No-Cook

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Unlike sauces from Texas and Kansas City, this sauce from South Carolina's Piedmont area is thin and vinegary. Note that it is not cooked. To tone down the tartness, add more ketchup and brown sugar to taste.

Dijon mustard and lemon peel give the dressing lots of zip. This salad can also be spooned into pita halves.

This recipe is an accompaniment for Butternut Squash Soup with Roasted Red Pepper Puree .

A young sheep's-milk cheese such as Italy's ricotta salata or pecorino Romano (which is easier to find) is best for this salad. Other good choices include Italian Toscanello and Manchego from Spain, which are also made from sheep's milk.

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 25 min

"I had three kids in three years when I was a 'young married' in my twenties," writes Sheryl Hurd-House of Jupiter, Florida. "That’s when I started cooking and realized I liked it. But I’m having even more fun cooking now that our children are grown and it’s just me and my husband, Garry." Fresh greens and a variety of colorful veggies add up to a great salad you can throw together in minutes.

Let the supermarket do the roasting; mayonnaise and tarragon are the secret to great flavor here. Serve with: Marinated grilled vegetables and French-style potato salad. Dessert: Fresh raspberries with whipped cream and sugar cookies.

I know of no better way with strawberries than this quick and simple method. You don't need an ice cream machine to make this sorbet, just a little sugar, water, and a food processor.

Round out the picnic with a green bean salad, peaches, and biscotti.

If you make the components of this hors d'oeuvre ahead, stir together the filling ingredients just before serving the first batch. Keep the remaining filling chilled, covered, and spoon it into the remaining cucumber cups as platters need replenishing.

"During a vacation in Scottsdale, Arizona, my brother-in-law took me to his favorite restaurant, Cowboy Ciao," writes Linden Avery of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. "It serves a very colorful, delicious chopped salad called a Stetson. Could you get the recipe so I can re-create it at home?" This main-course salad is presented with the ingredients lined up in rows. For convenience, you could just toss the salad instead.

These parfaits (or budini — Italian for "puddings") of ultra-creamy mascarpone layered with Marsala-soaked strawberries perfectly illustrate the way of dessert in Italy: utterly simple, not too sweet, and delicious.

Yogurt gives this dip a refreshing tang.