Parsley

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Alice Marcus Solovy of Skokie, Illinois, writes: "When I was 12 years old, my mother taught me how to make my first pie crust. My father said it tasted just like his grandmother's, and I was very flattered. That's basically the story of how I started cooking. After almost a lifetime in the kitchen, I still enjoy playing around with recipes. I've even been known to go out to dinner, taste a certain dish, and then re-create it at home in a few tries."

Serve with: Buttered noodles and steamed Swiss chard. Dessert: A bakery Linzertorte.

Pommes de Terre Chateaubriand Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 45 min

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 25 min

This salad was inspired by a classic Salade Niçoise with its fresh anchovies, potatoes and green beans, and one offered to me by Alice Waters, owner of Chez Panisse, who comes to France every year to avail herself of, among other things, the fine green beans of summer.

(Adapted from The Keeper's House) Charmoula is a Moroccan fish marinade traditionally made with tomatoes, lemon, paprika, garlic, cumin, and cilantro.

These five-ingredient sardine toasts make the perfect party snacks to pass around during cocktail hour.

These bruschette from the cookbook Simple to Spectacular by Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Mark Bittman (Broadway Books), look both simple and beautiful. Each is topped with an array of mushrooms—shiitake, cremini, and chanterelle —that is set off by fresh tarragon. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 45 min

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. =

Here's a versatile pesto. It's great with goat cheese as an appetizer, mixed with balsamic vinegar as a vinaigrette, spread on sandwiches, tossed with steamed carrots, or mixed with a little cream and chicken broth and served over pasta.