Starter

The New Prospect Café, a health-oriented restaurant and catering company in Park Slope, Brooklyn, includes these curried sweet potato fritters on their Hanukkah menu. Add some fresh grated ginger to the pancakes for an Asian touch. Sweet potatoes need the flour to give the pancakes body.

This beautiful and delicious soup is served at The Kinloch Lodge Hotel.

If you cannot find smoked chicken, use smoked turkey instead.

The Mexican mash came from a shiva call! Aunt Lee was paying a condolence call on a friend when in Chicago and someone had made the dish. She asked for the recipe and I stole it from her. Now it's going to the Super Bowl!

My mother's neighbor Beth Yaffe serves this dip often at parties and barbecues. It's always the first thing to go!

This sophisticated soup and salad combination makes a cozy winter lunch for friends.

A nice hors d'oeuvre teaming fresh vegetables with a simplified version of rouille, the spicy red pepper and garlic sauce that typically accompanies French fish soups.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Purchased phyllo pastry is used here instead of a regular pie crust for quick and easy assembly. This tart is best when served at room temperature.

A combination of spicy, tangy and aromatic flavors, this light soup is also really satisfying.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Surround the dip with carrots sticks, cauliflower, fennel, yellow squash and zucchini slices for a colorful presentation. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.