, or round out the stew as an entrée with quinoa, rice, or couscous.

SPICED ORANGE, DATE, AND ARUGULA SALAD
4 servings

For the dressing

5 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. orange blossom water (or vanilla)
1 garlic clove, crushed
½ tsp. cinnamon
Salt and pepper to taste

For the salad

2 medium oranges
1 small red onion
3 large dates, pitted
4 cups arugula
½ cup mint leaves

1. In a small jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the dressing ingredients and shake until well blended.
2. Peel the oranges, removing all the white pith (which is bitter), and slice the oranges crosswise into rounds about 1/4-inch thick.
3. Slice the onion into very thin rings, cut the dates into small pieces, and coarsely chop the mint. Assemble the salad by dividing the arugula and mint leaves among 4 plates and placing the oranges on top. Garnish with the onions and dates. Spoon the dressing over the salads and serve.