Bean and Legume

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 20 min

Serve steamed rice mixed with fresh cilantro alongside this spicy Chinese-inspired dish.

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.

Offer thinly sliced serrano ham or prosciutto and bowls of stuffed olives and toasted almonds along with the beans.

Crusty bread and radicchio with creamy Italian dressing make nice sides. End with red grapes and anise-dusted sugar cookies.

Serve this dish with brown rice.

A food editor savored this breakfast dish in a small bistro as her first meal in Paris and has never forgotten it. We've made it easy to re-create at home. It makes a hearty breakfast, brunch, or supper dish. Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 45 min

This hearty soup makes delicious use of the flavorful 1/4-inch-thick rinds that remain after wedges of Parmesan have been grated away; they infuse the soup with a nice salty bite as it simmers.

Wilt the vegetables over low heat, stirring often so they do not burn.

Offer a colorful side of steamed broccoli with slivers of red and yellow bell peppers and a lemon dressing. Finish lavishly with chocolate pecan pie à la mode.

Frijoles Meneados Frijoles meneados are an ideal addition to any meal featuring tacos, and they are especially good alongside a grilled steak. In Mexico's frontier region, flour tortillas would be used to scoop up the last remaining bean on the plate.

Add rice or soft oriental noodles, and this becomes a quick supper. Look for wasabi powder and sesame oil in the Asian foods section of the supermarket.

While staying at the Hotel Villa Flori, which overlooks Italy's Lake Como, I had an outstanding pasta with a chunky pesto sauce," says Patty Owens of Walnut Creek, California. "Is there any chance the chef would share the recipe?" This pesto sauce includes walnuts, a variation on the classic recipe. To give the dish a creamy quality, add some of the pasta cooking water to the sauce.

Lemongrass lends a delicate flavor to this simple roast chicken from Market. Begin marinating the chicken one day ahead.

"I attended a function that featured wonderful hors d'oeuvres—among them, spicy black bean cakes—from chef Matthias Radits of The Breakers in Palm Beach," writes Ruth Acteson of Lantana, Florida. "Do you suppose he would share his recipe?" The chef serves these little cakes with a mango-avocado salsa, but a purchased salsa would make a fine substitute.

These hearty falafel are equally delicious eaten alone or piled into pita bread with lettuce, tomato, onion, and tahini sauce. Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 13 3/4 hr (includes soaking chickpeas)

My recipe was adapted from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I've changed the meats (a lot) and the seasonings (a bit). I've also tinkered with cooking times and sequence.

Jennifer Smith of Tyler, Texas, writes: "Now that I'm a stay-at-home mom, I cook more than I used to. My husband and I have discovered that dining out with a 16-month-old is messy at best, so we tend to eat in. Even then, cooking is a challenge, since my daughter is always underfoot. My husband and I like simple comfort foods, so I don't have to spend too much time preparing elaborate meals. I just keep plenty of garlic and herbs on hand to spice up whatever I'm making. My must-have pantry staple is flavored petite diced tomatoes. They're great in chili and my black bean soup."