Oven Bake

This unusual dish — which combines biscuits, tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese — is a cross between a meatless lasagna and a pizza bread. It's a terrific quick supper; just add a mixed green salad.

Start this easy Greek-style meal with a refreshing salad of tomatoes, cucumber, chopped red onion and Kalamata olives tossed with olive oil and lemon juice. Drizzle orange sections with ouzo, the Greek anise-flavored liqueur, to wind it up.

The flavorful olive salad is also nice with sea bass, red snapper or tuna. Serve with steamed new potatoes, and uncork a Sauvignon Blanc to go with dinner.

Sweet potatoes have been cultivated in the South since at least the 1700s. A touch of cardamom gives this dish modern flair.

Turnip plants were brought to America by early French and English settlers.

Excellent with crackers, on crusty country bread or served as a dip with crudités.

(Fiori di Zucca Ripieni) Of all the aspects of Tuscan cuisine, not one stands out as much as its overwhelming variety of fresh vegetables. Zucchini is a favorite, of course, and so are the blossoms. The sweet, succulent flowers are prepared in countless ways, including fried, sautéed and, as in the following recipe, stuffed and baked. If you don't have zucchini in your garden, look for the blossoms in the supermarket or at a farmers' market. They are usually sold still attached to baby zucchini, which is how they are used in this recipe.

Look for black sesame seeds in the Asian foods section of a specialty market. If you can't find them, use white seeds instead.