Easy

To complete the meal, add a side of spaghetti or other pasta tossed with a little olive oil and some grated Parmesan cheese, and seasoned with salt and pepper.

Wrapping the stir-fried chicken in lettuce keeps this dish lower in calories and carbohydrates than it would be if served with tortillas. You could omit the lettuce and serve the chicken over rice, if desired.

Browning the chicken seals in the juices and keeps the inside moist and flavorful. This recipe can be made with pork cutlets instead of chicken. For an earthier flavor, substitute shiitake, cremini, or wild mushrooms for the white mushrooms.

For a break from roast chicken, try these smaller hens, which cook in about half the time it takes for a chicken. If you like, substitute four bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (10 to 12 ounces each) for the Cornish hens.

Using canned beets keeps the prep time to a minimum, but you can substitute roasted beets if you wish (see note below).

This simply dressed assortment of wholesome vegetables and legumes is full of bright color, texture, and flavor. Serve it as a starter or side at dinner, and save any leftovers for lunch the next day.

Try this slightly spicy salad with roast pork or chicken. Shredding the vegetables in a food processor makes the preparation lightning fast; you can shred them on a four-sided box grater instead, but it will increase the prep and total times.

Large, with a firm, sweet flesh, Fujis are good for snacking, cooking, and mixing into salads like this one. Unlike many other apples, their taste actually improves with age.

Oats lend an interesting texture to this soup, but because they are added in such a small quantity and are puréed with the rest of the ingredients, they’re impossible to detect.

With fresh ginger, garlic, and lime, this Thai-style soup imparts lovely fragrance and warmth on a cool autumn evening. Adjust the amount of red pepper flakes depending on how spicy you want the soup to be.

Substitute other available squashes or even pumpkin if you can’t find butternut. Toss leftover spicy pumpkin seeds into a salad, or enjoy them on their own as a snack.

Often reserved for breakfast, crumb is just as satisfying when served for dessert. Replace the blueberries with other berries or sliced apples or plums, if desired.

Not only is this one of the simplest desserts to prepare—it’s also low in calories and virtually fat-free. Because it is so light and refreshing, it’s a perfect ending to a heavy meal.

A ginger-infused simple syrup flavors slices of store-bought pound cake in this easy but spectacular summer dessert. The recipe is versatile: feel free to substitute other berries, or try slices of peaches, plums, or apricots.

You may not have thought of cooking peaches before, but they are delicious hot off the grill and topped with dollops of sweetened sour cream and crumbled cookies.

Here’s a clever idea for serving store-bought ice cream. The snowballs are especially fun for children. You will need 1 1/2 cups of topping total. Use toffee chips straight from the bag, or crush up your own favorite candies.