30 Minutes or Less

Use a mixture of green and black olives such as picholine, Niçois, and Kalamata. Soaking the olives in water for ten minutes removes excess salt.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 25 min

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 45 min

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 20 min

If I could use only one marinade for the rest of my life, it would be this one. Redolent with garlic, piquant with fresh lemon juice, and fragrant with extra virgin olive oil, it instantly transports you to the Mediterranean. I can't think of a single food that doesn't taste better bathed in it. You can use it as both a marinade and a basting sauce. If marinating poultry, meat, or seafood, simply set a portion aside for basting.

Active time: 35 min Start to finish: 40 min

(OMELETTE AUX ASPERGES)

Add a simple green salad to our updated version of the grilled cheese sandwich, and dinner is served.

"I had a delightful dinner at Andiamo! Ristorante while on vacation in San Diego," writes Laverne Smith of Seattle, Washington. "Could you get their recipe for fettuccine carbonara? It was the best pasta I've ever had." Prepare the sauce while the pasta is cooking to ensure that the fettuccine will be hot when the sauce is finished; the heat of the pasta cooks the raw eggs that are tossed with it.

Grill thick slices of parboiled potatoes alongside the beef and serve a chunky tomato salad dressed with a simple vinaigrette. Purchased vanilla custard or pudding topped with fresh berries is a lovely way to end the meal.

Pecan-studded rice pilaf and sautéed pattypan squash are great with the scallops, and lemon pound cake with sugared berries tops off the meal nicely.

Radicchio, snow peas and a tangy sesame oil dressing give an old-fashioned dish a delicious new flavor.

Begin with chicken soup enriched with tiny pasta and fresh spinach leaves. Thick slices of country bread are perfect with the tuna salad, and tiramisù is the dessert of choice.

This salad is as versatile as it is delicious. We loved it with squid and with shrimp. Add a loaf of crusty bread, and you've got a complete meal. Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 20 min

These are excellent with beet soup.

Chef Susan Goss says that the secret here is in her cast-iron skillet. Nonstick pans produce anemic, soft corn bread. This recipe also works well with corn-stick or muffin molds, as long as they’re well-seasoned cast iron. If your pan is hot enough, the batter will immediately rise and start to cook around the edges. (The restaurant’s skillets rarely leave the oven.) At Zinfandel, the corn bread is served with a wonderful spread. To make it, combine 1 stick of softened unsalted butter with 2 tablespoons buckwheat honey (another honey or pure maple syrup can be substituted).