30 Minutes or Less

Serve with: Fresh sugar snap peas, grape tomato salad, and dinner rolls.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 25 min

Using stale pita will keep the bread from getting soggy in the salad.

The African, Caribbean, and Asian populations of New York share a common love of spice and okra, so we've combined the two. If habanero chiles are too spicy for you, use a serrano or jalapeño chile instead. Rinsing your okra gives it a cleaner taste and texture. Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 15 min

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 30 min

I particularly like this version of whitefish salad, because there is no filler in it. Mark, a political consultant who served in the Carter White House, makes it for break-the-fast as well as during the year brunches.

Beef and Roquefort have a long-standing culinary partnership, but the thick and sweetly smoky slices of barbecued red onions are what really make these burgers great. Keep the meal all-American with chilled beer, homemade lemonade and iced tea. A fresh peach pie with vanilla ice cream is a perfect dessert.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Peperonata is a mixture of bell peppers, tomatoes and onion used in Italian cooking. Chef Joseph Simone of Tosca in Hingham, Massachusetts, suggests serving this quick adaptation of one of his meatless main dishes with a salad of baby greens, sliced fresh fennel and crumbled goat cheese in a simple vinaigrette. For dessert, have baked apples with cinnamon and vanilla ice cream. This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

A tangy glaze brings out the sweetness of this crisp-crusted salmon.

Round out the menu with sliced radicchio, fennel and roasted bell pepper salad; crisp flatbread; and apricot sorbet with cookies.

Asparagus is a star of the season, as a side dish to any main course — chicken, fish, pork, beef, or lamb — or as a salad topped with a squeeze of lemon juice. Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 30 min