Garlic

The sauce for this dish can also be served over chicken, or even shrimp or scallops.

A versatile dish for the family or for casual entertaining. The chili is also good without the cornmeal topping, served with corn bread alongside.

This soup is particularly delicious when made with sweet white corn. Serve it as an appetizer or with an avocado and orange salad for a luncheon or a light dinner.

Here's the real thing — far more vividly colored, textured and flavored than the stuff that comes out of a can, and far more comforting. A drizzle of lemon-rosemary cream gives this classic American soup an Italian touch.

This soup is also wonderful hot.

This salsa from Jane Butel's cooking school in Albuquerque, New Mexico is great with fajitas or as a dip for chips.

Neapolitan in origin, this make-ahead savory pie is delicious either warm or at room temperature.

(Bistecca ai Ferri con Rucola e Parmigiano) Bistecca ai ferri (beefsteak grilled over the fire) is sometimes called bistecca alla fiorentina; it is the signature dish of Florence, but the people of Cortona, in eastern Tuscany, also claim it as theirs. No matter where it's from, grilled steak is perhaps the most classic and luxurious Tuscan beef dish. Any succulent, thick-cut steak will do, although Tuscan chefs prefer porterhouse or T-bone, especially from their local Chianina cows. The meat is coated in oil and garlic, then grilled and served on a bed of arugula with lemon wedges and shaved Parmesan. Use only genuine Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese; a vegetable peeler makes it easy to shave thin, curling strips.

In Cuba, this versatile side dish is known as congrí. Louisiana has its own version of red beans and rice, of course, but in that one you won't find the oregano, cumin or cilantro.

(Hot and Sweet Dipping Sauce)<P> This sauce is also delicious with grilled pork or lamb.<P> This recipe was created to accompany <epi:recipeLink ="14426">Thai Grilled Chicken</epi:recipeLink>.<P> Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Try these inside an omelet, with steak or on toast as a first course or snack.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.