Olive

This adaptation of a classic recipe comes from Eben Freeman, bartender of Tailor Restaurant in New York City. Note that a Gibson is a Martini with a pickled onion instead of an olive as garnish.

Also great made with ground lamb.

When tomatoes are at their peak, I could eat them three times a day and straight from the vine. But every once in a while, it's nice to give them a little special attention. When that time comes, this is the recipe I turn to. It's a tartlet that looks like it takes all day to make, but is really a quickie. It's warmed in the oven for such a short time that the tomatoes never lose their fresh-picked taste and texture. I serve these as a first course at dinner or with a salad as the main event at lunch.

This herb lends an unexpected hint of mint to bean dishes. For a change, feel free to swap in lowfat feta for the olives.

This mix is everything you want with a drink—a little bit salty, but with a nice variety of textures and flavors.

Conlan's French twist on tuna gives you nearly 1 g of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids along with the tart and tangy taste of olives, anchovies and capers.

Puttanesca is usually a pasta sauce, but here the addition of beans to the spicy blend of tomatoes, basil, and olives turns it into a versatile, satisfying side dish.

File this one under "secret weapon" and pull it out whenever you need a quick but impressive appetizer. Warming the olives in thyme- and-lemon-zest-infused oil awakens their flavor and transforms a goat-cheese medallion into a sumptuous warm spread for flatbread.

The combination of tuna and olives is reminiscent of a salade niçoise.

Small pasta like acini di pepe and orzo make wonderful room-temperature salads, since they mix so thoroughly with the other ingredients and never go stiff. Garlic, olives, and chile flakes lend a lot of zip to this quick side dish you'll come back to all summer.

Our take on this dish, famously named for the fact that Italy's "ladies of the evening" quickly made it between clients, is just as fast and easy as the original and requires nothing more than some everyday items you probably have in your pantry already.

Your market basket loaded with produce, olive oil, and fish, you saunter home to your idyllic farmhouse and marinate the vegetables. The following evening, you invite your friends over. Berets optional.

Travel editor William Sertl took a weeklong boot-camp course at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. For this classic French dish, students were taught how to sauté the chicken on one side—without touching it—until it's golden, before turning it only once. The pan-sauce lesson that followed yielded a simple, elegant cloak for the very juicy chicken.

Frozen puff pastry makes a quick and easy crust for this modern take on pizza.

Tender and flavorful, sirloin needs little adornment. The olive sauce imparts just the right hint of spice and saltiness—and it's ready in about ten minutes.

A favorite Barese recipe (often named for San Nicola, the guardian saint of sailors), these little packets seal in the fish and vegetable juices, with the potato slices insulating the fish from the heat of the oven and the olives and lemon slices emphasizing its bright flavors.

With its warm, comforting flavors of sausage, olives, and white wine, this rustic dish will transport your guests to a farmhouse in Umbria.

Greens are paired with salty olives and feta—to great effect. The greens cook in the pasta water, making this an efficient one-pot meal.