Green Bean

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Offer this spirited dip with green beans, baby corn, radishes and French bread.

Try preparing this salad for casual luncheons.

Try this with ciabatta or whole wheat bread.

"I recently had lunch at Café Boulud here in New York," says Shelli Rafkin of New York, New York. "My entrée, blanquette de veau, had the most incredible sauce I've ever tasted. The whole dish, in fact, was sensational." In this variation on the classic stew, the veal and the vegetables are cooked separately and combined at the end, when they're topped with a rich white sauce.

Grape tomatoes are smaller than cherry tomatoes. If you’re using cherry tomatoes, cut them in half for this dish.

This Asian-style stew features egg linguine, an easy substitute for Chinese egg noodles. Look for Chinese five-spice powder and hoisin sauce in the spice aisle or the Asian foods section of the supermarket.

I, who struggled for years to achieve perfectly cooked, lively green beans love Aunt Enza's overstewed green beans, soft, almost creamy, tasting of bean, cooked far beyond crunch. Although Aunt Enza cooks the green beans in an onion and garlic-flavored tomato sauce she pointed out that leftover green beans can be subjected to the same treatment. Aunt Enza has a heavy Tuscan hand with extra virgin. I've cut down on the oil but my husband Massimo always adds a little extra at the table.

The vegetables can be prepared ahead and finished up to the middle of step 3. Heat for 5 minutes before serving.

Active time: 5 min Start to finish: 10 min

Boiling away the butter and seasonings from the leftover vegetables allows the flavors of the marinade to shine through. (If you don't have any leftover veggies, simply steam a mix of your favorites.)