Bean and Legume

Cilantro, sour cream, grated cheddar or Jack cheese, chopped red or green onion and salsa would be great toppings. Look for chorizo in the refrigerated meat or deli case.

Sosizza chi Linticchi The hearty, warming goodness of this one-course meal is only increased by its utter simplicity of preparation. Accompany the stew with crusty bread.

Serve with: Warmed flatbread. Dessert: Vanilla pudding with sliced mango.

Roasting the lamb, instead of braising, intensifies its flavor.

Fèves au Lard Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 4 1/2 hr

Navain d'Agneau Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 2 hr

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 1 hr

The Moroccan theme continues with this delicious salad and the vegetable kebabs .

"On Saturday mornings I like to go to the farmers' market near my house and buy whatever produce is at its peak," writes Justin Kulongowski of Portland, Maine. "One weekend I came home with all the ingredients to make this great salad."

This salad was inspired by a couple of dishes our food editors encountered at restaurants in Rome.

This recipe offers a prime example of cooking à la minute because the entire dish can be prepared and executed very quickly. (It also uses few enough ingredients that you could purchase all of them in the express lane of your local supermarket on the way home from work.) After sautéeing the halibut, the fish is removed from the pan, which is then deglazed with white wine and fresh lemon juice. Butter is swirled in gradually to yield a rich, flavorful sauce — punctuated by scallions, capers, and diced tomato — that is simply poured over the fish; its pleasing citric acidity and buttery richness make it a perfect foil for the halibut.

I came up with this recipe one day when I was boiling a big old hen for chicken soup and had plenty of meat left over, but if you don't care to fool with that, the casserole can easily be made with a nicely roasted chicken picked up in a deli or supermarket.

Complete the menu with a tomato and red onion salad, sourdough bread, and poached pears (or canned) with raspberry sauce.