Bell Pepper

To make this dish especially fast and easy to prepare, you can use store-bought roasted peppers.

Look for wild salmon fillets. You can ask the fishmonger to remove the pinbones, or remove them at home with tweezers. Serve with: Alsatian Riesling • sautéed sugar snap peas • rice pilaf with watercress and green onions • white chocolate crème brûlée

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Editors note: This recipe was written in 1991, before Southeast Asian ingredients were widely available. For a more authentic take on the dish, substitute rice noodles for the capellini or thin spaghetti. (To cook: Soak the rice noodles in a large bowl of cold water for 15 minutes, then drain the noodles, and boil in salted water until tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain the noodles, rinse under cold water, and drain again.) You can also replace the dried hot red pepper flakes with an equal amount of sambal oelek, and use 1 1/2 tablespoons (or more to taste) fish sauce in place of the soy sauce and anchovy paste. Also: Feel free to use flank or skirt steak in place of the shell steak, adjusting the cooking time as necessary.

Anne Rowland of Cohasset, Massachusetts, writes: "The Quincy Ships Brewing Company, south of Boston, is one of our favorite places. We especially love their citrus salsa, which they serve with chips." The restaurant has closed, but this spicy salsa is as good as ever.

These tiny tamales can be made a day or two ahead with no compromise. Corn is the essential flavor here, so be sure yours is sweet and fresh by tasting each ear. In the absence of fresh corn you can use frozen, but you should taste that, too.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This quick dish gets its flavor from fresh tangerine peel as well as the fruit's juice. To make easy work of grating the peel, choose tangerines with firm skin and store them in the refrigerator. Then use a hand grater or a Microplane grater-zester to grate the peel.

This is what I call a fridge-eater recipe. The key here is getting a nice sear on the sausage and cooking the tomato down until it coats the sausage and vegetables well.

This one-pot dinner cooks chicken thighs directly on top of a bed of flavorful cilantro rice studded with black beans for a complete dinner.

Letting just-grilled, still-warm peppers marinate in a bright and punchy vinaigrette allows the flavors to permeate even further.

This stunner of an appetizer comes together with boquerones and a few pantry staples.

Sweet-sour peppers meet crispy chickpeas, torn croutons, and a creamy swoosh.

We swapped hard-to-find parathas for flour tortillas in this riff on paneer kathi rolls. With a tangy yogurt sauce and filling veg, it’s the ideal to-go lunch.

A 20-minute dinner everyone will ask for again.

This Cajun shrimp fried rice is a quick and easy delight, packed with vibrant vegetables including a blend of bell pepper, onion, and garlic.

With a bag of frozen pearl onions (so cute, no peeling required!) and a bag of mini sweet peppers, you’re well on your way to dinner.