I have endorsed the first dish listed below to — I’m guessing — a dozen co-workers and friends. It’s that good. If you like roasted veggies and a spice with lots of umami, you need to try it. The second is a new discovery, and it is rocking my culinary world …

Siracha Roasted Cauliflower

I’ve posted about it before.

Here’s the recipe, courtesy the Washington Post. I love it so much I multiplied the sauce recipe quantities by 12 and mixed it up in a quart glass jar, so I always have it at hand for a quick, delicious lunch! (Served here with a veggie sausage patty.)

Zhong Sauce

In a recent episode of the podcast Political Gabfest, during the Cocktail Chatter segment toward the end, David Plotz recommended this sauce, by Fly By Jing.

It arrived last week. True to Mr. Plotz’s endorsement, I’ve felt compelled by its amazing combination of flavors to try it on just about everything. The best so far: With the changing of the season, I realized I had not finished that distinctive maroon-colored cylinder of summer sausage. (You can picture the one, right? So familiar to picnic snack trays!) So dinner the other night was slim spears of summer sausage (you knew you could slice them lengthwise, right?) with equally thin wedges of a locally harvested apple. Why everything sliced thin? That offers a higher ratio of surface-area-to-volume, all the better for sauce slathering. Dipped in Zhong sauce — incredible.

For my spicy food friends, I say, You’re welcome and bon appétit!