Food Processor

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Use on your favorite toast for breakfast or spoon over vanilla ice cream for dessert.

This recipe was created to prepare Bacon and Blue Cheese Salad with Caesar Dressing . This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Hummus, a dip/spread traditional in many Middle Eastern countries, is usually made with chick-peas (garbanzo beans), but we use white beans for a change of pace. It is delicious with steamed potatoes and artichokes as well as blanched broccoli, cauliflower and green beans.

Although the morels add a woodsy intensity to the flavor of the consommé, they are not essential. You can substitute other dried exotic mushrooms or eliminate them altogether and simply float a thin slice of fresh white mushroom on the soup right before covering the bowl with the pastry.

Skillet cakes make from grains are popular at reatautants across the country. This recipe has a great do-ahead hint - the cakes can be prepared hours before they're cooked. And they are a good way to use leftover risotto.

This beautiful torte can be prepared three days before serving.

By cutting back on butter and egg yolks and by using low fat milk, we've reduced the fat in this satisfying side dish without sacrificing the creaminess.

Favorite Italian flavors — espresso and hazelnut — come together in these appealing treats.

Try the sauce with grilled fish or chicken, too. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

(Southern German and Alsatian Italian Plum Torte) This torte is served traditionally at the high holidays in early fall, when small blue Italian plums are in season. In southern Germany and Alsace the pie was made from zwetsche, a local variety of these plums. My aunt Lisl always used to make a murbeteig crust (a short-crust butter cookie dought) for this tart, and sliced each Italian plum into four crescent shapes. She lined the tart with breadcrumbs and then apricot preserves, which protected the dough during baking, leading to a crispy crust. She went light on the cinnamon, a spice she felt was overused in this country. (I agree with her.) My aunt's results, simple to prepare, were simply delicious.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended preparation time.

If you thought you couldn't cook Thai food at home, this colorful and slightly spicy curry-a bit of a cross between a soup and a stew-will change your mind. It's a cinch to whip up after work and intriguing enough to impress your friends. Begin dinner with frozen egg rolls or take-out ones from a Chinese restaurant, and finish things off with ice cream or sorbet topped with chopped tropical fruit. GewÜrztraminer or Thai beer complements the menu nicely.

Use the extra dressing with boiled potatoes or green beans to make an instant salad later in the week.