Easy

Keep in mind: 1 pound fresh mushrooms = 1 quart; 1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms = 2 1/2 cups; 1/2 pound diced fresh mushrooms = 2 cups; 3/4 pound (3 cups) sliced or quartered fresh mushrooms = 2 cups sautéed mushrooms

Traditional chowders all start off with a hearty soup base of onions and potatoes, and that makes a good soup just by itself. To this fragrant base you then add chunks of fish, or clams, or corn, or whatever else seems appropriate.

Of all main-course salads, the Niçoise is my all-time favorite, with its fresh butter-lettuce foundation; its carefully cooked, beautifully green green beans; its colorful contrast of halved hard-boiled eggs, ripe red tomatoes, and black olives; all fortified by chunks of tunafish and freshly opened anchovies. It’s a perfect luncheon dish, to my mind, winter, summer, spring, and fall—an inspired combination that pleases everyone.