Oven Bake

Giant beans in some form or another are never absent from Greek meze menus. The key to making this dish taste as good as possible is to use high-quality roasted sweet peppers preserved in extra virgin olive oil. I usually make my own oil, and have them on hand. All you need to do is roast the peppers whole under the broiler, let them cool, peel them, and store them in a container in the fridge covered with good olive oil. You can pour a few tablespoons of the pepper-infused oil into the baking dish for added flavor. As for the beans themselves, the trick is to get the texture right. Giant beans need first to be soaked, then boiled, and finally baked. Once done, they should be soft, almost buttery, without being baked to the point that they fall apart.

Active time: 10 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr

Assemble these four hours ahead, and rewarm them 20 minutes before serving.

Leaves of thyme combine with tomatoes to create an instant sauce in this dish. The foil-packet cooking method produces wonderfully flavorful juices; serve the fish over rice to savor every last drop.

Spinach and Feta Phyllo Triangles

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

Elisa Mazzaferro-Rosenberg of Fort Collins, Colorado, writes: "I love to entertain, but between coming home late — I just completed my Ph.D. in small animal clinical sciences — and feeding my husband, Adam, and myself plus our little family of five cats and two dogs, I haven't had the time to have friends over much."

When buying the dried chile for this recipe, be aware that a pasilla de Oaxaca is not the same as a regular pasilla chile. The former is smoked and has a very distinct flavor.

Most supermarkets have at least one type of spiced sausage. If you don't have the time to make cornbread, it usually is sold at BBQ restaurants and diners. This recipe is an accompaniment for Maple Ginger Roasted Turkey.

A magnificent centerpiece for Easter dinner.

It doesn’t look or taste like it, but this pizza is low-fat. Each slice has just 346 calories and 4 1/2 grams of fat.

Add a simple green salad to our updated version of the grilled cheese sandwich, and dinner is served.

Serve thick-cut french fries and a mixed-greens, beet and onion salad alongside the fish. Finish with a purchased custard pie; tall glasses of mint iced tea would complement all of it nicely.