Pasta

Think macaroni and cheese — only ten times better. This sophisticated version combines the nuttiness of Gruyère with the intense flavor of parmesan, juicy poached chicken, and a crisp, cheesy crust. If you're short on time, feel free to use cooked rotisserie chickens (see cooks' note, below). In that case, though, don't add salt to the sauce, as the stock made from the rotisserie chickens will already be salty.

Sophisticated yet incredibly easy, this dish brings the flavors of Sicily to your table.

If you like cauliflower, you'll love this pasta, with its slightly spicy mix of crisp, savory toppings.

Chef Michael Mina created this dish for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program. He loves this multicomponent dish because it is the essence of summer.

Pasta, cheese, and a few summer vegetables make a quick and easy main course.

Delicate crabmeat gives sweetness to a light citrus sauce served on top of pasta.

This dish focuses on the goodness of ripe tomatoes, letting them be just what they're meant to be — wonderful.

The classic combination of sausage and greens takes on a pasta companion in this warming dish that peaks with red-pepper flakes and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

This pasta dish would be a great side with grilled trout.

This dish is wonderful no matter what egg pasta you use. And the Greek feta can be found at most supermarkets.

This riff on traditional pasta salad gets an added layer of flavor from golden pearls of toasted couscous.

Maccheroncini al Pesce Spada This dish epitomizes what I have found true Sicilian cooking to be: fresh tasting, light, and fragrant.

It is important to cut the broccoli flowerets into pieces small enough to fit into the hollow of the orecchiette.

If you have to buy more than the amount of ground lamb needed for this recipe, use the leftover meat to make a juicy lamb burger a day or two later.

Few summer lunches are as nutritious and filling as this chilled Southwestern meal from the new Pasta Salad cookbook by Barbara Lauterbach (Chronicle Books). The recipe features whole-wheat rotini — that is, healthy carbs — for a fix of fiber, ripe summer vegetables, and heart-helping avocado. These are carbs you won't want to cut.

Although this dish is lower in fat due to the skim milk and reduced-fat cheese, you'll love it so much you may never resort to the fluorescent-orange boxed stuff again!

A simple dish from England's linguine genie, Nigella Lawson Like the rest of us, Nigella Lawson is ready for winter to be over. Her new book, Forever Summer (Hyperion), out next month, is full of recipes that scream summer. Crab, the star of this meal, costs less than lobster and has more zinc (which helps repair tissue in the body). Plus, the dish is quick, leaving more time to slather on the Self-tanner.

Lean, smoked chicken breast gets a special — and healthy — treatment in this creative mix. The couscous absorbs the citrus juices (or use quinoa for extra protein — it has the highest amount of all the grains) for a tartness that plays well off the sweetness of the grapes. The bed of arugula is more than merely dish dressing: It's high in calcium and magnesium, making it a bone builder.

Homemade, at least the way Self does it, fills you up without filling you out, but it takes an hour to make. Freeze the leftovers for quick meals that are more healthful than most of the ones you find in the freezer section of the supermarket.