Greek lemon potatoes look simple on paper: potatoes, lemon, olive oil, garlic and oregano, roasted until golden. But the liquid-to-potato ratio matters more than I expected. My first batch tasted like lemon potatoes, but it was closer to potatoes braised in lemon juice than the roasted version I wanted. The pan still held too much…

Gigantes plaki is the Greek dish that proves a pot of beans can be the main event. Big, creamy beans bake slowly in a thick tomato sauce with onion, carrot, celery, dill and plenty of olive oil, until the top catches and the oil pools at the edges. My first batch had firm beans and…