Pea

This colorful couscous can be prepared in about 15 minutes. To cut that down to 10 minutes, mince the carrots in a processor.

Ginger and garlic give these pea pods a hint of Asian flavor, but we think they're a good all-purpose side dish.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

We've called for live lobsters in this recipe, but, to save time, you could use 1 pound (about 3 cups) cooked lobster meat from your fish market.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This lemony pasta dish is great with sesame breadsticks and a salad of sliced tomatoes and Vidalia onions in a red-wine vinaigrette. End with hazelnut cookies and a mixed-melon compote splashed with Champagne.

Vignarola You'll find this dish in trattorias all over Rome during the spring. The long, slow cooking causes the vegetables to lose their bright color, but the sweet flavor of the stew makes up for its rather bland appearance. Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 1 3/4 hr

This recipe makes great use of the tough outer leaves of romaine, which are often discarded.

If you can get fresh shelled peas, cook them in a pan of boiling water until they are just tender, 3 to 5 minutes, then drain and toss them with the chives, zest, and pepper. Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 40 min

This stew is great served with noodles.

Peas and chives really dress up this side dish.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.<P> This recipe originally accompanied epi:recipeLink="101050"Rack of Lamb with Spinach Pine-Nut Crust and Minted Pea Sauce</epi:recipeLink>.

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.

These hors d'oeuvres should be served warm, so fry a couple of batches at a time as platters need replenishing.

Valerie Silveira of Bellevue, Washington, writes: "My husband and I recently dined at Cafe Juanita in nearby Kirkland, where we had a lovely appetizer of pasta with a creamy lemon sauce and prosciutto. That was six weeks ago, and I've been thinking about this marvelous dish ever since. I would very much appreciate your publishing the recipe so that others could enjoy it, too."