30 Minutes or Less

Active time: 10 min Start to finish: 25 min

This is one of the few recipes that works better in a microwave than a conventional oven. The mild-flavored squash gets its name from the fact that the interior, when cooked, separates into a glorious golden tangle of long spaghetti-like strands. That intriguing texture goes well with a Moroccan-inspired combination of supermarket spices. The larger the spaghetti squash, the thicker and more flavorful the strands.

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 30 min

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.