Herbs & Spices

Make this Turkish-inspired side dish into a light summer main course by adding grilled shrimp or chicken or by simply sprinkling with goat cheese. What to drink: Assyrtiko (a white varietal from Greece), Pinot Grigio, or Sauvignon Blanc.

Grilled vegetables pump up the classic Tuscan bread-and-tomato salad. What to drink: An Italian white like Vernaccia di San Gimignano or Orvieto. Can't find ciabatta? Use any good-quality crusty Italian or French bread.

Strawberries and kiwi wedges are threaded onto lemongrass skewers for a fun garnish. To make the skewers, cut a four-inch piece from the tough end of a lemongrass stalk, then peel away the outer layers until only a 1/4-inch-diameter skewer remains. (Look for lemongrass in the produce section of some supermarkets and at Asian markets.)

Doris Jacobson of Anaheim, California, writes: "I host many family gatherings, and I always get requests for my lemon bars and my caponata appetizer. They're easy to make and perfect for picnics at the beach or an evening at the Hollywood Bowl. Plus, both recipes can be made ahead. Fresh basil brightens up this traditional eggplant spread. Serve it on baguette slices or crackers.

This recipe combines the cool taste of cucumber with the flavors of a Bloody Mary. You'll have to prepare 2 batches for 12 drinks. If you have a small blender, you may have to make smaller batches.

Try this with your next roast beef or pork sandwich, on either pumpernickel or rye.

Chances are, your home stove isn't as powerful as the ones at your local Chinese restaurant, in which case a flat-bottomed wok will work best, as it has more contact with the heat than does a rounded one.

In Mexico, this breakfast dish is called huevos ahogados, meaning "drowned eggs," since the eggs are served in soup bowls with a lot of sauce.

In this perfect no-cook dish you can substitute crumbled bacon for the chicken or just omit the meat altogether.

Both the peach relish and the pork benefit from an overnight rest in the refrigerator; the relish mellows in flavor, and the pork becomes even more tender in the fiery marinade.

You'll have some leftover creamy ginger soy dressing for salad later in the week.

This recipe serves 4 as a main course if you set aside 2 chicken breasts for another meal. Otherwise, it serves 6.

Gravlaks — fish cured with salt, sugar, and dill — is usually made with salmon, but we like the milder flavor of arctic char for this particular dish. Keep in mind before starting to cure your fish that you will need to turn it every 12 hours for a total of 36 hours.

Tapered eggplants and a mix of large and medium tomatoes will give your stacks a more graceful appearance.

Stars and studio moguls often do their wheeling and dealing at this legendary Hollywood haunt, where Catherine Zeta-Jones and Tyra Banks have been seen. Chef Sam Marvin tweaks dishes to anyone's liking (A-lister or otherwise) and purchases the freshest ingredients daily from local farmers' markets. Think of this colorful bowl as an alphabet soup of vitamins, delivering a healthy dose of A, B6, C, and K, not to mention lycopene, a potent antioxidant.