Saute

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This is a simplified version of the appetizer served at Olives, where the scallops are skewered with bacon before they are cooked.

Serve Cabernet Sauvignon with the steaks.

There are many different versions of this traditional island dish, which is known as sopas mallorquínas. Spanish smoked paprika (pimentón) is distinctive and worth seeking out for its unique flavor.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The use of raisins and pine nuts in lightly sweet-and-sour sauces probably came to Sicily from Turkey; these ingredients also turn up in the cooking of Venice, long a commercial gateway to Turkey and the East, but less commonly in the anchovy-and-tomato sauces that are so fundamental to the Sicilian kitchen. Note that the zucchini in this dish is cooked rather soft, in the traditional Italian manner; if you want a more contemporary crisp product, add the zucchini toward the end for a quick cooking in the thickened sauce.

Serve with: Shredded lettuce and radishes tossed with lemon vinaigrette, and Spanish rice. Dessert: Lime sherbet.

The wine glaze both balances the natural sweetness of the beets and intensifies the savory beet flavor. In Tuscany, this is a favorite side dish for game and fowl.

Don’t skip the first step of salting the eggplant slices; it draws out excess moisture so that the eggplant will absorb less oil and stay firm when cooked.

The wasabi powder, which can be found in the spice aisle or Asian foods section of most supermarkets, gives the crust a spicy kick. Serve with: Packaged Asian rice pilaf enlivened with a bit of lemon peel, and green beans sprinkled with sesame seeds. Dessert: Tapioca pudding.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Arugula replaces lettuce in this clever pasta dish. Serve with: Whole-wheat breadsticks and carrot sticks with blue cheese dip. Dessert: Cherry-vanilla ice cream cones.

Remember the green bean casserole made with nothing but convenience ingredients: frozen or canned green beans, canned cream of mushroom soup and, for the topping, canned fried onions? Here it is again, only fresher and better.

"My family loves Italian food," writes Seamus Ray of Annapolis, Maryland. "One of my best creations is this veal dish with eggplant; I serve it for special occasions."

PROVENCE This dish is typically made with pitted, brine-cured black olives (Kalamata or Niçois work well), but if olives cassées — the green, fennel-brined olives of Provence — can be found, try them here in equal quantity after draining them. Accompany the steaks with mushrooms sautéed with garlic and herbs. What to drink: A Rhône red, such as a Gigondas, or Syrah.