Cherry Tomato

Either potato salad or bulgur salad would be lovely with these summer kebabs.

Halved cherry tomatoes and diced green chilies make a chunky relish for the tri-tip.

Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 1 3/4 hr

Familiar sides meet in a fresh, colorful salad.

Buy cooked fresh lobster meat and you can whip this salad together in about 30 minutes. Cooking your own lobster, however, not only ensures the freshest flavor and the tenderest meat, but you get more bang for the buck—you can use the lobster shells to make stock and lobster oil.

For this easy starter, the nonfat yogurt is strained to a thick texture and then combined with oregano, lemon peel and cayenne.

Candida Sportiello writes: "As owner and chef of Il Giardino restaurant, on the tiny island of Ventotene off the coast of Naples, I've been cooking professionally for twenty-five years — but I've been cooking for pleasure for a good fifty years. As is the Italian way, most of my favorite recipes were handed down from my mother and grandmother, so they date from the early 1900s." "I love having so many amazing ingredients at my fingertips on Ventotene: fish, lentils, wild asparagus, mushrooms, fava beans, and artichokes. They make it easy to produce home-style cooking at its best."

When buying green beans, look for the skinniest ones—they have the best texture. Offer plenty of crusty bread, and open a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon to go with this hearty main-course salad.

Marjoram's full flavor does all the work in this incredibly simple recipe. Serve with crusty bread to soak up the delicious juices.

The goat cheese, when tossed with the hot pasta, melts and becomes a creamy sauce. We've learned that it's a good idea to taste your goat cheese before using it (or before buying it, if possible — one of the soft goat cheeses we tried seemed a bit too strong for this dish).

Paulette Sexton of Tustin, California, writes: "Although I've loved to cook since I was a kid, I didn't really hone my kitchen skills until my husband and I started entertaining frequently. When we were first married, we had dinner parties several times a week — it got to the point where people would call me around 4:30 in the afternoon and ask, 'What's for dinner?' We're still having people over and we're still informal, especially in the summer. Everyone sits around the large island in our kitchen, drinking wine and eating appetizers. Usually there's grilled chicken or fish or a simple main-course salad for dinner. It's our favorite menu."

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.