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Carey Paquette of Arlington, Virginia, writes: "My boyfriend and I cook almost every night as a way to unwind. It's nice to come home after a hectic day and make dinner together rather than pull something prepackaged out of the freezer. One of our favorite things is grilled vegetables. I'm always adding them to meals, since they don't need a lot of preparation. They're the key ingredients in my popular chicken sandwiches."

If you make these as a side dish for the southern fried catfish, you can fry them in the same oil, but cook the hush puppies first because the fish will flavor the oil.

If you can't find Thai anise basil and Thai lemon basil, you can substitute Italian basil and lemon balm (the latter is available at farmers markets and specialty produce stores).

Caramelized pears plus dried apricots, cranberries, and prunes add intense fruit flavor to this stuffing from Rochelle Palermo Torres, a freelance recipe developer and cooking teacher.

Serve this curry with condiments such as dried currants, sliced green onions, shredded coconut and toasted slivered almonds.

In addition to the herb mayonnaise and blue cheese coleslaw, sliced tomatoes would be perfect alongside.

Fennel seeds, balsamic vinegar, roasted peppers, and caramelized onions really rev up this easy side dish.

These hors d'oeuvres should be served warm, so reheat the arepas in batches as platters need replenishing.

For a light meal, all you need is some crusty French bread and a garden salad to go with this comforting soup.

Here's a tangy dressing that is great on sliced tomatoes, mixed greens, hard-boiled eggs, or cold steamed potatoes.

This recipe adapts traditional Indian tandoori cooking for a barbecue. The chicken needs to marinate overnight, so start this one day ahead.

Serve this dish with brown rice.

Apples bring a mild sweetness to this rich soup, which can be made a day ahead.

For a meatless pizza, skip the prosciutto and add sautéed sliced portobello mushrooms.

If Cabrales is difficult to find in your area, it can be ordered on-line from tienda.com. Italian Gorgonzola can also be substituted. Serve the onions and the Roasted Red Peppers with Garlic with plenty of crusty bread. What to drink: Albariño. This fragrant Spanish white varietal is a smooth match with the starters and the red snapper baked in salt.

Serve this on its own, or use it for chalupas, tacos, or nachos.