Silky orange pumpkin soups, stewed chicken in creole sauce, and fragrant rice and beans, all spiked with a kick of epis, a common Haitian flavor base, always brought warmth and comfort to Chris Viaud while he was growing up in a Haitian family in Massachusetts. Fortunately for us, Viaud—a James Beard nominee and Top Chef contestant—has shared those family recipes with us, just in time for fall.

Feeling lonely and bored, Mike and his wife Zoraida sent out an email to roughly fifty of their neighbors that read, “On the last Sunday of each warm month, starting in April, our yard will be open to you and your kids all afternoon for eating, drinking, playing, soaking in the outdoor tub, and even napping in the hammock or camper if you need to sleep off the hooch!” The night before the first cookout – there have now been two – the couple lay there in dread, certain they’d made an irreversible mistake. But happiness ensued.

It’s succulent broccoli raab, yuba (sometimes called soy skins), mashed chickpeas, and more, on a soft, short hero roll with a light, crisp exterior. After the first chomp, my whole body relaxed, as if my system had shut down to upload a new program. I wish I could eat the Yuba Verde all the time; in the meantime, I’ve experimented with making it at home.