Oregano

A side dish for grilled chicken, steak or fish.

The Mexican sausage called chorizo teams up with other southwestern ingredients-including corn bread, an Anaheim chili, cilantro and oregano-for a delicious stuffing.

Serve this flavorful roast with its rich mushroom gravy, the mashed potatoes here and sautéed carrots. A fruity Zinfandel would make a good wine choice.

Offer with artichoke hearts, olives, and salami.

It's easy to keep the Greek theme going by starting with stuffed grape leaves, widely available at supermarkets. Accompany the chicken with orzo and steamed baby carrots with mint. Finish with purchased cheesecake.

More sophisticated than macaroni and cheese—and just as good. Use a cheese slicer to make the very thin slices of Fontina called for here.

"When my son was young," writes Mary Gareffa of East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, "he used to tease me for standing over the pot of sauce, stirring and simmering it slowly, but that's the way my father showed me. A sauce is like a baby; you have to be gentle with it. And I know I must be doing something right, because my grandson, Jason, called me just last week to get the recipe." This quick and easy version of Mary's heirloom recipe is ready in under an hour.

Cooking chicken breasts on the bone keeps them exceptionally juicy.

This specialty is about as regional as you can get. Although the recipe's name and origin are shrouded in mystery, in central Iowa it's a traditional steak dish topped with butter, Italian herbs, and garlic. The version featured here uses fresh herbs for extra flavor.

These can be made one day before serving.

Salmoriglio is a strong, pungent lemon-herb sauce, originally from Calabria and Sicily. Serve the lamb with the chopped Greek salad to start and some grilled bread for soaking up the sauce.

A low-fat version of the Mexican soup.

We seasoned this salad — based on the Middle Eastern bread salad called fattoush — with za'atar, a mixture of salt, sumac, sesame, and thyme.