Bell Pepper

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional sitting time.

This is a great summer salad, perfect with all kinds of barbecue and grilled foods. It's also a wonderful way to brighten up a winter dinner of broiled chicken or beef.

"For my birthday," writes Cynthia Black of Kansas City, Missouri, "my husband took me to Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale. One night we ate dinner at Top of the Rock, a restaurant at the resort. As a side dish, they served incredible cheese and jalapeño grits." This colorful side dish would be delicious with roast chicken, steak, or pork.

The salsa has a nice balance of sweet and spicy flvaors and is a perfect compliment to purchased frozen spring rolls or egg rolls.

This dish is delicious over couscous, which will absorb the flavorful broth.

South of Goa, the coastline of Karnataka state is scalloped with palm, mango, and jackfruit trees. This recipe comes from the city of Mangalore, where it is usually made with bangade, a small fish resembling smelt. We used salmon for this curry. And, when we can find them, we toss in about 10 fresh curry leaves along with the onion, garlic, and gingerroot.

Many years ago there was a health food restaurant on Hollywood's famed Sunset Strip named The Aware Inn. It was the first to make hamburgers, called "Swingers," stuffed with a mix of onions, tomatoes, and green peppers — almost a salsa except it was sandwiched between the meat. They tasted so good, we have been preparing hamburgers this way ever since.

These fritters are called akara in Nigeria and Sierra Leone, and akla or koosé in Ghana. They're eaten as a snack, side dish, or breakfast, served with a hot pepper relish (ata). We think they make a great hors d'oeuvre. Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 9 hr (includes soaking time)

This soup can be pureed by pressing it through a strainer or a food mill. It can also be pureed in a blender and then strained.

Fill your plate with corn on the cob, sweet-potato chips, and dill pickles. For dessert, have watermelon wedges and sugar cookies.

Chris Gavenda, Wildwood, Mo.
For those of you who may not know, the tortilla chips form a crispy crust on the bottom of the casserole.

Go to your local farmers' market for a variety of fresh vegetables to serve with these flavored salts. You'll probably find yellow wax beans, pink radishes, slender asparagus, sweet bell peppers, and an assortment of teardrop, cherry, and grape tomatoes. Dip the veggies into the olive oil first, then the salt.

This fragrant mélange mixes starchy tastes with sweet. The dish is like a stir-fry, only it's done in the oven—a great, no-fuss way to cook a slew of vegetables.

This rich, savory dish (pronounced shrimp mah-lih-tone) is pure Cajun comfort food. In Louisiana it's often served as a side dish; it also works as a first course.

When adding the flour, it's important to do so delicately. It must be cooked to remove any raw taste. This thickens the soup nicely.