30 Minutes or Less

Complete the menu with a tomato and red onion salad, sourdough bread, and poached pears (or canned) with raspberry sauce.

Small, slender green beans can stand in for the haricots verts, a petite French variety, in this easy classic.

"At Highland's Garden Cafe in Denver, Colorado, I had an unusual and delicious lunch entrée of fish with sambal vinaigrette and wasabi cream," says William Starret, Jr. of Washington, D.C. "I would greatly appreciate it if you could get the recipe for me."

The salad can remain at room temperature up to two hours before serving.

This lovely side can be made a day ahead.

Wasabi powder is fiery-hot, so adjust the proportion in the butter according to your heat tolerance. An Asian noodle salad from the deli, blanched sugar snap peas sprinkled with sesame seeds, and a bakery lime tart would be cooling additions to the menu.

This elegant entrée deserves special accompaniments, like buttered baby carrots sprinkled with chopped tarragon, twice-baked potatoes (available frozen) and a spinach salad tossed with toasted walnuts. New-York-style cheesecake with strawberries provides the properly indulgent finale.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 30 min

This recipe is an accompaniment for Yellow Tomato Gazpacho with Cilantro Oil and Avocado.

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 20 min

If fresh figs aren't available, dried black Mission figs can be substituted here; look for ones that are soft and moist. What to drink: Crisp Pinot Grigio pairs nicely with the entire meal.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 40 min

To save even more time, buy the peppercorn medley packaged in a pepper grinder in the spice section of the supermarket. Serve with: Curried rice and sautéed snow peas.

You can grill the zucchini alongside the grilled charmoula lamb chops , then loosely cover it to keep it warm while the lamb is standing. Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 30 min

You can grill any cooked sausage you like for this sandwich, but we recommend kielbasa or kosher salami (not dried beef). Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 30 min

This thick, glossy sauce makes chocolate syrup taste ho-hum. It's wonderful on the Frozen Chocolate Caramel Parfaits or poured over any flavor of ice cream to create a luscious hot fudge sundae.