Vegan

This Moroccan-style dipping sauce would also be delicious on grilled chicken or fish. Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 1 hr

This innovative and refreshing dish is just right for warm weather parties. Use only one variety of melons or an assortment, but be sure they are the ripest available. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less, but requires additional unattended time.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 1 hr

Arabs brought the eggplant to Sicily in the late tenth century and, in fact, the Italians once called eggplant radice arabica, or Arab root. It is an integral ingredient in Sicilian cuisine, and the variety of recipes featuring it — the most famous being caponata — is astounding. Sicilians often serve room-temperature vegetable preparations as appetizers. In this one, a caper-flavored tomato sauce "blankets" the eggplant.

Cavolo nero is a member of the kale family and is available year-round in the United States. The reason you might have trouble finding it at farm stands, specialty produce markets, or natural foods stores is because of its many aliases: Tuscan kale, black cabbage, lacinata, lacinato, dinosaur kale, flat black cabbage, thousand-headed cabbage. Its rich, sweet, almost meaty flavor will have you hooked with the first bite. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 30 min

We loved L.A. chef Mary Sue Milliken's crisp baked-tortilla crackers in her pool-party menu (August 2000). Here, we invent our own version of them.

Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 45 min We created this recipe using Louis P. De Gouy's article on green salad and agree with the quote he includes from Fred Allen: "A salad should be dressed like Dorothy Lamour — adequate but lightly."

Active time: 2 hr Start to finish: 3 hr (plus 1 week for flavors to develop)

This recipe was created to accompany Tomatillo Salsa . Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Typical Danish ingredients are featured in this easy-to-make condiment; it would be wonderful incorporated into a vinaigrette for cold poached salmon.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Orange juice adds zip to the dressing.

Can be prepared for 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.