30 Minutes or Less

This pizza is made with no toppings other than oil and salt and should be served as a snack. It's not really a cracker, but it's crisper than focaccia. Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 25 min

A gift from Native American cooks, hominy is dried, hulled corn kernels. Sold rehydrated in cans, it also makes a great addition to soups, stews, and casseroles.

Chef Jimmy Bradley's wonderfully simple combinations of texture and flavor at New York City's The Red Cat were the inspiration for this zucchini dish—it makes a great accompaniment to "lazy lasagne." Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 20 min

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 20 min

Active time: 10 min Start to finish: 10 min

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Roasted baby potatoes and steamed asparagus with blue-cheese dressing make appealing sides. Layer sugared sliced strawberries and whipped cream in goblets for dessert.

Silky and sweet, these onions add a sophisticated touch to adults' burgers (adventurous younger eaters will enjoy them, too).

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. "Goober"is a southern colloquialism for the peanut — and a great name for our ice cream sandwiches. Be sure to put these together before dinner so that they'll be frozen and ready to enjoy.

This salmon is wrapped in rice paper, which gets very crisp when sautéed.

This recipe is an accompaniment for Ginger Salad .

I typically toast 1/4 cup peppercorns at a time (it's hard to grind much less) and use any extra powder in seasoning rubs, flatbreads, and stir-fries. However, once ground, this spice quickly loses its pungency—discard it once it is no longer vibrantly fragrant.

Mark Taylor of West Hartford, Connecticut, writes: "I started cooking out of necessity when I first graduated from college, since I couldn't afford to eat out. Having grown up watching my mother cook for our large family, I used her recipes. She was always trying new dishes whenever we had guests and sharing her adventurous attitude toward eating. These days, even though my wife and I both work, we still cook several times a week. Now I tend to rely on recipes I've picked up from restaurants and friends. I enjoy experimenting with different ingredients and figuring out new ways to improve a recipe, as I've done with the one here." Serve the fish and sauce over couscous.