Simmer

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 35 min

If rice pudding is getting a little too comfortable, try our version with fresh pineapple, mango, and papaya. Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 30 min

Serve this over noodles or mashed potatoes.

This homey soup was inspired by a recipe from Maria, the nanny for Patrick's family. She served warm corn tortillas alongside.

In Cuba, this versatile side dish is known as congrí. Louisiana has its own version of red beans and rice, of course, but in that one you won't find the oregano, cumin or cilantro.

When our executive food editor, Zanne Stewart, was growing up, her family spent summers in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. This recipe was inspired by a dish of chicken and dumplings she remembers well from those vacations.

This recipe is an accompaniment for Pear Clafoutis with Phyllo Crisps, Cider Sauce, and Quince Sorbet .

A lovely change of pace from café au lait, cappuccino or hot chocolate, and lower in fat and calories, too.

A splash of aquavit is the finishing touch to this practically-no-fat starter.

(MINESTRA DI CAMPAGNA) Creativity with simple ingredients is one of the themes of Sicilian cooking. There's no better example than this bean and vegetable soup, which some say evolved from food that fifteenth-century galley cooks made for mariners. Serve an island dry red wine such as Corvo with this.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 30 min

Serve these over rice as a main course, or offer as an hors d'oeuvre.

Alternating layers of strawberry and white chocolate mousses form stripes in this creamy frozen dessert.

Jalapeño adds spiciness to this side dish.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

In Sweden various combinations of matjes herring — a type of herring cured in a spiced sweet-and-sour brine — are eaten with the first tender white potatoes of the season. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.