Saute

Roasted baby potatoes and steamed asparagus with blue-cheese dressing make appealing sides. Layer sugared sliced strawberries and whipped cream in goblets for dessert.

Bottled vinaigrette adds a tangy twist to the chicken. This stylish dish goes well with couscous. Molasses cookies and vanilla ice cream sprinkled with chopped crystallized ginger would be a lovely finish.

This salmon is wrapped in rice paper, which gets very crisp when sautéed.

Cemitas de Carne Enchilada A cemita is an oversize, slightly sweet, sesame seed bun that gives this Pueblan sandwich its name. Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 3 hr

Mark Taylor of West Hartford, Connecticut, writes: "I started cooking out of necessity when I first graduated from college, since I couldn't afford to eat out. Having grown up watching my mother cook for our large family, I used her recipes. She was always trying new dishes whenever we had guests and sharing her adventurous attitude toward eating. These days, even though my wife and I both work, we still cook several times a week. Now I tend to rely on recipes I've picked up from restaurants and friends. I enjoy experimenting with different ingredients and figuring out new ways to improve a recipe, as I've done with the one here." Serve the fish and sauce over couscous.

Purchased roasted sweet red peppers, available in jars, make this snappy relish very easy to prepare.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

At the restaurant, the hash comes with eggs, served either poached or over easy.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

An elegant entrée in about 15 minutes — using ingredients you are likely to have on hand. Serve the chicken with mashed potatoes and baby peas or a Bibb lettuce salad for a balanced weeknight meal. Finish with a raspberry tart from the bakery.

A yellow pepper purée gives these egg white omelets color and tenderness without adding fat.

The moist interior and crisp crust call out for a main course of roast chicken or fish with pan juices.

The greens in this recipe are inspired by Vietnamese-style herb salads.

One of my favorite meals was made by finding some leftover meat or fish and some cooked rice, and tossing them in a skillet with whatever caught our fancy. When you're good and hungry, a mixed-up quick meal tastes every bit as good as any long pot [long-cooked dish]. And you don't have to wait.