Bell Pepper

Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 45 min

Fine-grain bulgur, sometimes labeled "good for tabbouleh," is essential to this recipe, because coarsely ground bulgur will not soften when soaked in boiling water. A late-season tomato salad or sautéed cherry tomatoes with Indian flavors complete this meal.

The salsa is also delicious made with diced ripe mangoes.

Offer toasted pita bread triangles or toasted baguette slices with this tangy dip. It's nice with raw vegetables, too.

Turkey sausages would also be delicious. Accompany this with good bread; follow it with a salad and an assortment of cheeses.

Round out the main course with leaves of romaine lettuce topped with purchased guacamole and salsa; also offer rice pilaf. For dessert, spoon Kahlùa and chocolate sauce over coffee ice cream.

Louis Osteen makes his mayonnaise fresh, but we've substituted bottled mayonnaise to avoid raw egg yolks.

Have your butcher skin and bone the turkey thigh. Toss curly endive and radicchio with apple slices and cider vinaigrette for a salad. Orange sorbet with warm chocolate sauce and toasted pecans is a simple ending.

Chinese viceroy Li Hung Chang, visiting San Francisco's Palace Hotel in the 1890s, requested vegetables with a bit of meat "job suey," or "in fine pieces," and chef Joseph Herder obliged.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 30 min

In this colorful salsa, fennel, olives and rosemary combine with roasted bell peppers.

The garlic is added in two lots here to get two different flavors. The first amount is sautéed with other vegetables at the beginning of the recipe in good Italian or Spanish fashion. The second goes in near the end to provide a bite. The tomatoes provide most of the liquid.