Chicken

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time.

Try preparing this salad for casual luncheons.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Serve white rice with saffron on the side, and orange sorbet topped with chocolate shavings for dessert. Look for the herbes de Provence in the spice aisle at the market.

When cooking for my college roommates years ago, I discovered that although tuna-fish casserole is consumed in millions of households, love of mother's own must be imprinted during infantile nurturing. As my friends summarily banished all my childhood favorites, I concluded that a hankering for mother's recipes could be used to distinguish genuine family from interlopers (call it genetic tasting). But I soon forgot the recipes. So, it took a call to Pam Ross, my sister and sole surviving mother in our clan, to retrieve this cholesterol-boosting pleaser from our Mom. My nieces like it, and it doesn't wear out the cook. Pam serves it with garlic mashed potatoes.

"While vacationing in northeastern Minnesota, I had dinner at the Cove Point Lodge in Beaver Bay. The highlight of my meal there was called Lucca pasta, a blend of fettuccine, chicken and vegetables in a creamy, slightly spicy sauce," says Debra Adam of St. Paul, Minnesota.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This can also be made with turkey cutlets.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

In this beautiful main course, served at Le Bec-Fin in Philadelphia, a mixture of dried apricots, raisins, mushrooms, tomatoes and spinach is the surprise filling.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

(Braised Chicken with Vinegar and Tarragon)

At New York's Nosmo King (the name is a clever twist on "no smoking"), Alan Harding does a terrific job of cooking upscale food with almost entirely organic ingredients.