Microwave

For a pretty presentation, drizzle with melted chocolate and sprinkle with chopped peanuts.

Spicy, smoky, and sweet, this would be a great side for grilled pork tenderloin.

This Baja treat is well known to residents of Southern California, where fish tacos have been popular since their introduction in the 1980s. The crunch of coleslaw contrasts with tender fish, and the creamy dressing is spiked with the smoky heat of chipotle chiles.

Editor's note: The recipe below is excerpted from Jacques Torres's Dessert Circus at Home.

The trick: Fake a little fat.
What better way to eat your fill of antioxidant-rich blueberries than via cheesecake? Executive chef Terry Conlan of Lake Austin Spa Resort in Austin, Texas, makes over dessert-tray favorites, like this Blueberry Icebox Pie, by mixing lowfat and nonfat products rather than using all fat-free foods. For your favorite recipes, replace full-fat dairy with 50 percent lowfat and 50 percent fat-free.

Healthy bonus: Vitamin C and beta-carotene from the squash.

Los Angeles: land of sun, fun, and burritos. Southern California's Mexican-influenced cuisine has the potential to be an all-out fat fest (cheese, sour cream) or a healthy mix of carbs (tortillas, beans) and protein (chicken, beans). A chicken burrito with the full-fat works can tip the scales at nearly 600 calories and 31 fat grams. To slim it down, we stuffed it with all-white-meat chicken, less cheese and nonfat sour cream. We also rolled it in a whole-wheat tortilla for extra fiber.

Tip: Trim chocolate desserts of high-fat, high-cal extras like crust.

Thanksgiving on a roll Here's a pilgrim's dinner you can make in minutes and enjoy year-round, not only on turkey Thursday. Straight from the menu of New York City's Chat 'n Chew Diner, this sandwich has all the flavors of a Thanksgiving meal without stuffing you full of calories. Use turkey leftovers this month or buy sliced turkey breast from the deli. Consider the result comfort food for the time-pressed.

Editor's note: This recipe is excerpted from Harumi's Japanese Cooking , by Harumi Kurihara. To read more about Harumi, click here. Mushi Dori no Gomadare Salad Sesame sauce using the juices from cooked chicken is so easy to prepare. This style of dressing with sesame, gomadare, is very common in Japanese cooking and is used for both meat and vegetables. This particular chicken dish makes a lovely appetizer, but it also goes very well with cold noodles.

For variety, dip half of the biscotti in melted white chocolate and the other half in dark chocolate. Or, drizzle the melted chocolate over the biscotti instead.

There's a layer of chocolate between the cookie-like crust and the rich filling of this sophisticated spin on the traditional pecan pie.

These tender individual treats are like a cross between a molten chocolate cake and a steamed pudding. The cinnamon gives them a warm, deep scent, which you can intensify by serving them with purchased cinnamon or ginger ice cream in place of the whipped cream.

For this one, you will need six 4 1/2-inch tartlet pans with removable bottoms.

This is the ultimate party dish because you can add it to your spread in no time flat. Almost everything for this mini meal comes out of a bag or a can, but brightening up the dish with some fresh cilantro makes it taste and look really fresh. A few minutes in the microwave makes everything warm and gooey.

If you're craving an aromatic Chinatown-style noodle soup, this recipe is a quick fix — especially if you use a roast chicken from the supermarket deli. (For another variation, try using roast duck from a Chinese deli instead.) The chrysanthemum leaves are a beautiful match with the delicate broth redolent of star anise, but watercress can be substituted if you like.