Garlic

A quick version of the traditional Sicilian dish pasta con le sarde. Accompany it with herbed focaccia topped with goat cheese, as well as a salad of roasted red bell peppers. Finish the meal with a fresh fruit tart. This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Annatto seed seasoning paste

This recipe is an accompaniment for Southern Fried Chicken . Make sure you leave the peel on the potatoes, to add extra flavor and texture to this comforting side dish.

Becky Johnson of Nonesuch, Kentucky, asks, "Can you request the recipe for the tomato soup with garlic croutons from Gramercy Tavern in Manhattan? It’s a delicious reminder of a lunch I had there with friends."

Accompany the shrimp with grilled zucchini and yellow squash.

This colorful dish plays with the Basque sauté of red and green bell peppers. The Sherry wine vinegar gives the salad a delicious sweet-tangy edge.

The delicately flavored fruit chayote is ubiquitous in the central highlands of Mexico. It varies greatly in size, ranges in color from white to dark green, and can have prickly or smooth skin. The variety most commonly available in the United States (also known as a vegetable pear or mirliton) has smooth, pale green skin that can be eaten but is sometimes removed.

The extra-virgin olive oil from Countess Lisa-Contini Bonacossi's estate is a favorite of mine and an important element in Lisa 's great cooking. She has an easy going style, changing recipes according to what's in the garden and larder, and is hard to pin down about quantities. Lisa slices her zucchini with an electric meat slicer. I use the 3-mm. blade of my food processor to slice by hand, not with the machine. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

A favorite accompaniment is the rice-shaped pasta called orzo.

Lemon juice is an integral part of this classic dish. Choose the smallest clams possible, and make sure not to overcook them.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Escalivada, from Catalonia in northeastern Spain, is a mixture of vegetables roasted in the ashes of a slow fire. Plenty of wood chips add a smoky nuance here; the finished vegetables are offered at room temperature in a roasted-garlic vinaigrette.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.