Canned Tomato

Make garlic-rubbed baguette toasts for mopping up the sauce. What to drink: Brut Champagne or a dry, aromatic white wine, like Viognier.

"I had three kids in three years when I was a 'young married' in my twenties," writes Sheryl Hurd-House of Jupiter, Florida. "That's when I started cooking and realized I liked it."

North African spices combine with a touch of honey and lemon in a refreshing summer soup.

At Babbo in New York, chef Mario Batali serves this dish with freshly made pappardelle pasta. We've simplified the entrée for the home cook by substituting purchased fettuccine.

Albóndigas con Salsa de Tomate y Chile de Serrano This is served with traditional Mexican White Rice .

Microwaving the potatoes before baking helps cook them quickly, but the regular oven will produce a crispy skin. Have a mixed green salad garnished with Greek olives and roasted red peppers to start. End with vanilla custard and butter cookies.

Cid Prevost, Kansas City, Mo.
An ad director who collects cookbooks (last count: 300-plus), Cid grows 14 varieties of herbs in her garden: "For this chili, I use my own cilantro, basil and bay leaves."

Veal and pork combine in the rustic sauce.

Petto di Pollo alla Valdostana con Lenticchie Brasate I sometimes suggest some side dishes to go along with main courses and let you make up your mind which you prefer to serve. I love this combination so much, though, that I'm including the side dish as part of the recipe. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

H.F. Lippincott of Montgomery, Alabama, writes: "The chicken marengo at O'Briens Bistro, in Pensacola, Florida, is delicious. I'd love to have the recipe."

Serve with: A green salad and crusty bread.

Although bisques tend to be thick and creamy, the following intensely flavorful version is light, with very little cream added.

No-boil noodles cut down on the prep time.

The people of Tuscany are known in Italy as mangiafagioli, or bean eaters, and when I was in Florence as an art history student and then in Lucca as a teacher I learned the reason why. All the trattorie served fagioli all'uccelletto for only a few lire. I was fortunate to find an Italian friend in Arkansas who had a recipe.