Spinach

Light, refreshing and beautiful.

Active time: 35 min Start to finish: 35 min

Spinach, green onions, cilantro and chilies give the sauce its name--and lots of flavor.

In this beautiful main course, served at Le Bec-Fin in Philadelphia, a mixture of dried apricots, raisins, mushrooms, tomatoes and spinach is the surprise filling.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Debbie uses whatever cheese she has on hand, and she's always happy with the results. This could be a meatless main course or a rich side dish.

Throughout World War II, everyone who had even a little plot of land was encouraged to grow a vegetable garden. Back then, this comforting soup would most frequently be made from water and contain no chicken, which was a Sunday treat. For convenience, you can skip the first part of this recipe and use six cups of stock or canned broth and omit the chicken altogether. But if you want to make the stock from scratch, be sure to do so a day ahead.

A great brunch treat.

In Chinese culture, noodles symbolize longevity and are often served at New Year celebrations and traditionally left very long.

This dish of spinachy rice with feta and black olives is extremely simple … and therein lies its elegance. Some people simply don't get it. "It's just so humble," they say. To which I respond, "That's what I like about it!"

A delicious salad that can be partnered with some crusty bread to make a light main course. The recipe yields a generous amount of vinaigrette; if you have some left over, try tossing it with oriental noodles, dipping fried wontons into it or brushing some onto chicken breasts right before grilling them.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Mustard greens, increasingly common in supermarkets today, cook as quickly as fresh spinach. Their assertive taste is terrific here in a warming winter soup.

It’s little wonder that lasagna became the informal party dish of the fifties and sixties-it can be assembled ahead of time, it freezes well, and it is a delicious and inexpensive way to feed a crowd. In this contemporary-and meatless-version, "no-boil" noodles eliminate a step, and bottled pasta sauce stands in for homemade.