Pea

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

If you thought you couldn't cook Thai food at home, this colorful and slightly spicy curry-a bit of a cross between a soup and a stew-will change your mind. It's a cinch to whip up after work and intriguing enough to impress your friends. Begin dinner with frozen egg rolls or take-out ones from a Chinese restaurant, and finish things off with ice cream or sorbet topped with chopped tropical fruit. GewÜrztraminer or Thai beer complements the menu nicely.

Begin with melon slices and prosciutto; alongside the soup, serve baguette slices with a garlic and herb cheese spread, then offer macaroons and apricots afterward.

Pho, the Vietnamese noodle soup, is traditionally made with long-cooked beef stock. Our quick version calls for deli sliced beef and canned beef broth instead.<

Celery root, a popular fall vegetable, tastes like a cross between celery and parsley.

Accompany the risotto with a lettuce and radicchio salad, and pass a basket of poppy-seed breadsticks. A strawberry tart would be a nice way to end the meal. See how to finely chop herbs.

This salad is so much lighter and fresher-tasting than mayonnaise-based versions. It gets crispy sweetness from sugar snaps and peppers and nuttiness from tahini. Keep in mind that tahini can turn rancid rather quickly (even in unopened cans, in our experience). We recommend buying it from a place with a high turnover, such as a Middle Eastern market or a natural foods store. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 2 hr

Neither peas nor potatoes are indigenous to North America. Peas were introduced in the seventeenth century and flourished over time. While sweet potatoes were popular with the settlers, white potatoes took getting used to; they had to cross the Atlantic twice (from South America to Europe, then from Ireland to the colonies) before they were widely grown.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.