Crab

You won't even need a fork for this no-fuss supper. Include some top-of-the line potato chips and mixed pickled vegetables on the menu, and have ice cream bars for dessert.

A nice do-ahead starter for an elegant meal.

"I literally didn't know how to boil an egg until I was in my 20s — when I tried to impress a guy by making dinner for him," writes Sally Siegel of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "I didn't have much success with the dinner or the guy, but I regrouped and put together a repertoire of fairly elegant dishes I felt confident making. Luckily, my husband, Loren, likes to cook as much as I do, so we really work as a team when we give dinner parties. We're both real estate agents, and we like to entertain clients — we've made some great friends by selling houses to them." Silky and light, this blender soup would make a delicate summer starter. Bonus: It comes together very quickly.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

For a particularly light and crunchy coating we used panko (coarse Japanese bread crumbs) on these crab cakes rather than regular bread crumbs. Panko is increasingly available in this country, not only in Asian markets but also in seafood shops.

Mini-tostadas are a popular Mexican bocadito, or finger food. Cotija is a crumbly white cheese sold at Latin markets and some supermarkets (feta cheese can be substituted.)

This is from Tabla, where it is served with tamarind chutney and pappadams, the savory wafers that accompany most Indian meals.

Chilpachole de Jaiba This typical dish is adapted from a recipe given to us by our official guide, Ricardo Muñoz. Although picking the crabmeat is time-consuming (enlist a friend to help), you will be rewarded with a truly exceptional soup.

These homemade sushi rolls are filled with avocado and crab.

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 35 min We recommend you use only fresh local corn when making this soup. The supersweet corn on the cob sold in plastic-wrapped packages in supermarkets yields an unpleasantly sweet soup. To make this soup vegetarian, simply omit the king crab.

If you are looking for a chowder that is deeply flavored and hearty but not overly rich, this is it. It's perfect for a casual occasion, but the "meatballs" deliver an element of surprise, along the lines of an optical illusion, and make it really quite special. The idea for this chowder came from an old San Francisco recipe for "Force Meatballs" in a cookbook called Joe Tilden's Recipes for Epicures (1907), reprinted in Richard Hooker's Book of Chowders. The "meatballs" were actually made from crabmeat, a fun idea that I knew had great potential. Tilden, a renowned Bay Area amateur cook, left only these instructions for his meatballs: "Serve in any fish chowder or soup." So I paired my version of his meatballs with a chowder that had flavors similar to cioppino, the famous San Francisco seafood stew flavored with garlic, onions, bell peppers, and tomatoes. I served it to my wife and kids, telling them only that it was "meatball chowder." The well-browned meatballs look like the real thing, so they were all a bit dumbfounded when they tasted them. My son, J.P., said "Wow, they taste like crab cakes!" Everybody loved the chowder!

Creamy lobster salad heaped onto a buttered, toasted hot dog bun is the quintessential summer sandwich in northeastern shore towns. This is an equally delicious — and more economical — variation. Serve with: Potato chips, sweet pickles, and carrot and celery sticks. Dessert: Blueberry pie and vanilla ice cream.

Don't let the unappetizing-sounding name fool you: I'm talking about mold as in "shape" here. I'm from New Orleans, which means I grew up with a lot of socializing, most of it centered around food. There, both the front door and the refrigerator door are always open for friends or family who drop in. My mother always seems to have a steady stream of visitors, whether it's a neighbor who's stopped by for tea, one of her many siblings who happen by at dinnertime, or me with a whole troop of friends in for Mardi Gras or Jazz Fest. True New Orleanian that she is, she always has something good to eat. This seafood mold is a common dish at parties all around the city, and as improvisation is the hallmark of New Orleans cooking, each chef has her own version. I haven't gotten to the stage where I've made my own mark on this recipe yet, so I just copy Mom's. This mold needs to be made at least a few hours in advance in order to give it time to set, but it's a delicious centerpiece to any hors d'oeuvres table. You can serve it with crackers, with thinly sliced, toasted French bread, or with vegetables. Sometimes Mom even serves this in boiled-egg halves, as a New Orleans–style variation on deviled eggs. Be creative!