Leafy Greens

In this easy starter, a mix of tangy blue cheese, chopped toasted walnuts and peppery arugula makes a delicious topping for baguette toasts.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. For a side dish, serve couscous mixed with sautéed red bell pepper, carrots and dill. Buy a strawberry tart to finish.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Mustard greens, increasingly common in supermarkets today, cook as quickly as fresh spinach. Their assertive taste is terrific here in a warming winter soup.

This simple apple salad got its name from the luxurious Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. Invented in 1896 not by a chef but by the maître d'hôtel Oscar Tschirky, the Waldorf salad was an instant success. As often happens, many variations evolved—some with raisins, some with chopped nuts. This one has green apples and red seedless grapes.

It’s little wonder that lasagna became the informal party dish of the fifties and sixties-it can be assembled ahead of time, it freezes well, and it is a delicious and inexpensive way to feed a crowd. In this contemporary-and meatless-version, "no-boil" noodles eliminate a step, and bottled pasta sauce stands in for homemade.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Here's a nice salad for fall and winter; mustard and orange give the great-tasting dressing plenty of zip.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.