Basil

If you are completely exhausted, substitute the salmon steaks with canned salmon. Buy one large can (18 ounces), drain, and arrange the chunks atop the salad. Buy hard-boiled eggs from the salad bar at the market, or boil your own (see Tidbit, page 90).

This is salmon with some soul. It’s groovy.

This dish is so good that if you ever share it with friends they’ll each be calling you the next week for home delivery. Ask for a generous tip.

Thai-style food made with ingredients available in any grocery store. If you’re not into beef, try it with pork or chicken, instead.

Like the title says, this is lasagna but it’s not. Veggie lasagna is often served up layered with a creamy white sauce and seasonal vegetables. This dish incorporates vegetables, ricotta, and a just-creamy-enough sauce tossed with pasta—without all the work and the long baking time.

Easier than lasagna, because it’s not lasagna, this pasta, meat sauce, and ricotta toss-up is just as hearty and comforting as the layered Italian fave, but it’s ready in a fraction of the time and with much less effort. Serve with a simple green salad dressed with oil and vinegar.

I make this one when I watch GoodFellas. Shave the garlic nice and thin, like Paulie would, but don’t use a razor blade like he does in the movie. A sharp knife is fine.

Talk about flexible, this chicken is a cheerleader. Yes, it’s equally good steaming hot or icebox cold. Eat this dish four seasons of the year, hot or not, indoors or out. It’s G-R-E-A-T . . . great!

The French are notorious for their stuffy and particular attitudes . . . especially when it comes to food, but they’ve got nothing on the Sicilians. It takes a Sicilian ’tude to think one could improve on a French classic, especially in 30 minutes. Well, this Sicilian says “Bring it on.”

Lamb chops are always perfect for 30MM because they are quick cooking. If you are the type who only indulges in leg of lamb once a year at holidays, pick up some chops and try this one at home tonight.

If you have a mini meatball in your house (or you’re just a kid at heart) this one will feed you well, stomach and soul!

French bread pizza from Stouffer’s was my favorite frozen food as a kid. Now that I’m all grown up I make my own, because I can overstuff them. (My appetite grew, too.)

So easy! Too delish! I make Chicken Francese all the time, but this recipe for Sole Francese is actually based on a fish sandwich served at The Algonquin on Lake George, New York. I have been eating this fish there, dockside in the summer sun, for more decades than I care to acknowledge. (See you there next year!)

Pappa al Pomodoro is Tuscan stale bread soup. It is a favorite of my mom, Elsa. When we are both tired this is a good go-to recipe: pappa for my mama. Use a vegetable peeler to curl off nice big shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano to float on top of the soup.

With veggies and pasta in one dish, there’s no need to make any sides—plus, you only have to wash one pot!

Take a pizza Margerita, make it on a tortilla, then fold it like a quesadilla and you get a pizza-dilla!