Squash

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Delicious with orzo or rice.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Makes use of the microwave oven.

Crème de Courgettes à l'anis Serve this soup either hot or cold.

The following soup can be made with any variety of pumpkin except the traditional jack-o-lantern variety, which is too watery and lacks flavor. Apple Schnitz, time-honored Pennsylvania Dutch preserved apples, make a healthy snack as well as a novel garnish.

Here's a versatile recipe that works well as an appetizer or a side dish.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Margaritas and some guacamole with chips and/or vegetable "dippers" would start this Mexican-style dinner off right. Ladle out black bean soup to precede the tamale pie, and serve a Caesar salad with it. Finish by teaming lime sorbet with orange segments that have been marinated in tequila.

Kathy Lee, Valley Center, Calif.
If you can't find a package of thighs at the market, buy whole chickens. You (or the butcher) can cut up the chickens and freeze the leftover pieces for another use.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Called "Uncle Johns" in the Monegasque dialect (or barbajuans), these little fried pouches are filled with pumpkin, leeks, rice, and Parmesan cheese. Like their Italian cousins — the tortelli di zucca from Lombardy — they are prepared like ravioli, but the similarity ends there. The dough, though not a pasta dough, is very thinly rolled and made with olive oil. The barbajuans are fried to a golden crispiness rather than boiled or baked, and they are served with aperitifs rather than as a first course.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.