Simmer

Sliced or diced fresh avocado makes a colorful garnish for this hearty southwestern soup. If you want to cut up the avocado ahead of time but don't want it to discolor, simply place the avocado pieces in a colander and rinse them with cold water. They will stay bright green for about two hours.

This rib-sticking soup makes a fine meal, especially with a salad alongside. See how to dice potatoes.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The bisque is very rich, so a small serving (about two-thirds cup per person) is plenty. At the restaurant, this is baked in individual crocks, with puff pastry on top.

This satisfying meal in a bowl is also good sprinkled with a touch of grated pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese.

Bow tie-shaped pasta is mixed with Thai-flavored pesto sauce and tossed with cooked shrimp for a fast, colorful entrée.

We prefer Gorgonzola, Italy's star blue cheese, for this recipe, but if Iowa's Maytag blue — or another import — is easier to find in your area, then use it instead.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This wintry soup can be enhanced with any sausage you like. We find it a great dish in which to use the lowfat turkey sausages now available. The blue cheese corn bread and a green salad make ideal accompaniments. Finish with ripe pears.

"On my last birthday, I enjoyed a special dinner at Brasserie Le Coze in Atlanta," says Diane Sullivan of Alpharetta, Georgia. "The entire meal was fabulous, but the white bean soup with truffle oil was absolutely divine." White truffle oil, should you happen to have a bottle of it, is a delicious "garnish" for this rich and hearty soup.

A hearty stew-like soup inspired by Vietnamese pho. The hot and sour elements are great paired with Asian beer. Start preparing this soup one day before serving.

This zippy pasta features the best of Italy accented with Mexican serrano chilies. A Zinfandel or Italian Barolo is the right wine.

The texture of this spicy Brazilian dish falls in between a soup and a stew. Cook it down if you prefer it thicker.

This recipe uses a technique called "sweating" to extract maximum flavor from every ingredient. Although sweating adds a step, this stock is still effortless to make and takes only five minutes longer to cook than the Traditional Fish Stock. I begin by sautéing a very thinly sliced mirepoix (onions, celery, and carrots) with herbs and peppercorns. I then layer fish heads and frames (bones) on top of these vegetables, add a little white wine, and cover the pot. As the heads and bones "sweat" (and steam), the proteins are drawn out. If you peek, you will actually see little white droplets of flavorful protein coagulating on the surface of the bones. After the sweating is completed (about 15 minutes), I cover the bones with water and simmer them briefly. I let the mixture steep for 10 minutes before straining it, producing a stock that is full-flavored and gelatinous. The fish heads are what endow this stock with its marvelous jellied consistency, which in turn gives a luscious mouth feel to the chowder broth.