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This version of a tagine, the classic Moroccan stew, calls for dark meat because it stays moist when braised. If you prefer white meat, reduce the cooking time by 15 minutes.

Meriel MacDonald of London, England, writes: "Having grown up at Kinloch Lodge, my family's hotel on the Isle of Skye, I truly understand what it means to be too busy to cook. There were always guests to attend to, telephones ringing, and other interruptions. Still, my mother found the time to cook while overseeing the hotel's day-to-day business. Today, she continues to run Kinloch Lodge, and over the years she has shared with me many of her recipes and cooking tips, which have helped me in my job as catering manager for a large advertising agency. For work events, I often rely on family recipes, because they're dependable and delicious. I also use many of those same recipes for simple home suppers during the workweek."

Rich and sweet, these onions are adapted from Angela Shelf Medearis's recipe for Honey-Baked Onions in The African-American Kitchen. They're great with baked ham, pork roast, or broiled chicken.

This is nice on cold nights, especially when you're craving something rich, comforting, and restorative. It's saucy and intensely flavored, with lots of interesting textures.

Serve the kebabs with some rice to round out the meal.

If you aren't a restaurant chef or caterer, you probably don’t want to cook a 40-pound round roast, which is what most Buffalo chefs use. But a nice eye of round, 4 to 6 pounds, works fine.

Here's our version of Barba Yianni's grilled lamb. The marinade works equally well with lamb chops, kebabs, or butterflied leg of lamb. You can also use it on pork or chicken. Skordalia is often made with mashed potatoes or bread soaked in water, but we feel the yogurt gives it more flavor. Skordalia is also good with grilled fish or chicken breasts.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time.

For a savory and simple dinner, serve this trout with some roasted potatoes and a green salad tossed with pears and crumbled blue cheese.

Green peppercorns can be found packed in brine in the specialty foods section of most large supermarkets.

NORMANDY In Normandy, this richly flavored stew would be served with a composed salad of watercress, shallots, and roasted beets. What to drink: Muscadet, Chablis, or unoaked Chardonnay.

Complete this weeknight "Sunday supper" with traditional fixings like chive-flecked mashed potatoes (don't worry—there's enough gravy for the potatoes, too) and buttered green beans. Baked maple apples would be delicious afterward.

Inspired by Middle Eastern cooking.

Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 1 hr

If you're from the South, you're probably used to collards cooked long and slow. What makes this simple, flavorful Brazilian dish unusual are greens that are finely sliced and barely cooked. Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 25 min

Makedonitiki Melitzanosalata Editor's note: The recipe below is excerpted from Diane Kochilas's book The Greek Vegetarian. Kochilas also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. To read more about Kochilas and Greek cuisine, click here.