Easy

This is an excellent accompaniment to meat or fish; it can also be served as an entrée.

Serve this dish with a platter of mixed garden tomatoes drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with coarse salt.

Toasting couscous in the pan before adding water imparts a nuttiness that complements the distinctive flavors of mint and parsley.

To make this recipe in advance, dice the beet and prepare as directed in step 1, and refrigerate it in the liquid, covered, up to 1 day.

This recipe was developed by Christopher Israel, formerly the chef and a co-owner at one of Bruce Carey’s restaurants.

You can substitute frozen pearl onions for fresh, if you like, and skip step 1.

If you would prefer a simple lemon risotto, omit the asparagus and peas.

This recipe is a good way to use any leftover rice you might have; it can easily be doubled.

This island staple is also known as “Jamaican coat of arms.” Some people add chiles to make it spicy, but we like it mild and slightly sweet to complement the heat of jerk chicken. For this dish, there’s no need to soak the kidney beans before cooking.

To remove individual Brussels sprout leaves, cut the stem out of each sprout and gently ease apart all the leaves.

This lasagne was designed for a deep-dish baking pan. You can use a standard 9 × 13-inch baking pan, but you will have excess sauce; the sauce can be frozen and used over pasta another time. The lasagne can be assembled up to 1 day ahead and left to cool completely. Cover, unbaked, and refrigerate up to 1 day in advance, or freeze, unbaked, up to 3 weeks in advance. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator; bake as directed below.