Olive

Broccoli needn't only be cooked fast until bright green and al dente. In fact the flavor is amplified when it's braised slowly until as tender as can be. You can enjoy this as a vegetable side dish, spoon it over garlic-rubbed bruschetta, or toss it with pasta and freshly grated pecorino or Parmesan cheese.

(Thon Poêlé et "Mariné," Vinaigrette d'Olives Noires) A sophisticated starter from chef Guy Savoy.

If you prefer, you can pile the lamb and salad on top of a larger pocketless pita for an open-face sandwich and drizzle with sauce. Pocketless pitas are sold at specialty foods shops and many supermarkets. Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 45 min

Play off the Provençal flavors by passing an arugula salad tossed with red wine vinaigrette. Sliced peaches topped with honey and sour cream would make a great finale.

A suitably named pasta salad that's loaded with flavorful ingredients. Try it with grilled veal chops or Cornish game hens.

To pit the olives easily, just press them with the flat side of a knife until the meat separates from the center.

Serve with: Roast leg of lamb. Combine with: Crusty bread spread with goat cheese. Use as: A seasoning for roast chicken (spread tapenade under the skin before cooking).

Broccoli is called sparaceddi in Sicilian. In this side dish, it is "drowned" in a heady mixture of olive oil, onions, anchovies, olives, red wine and cheese. While there are variations of the basic preparation throughout Italy, food historians generally think it to be of Sicilian origin.

This tangy, fresh yogurt "cheese" -known as labaneh- vies for attention with hummus and tahini on the standard Israeli platter of mezze, or appetizers. Here it's seasoned with sesame seeds and spices, and drizzled with olive oil. Plan to start this the day before serving.

Although bay leaves in this recipe smell delicious and look enticing, they should not be eaten because of their sharp edges.

The following recipe was inspired by pissaladière, the Niçoise tart that features a similar topping.

Chef Lionel Lévy uses black olives in this unusual clafoutis but still serves it as a dessert, along with a mâche salad drizzled with lemon-honey vinaigrette. We like that combination in place of an after-dinner cheese course, but we also think it makes an excellent (and surprising) first course.