Tomato

Serve this with a basket of crusty bread.

An easy version of the famous Cobb salad.

Creamy fresh cheese meets spinach in this Indian classic.

Purchased wonton wrappers stand in for fresh pasta in this easy recipe.

Active time: 1 1/2 hr Start to finish: 2 hr

Leaves of thyme combine with tomatoes to create an instant sauce in this dish. The foil-packet cooking method produces wonderfully flavorful juices; serve the fish over rice to savor every last drop.

A popular salad on the island of Pantelleria.

These no-bake bites can be made two hours ahead and are designed to taste best at room temperature, making them perfect for parties.

Elisa Mazzaferro-Rosenberg of Fort Collins, Colorado, writes: "I love to entertain, but between coming home late — I just completed my Ph.D. in small animal clinical sciences — and feeding my husband, Adam, and myself plus our little family of five cats and two dogs, I haven't had the time to have friends over much."

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 25 min

"Whenever I visit my family in the Chicago area, my sister and I make a point of having lunch at Fresh Starts Restaurant in Flossmoor," says Carol De Biase-Ruffe of Arvada, Colorado. "They serve delicious, healthful food — and we're never disappointed. The last time we went there, I ordered a fish entrée topped with tomato salsa." The restaurant uses tilapia for this dish; we substituted the easier-to-find orange roughy.