Dairy

Crostini are toasted or grilled slices of bread with tasty toppings, often served as an appetizer. For a relaxed supper, put a plate of toasted baguette slices and bowls of various toppings on the table (however many you like or have time to make) and have a make-your-own crostini simple supper night. The Bread: Many bakeries can thinly slice a baguette for you in their slicing machine. You usually get about 25 slices per average baguette. Each of the toppings recipes makes enough topping for 15 to 20 baguette-sized crostini, although the number depends on how high you pile the toppings. Of course, you can make crostini with the larger Italian or French loaves, also. The slices should be 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick. Toast the baguette slices. There is a difference of opinion on how toasty they should be: Some people like them just lightly toasted, while others like them very dry and crisp, almost like croutons. The bread can be toasted a couple of hours or even days ahead of time. When the slices are cool, store them in a well-sealed container or plastic bag until you’re ready to assemble the crostini.

Mildly spicy, really homey, and satisfying. We’d like to acknowledge our friend Anne Kenney for the idea for this recipe.

This is the quintessential simple supper for many Italian families.

This bread salad makes a perfect summer meal with its ripe juicy tomatoes, basil, olives, and fresh mozzarella all tossed with crusty bread to soak up every drop of the juice!

This polenta, chock-full of earthy spinach, contrasts beautifully in both flavor and color with the sweet-tart tomatoes. (See photo)

Beer and Cheddar aren’t typical ingredients for risotto, but this dish sure is good!

In this delicious omelet, we borrowed the taste of garlic, caraway, and coriander from harissa, the classic Tunisian seasoning. The omelet can also be cut into wedges and served as an appetizer or as part of a tapas or antipasto platter.

This golden pudding sends out a wonderfully appetizing aroma as it bakes. You can keep it unbaked in the refrigerator for up to a day—just allow for more baking time.

This might be just the ticket when you’re looking for something tasty and really fast.

If you love spinach and feta, this simple supper is for you.

Because lentils cook quickly, they’re ideal for a simple supper. This thick, earthy stew, chock-full of protein, is most satisfying on a chilly fall or winter evening.

Is this really dinner? It is casual, messy finger food, but it has beans, grain, and cheese, it’s quite filling, and kids love it. We like Cheddar, Monterey Jack, or Mexican cheeses such asadero and queso quesadilla for this recipe.

This creamy, cold-weather casserole with a golden, crunchy topping can be assembled ahead and baked when you’re ready.

What a versatile dish! You can use almost any kind of cheese (or go vegan—see our suggestions below), and you can add leftover vegetables to the filling. Stuff the tomatoes one day and bake them the next—they’re just as tasty!

For a nice balance of color and flavor, use white potatoes and sweet potatoes in roughly equal amounts.

Feta cheese, garlic, and artichoke hearts are some of our favorite ingredients; here, they’re combined in a very simple pasta dish that packs a lot of flavor. For this dish, we make an instant creamy sauce by stirring hot pasta-cooking water into feta.

Here’s a simple supper to make in the chill of fall or winter, when the sweetness of the onions and the richness of the cheese is comforting.