Bon Appétit

Zucchini and dill add a fresh twist to the classic, which is a winner served with other summer classics, like sandwiches, hot dogs, burgers and barbecued chicken.

Garnish with grapefruit, orange and lime segments if you like.

At The Bistro of the beautiful Hotel Maison de Ville in New Orleans, chef Dominique Macquet uses crawfish in this Creole starter. We've substituted the more readily available shrimp. Chef Macquet serves garlic toasts alongside.

Bente Birkedal-Hansen of Bethesda, Maryland, says that Azalea Restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama, does a great job with catfish, serving the whole fish with an Asian-style black bean sauce. It would make an impressive main course at a dinner party. If whole catfish are difficult to get at your local supermarket, order them from the fishmonger and have the fish cleaned.

The hearty sauce is also great over couscous.

A rich-tasting low-fat chowder with lots of spicy curry flavor.

Fresh mint and lemon peel are combined with feta and chevre in this topping. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Light cookies are filled with dessert-wine ice cream and fruit. The recipe makes about six cookies, so there's an allowance for breakage or extras for nibbling.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe was created to accompany Roasted Salmon with Salsa Verde .

A wonderful cookie to bake with kids. Have them cut out their own snowflake stencils, then let the powdered sugar fly. Lace doilies also work well as stencils.

Start this meatless meal with artichokes filled with a lemon mayonnaise for dipping, and serve the risotto with a mixed green and cherry tomato salad and a basket of toasted herb bread. To polish things off, set out a purchased raspberry tart.

A light dessert that is made extra easy by the use of purchased fruit juice. No ice cream maker required.

Pasta, a recent addition to the Irish culinary repertoire, is fast becoming a favorite. At Longueville House in Mallow, Ireland, ravioli is taken to refined heights in this dish, which is served as an appetizer. They make it with large rounds of homemade pasta, but store-bought gyoza wrappers are a good substitute.