Wrap

You can also make these with chicken, ham or roast pork.

"At the Manhattan law office where I'm a legal secretary, it seems as though the phones are always ringing," writes Lisa Caiazzo of Franklin Square, New York. "And if it isn't the phones that have me occupied, then there are lots of documents that need my attention. By the time I get home from the city, I usually have only about 45 minutes to put together dinner for my husband, Angelo, and myself. Still, that's enough time to make something filling and delicious, like a salad and a hearty pasta or soup. My best cooking, though, is done on Sundays during the fall and winter, when I become a football widow. An afternoon of cooking can be very therapeutic after a busy week." Any mixture of vegetables you have on hand would make a great filling. Serve the wraps with purchased salsa and sour cream.

Nearly everyone has tasted a Spring Roll, as they are served in dim sum houses and Chinese restaurants all over America: But a homemade Spring Roll is a rare treat. The roll should have a crackling crisp skin with a filling of fine shreds of mushroom, barbecued pork, celery, cabbage, and just a touch of bean sprouts. Most restaurant spring rolls are full of bamboo shoots, celery, and bean sprouts; have a chewy or soggy wrapper; and are seldom fried in fresh oil. The wrapping dough is available in most Chinese markets, sold as spring roll wrappers, and should be as thin as possible. There are about ten wrappers per package, although most packages do not indicated how many they contain. Keep the dough covered with a slightly damp cloth as you work with it, to prevent it from drying out.

The salsa has a nice balance of sweet and spicy flvaors and is a perfect compliment to purchased frozen spring rolls or egg rolls.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 30 min

Sweet, salty, and spicy, nuoc cham is the indispensable sauce of Vietnam's cuisine. It's a favorite dipping sauce for spring rolls and for fresh rice-paper rolls such as these.

In this recipe, tortillas are a supermarket stand-in for mandarin pancakes. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 35 min

To make the nori rolls in this recipe we used a bamboo sushi mat, available at Asian markets and some specialty shops. It's possible to make the rolls using a double thickness of aluminum foil instead of a sushi mat, but using a mat makes the process much easier.

Buy some potato salad and raw vegetable sticks to round out the menu; then offer fudgy chocolate cupcakes for dessert. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe can be made vegetarian by substituting either soy sauce or Bragg Liquid Aminos for the Nuoc Nam, a Vietnamese fish sauce made from anchovies which is used as a salty seasoning. The flavor will not be quite the same, but it will be equally satisfying.

We swapped hard-to-find parathas for flour tortillas in this riff on paneer kathi rolls. With a tangy yogurt sauce and filling veg, it’s the ideal to-go lunch.

Sugar-rubbed steaks and a bright, brash gochujang sauce bring bold flavor to these party-ready lettuce wraps.

A party-friendly spread that comes together in no time with marinated cuts of steak and meaty mushrooms.

This breakfast burrito recipe from Eric See requires shredded hash browns and New Mexico chiles. And that’s perfectly fine by us.