Gorgonzola

This recipe makes more dressing than you'll need. The remainder makes a great everyday dressing for any type of green salad, or a delicious dip for chicken wings or raw vegetables.

These are equally good with either ground pork or ground lamb.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Serve with: Romaine salad with creamy Italian dressing, and steamed Broccolini. Dessert: Lemon gelato topped with sliced figs and Marsala.

If fresh figs aren't available, dried black Mission figs can be substituted here; look for ones that are soft and moist. What to drink: Crisp Pinot Grigio pairs nicely with the entire meal.

As in all of Italy, pasta is served as a first course (primo) in Tuscany.

The sweet figs and tangy Gorgonzola are perfect partners in this unique and delicious take on a popular hors d'oeuvre.

I've seen portobello mushrooms in so many restaurant dishes lately that I decided to develop my own recipe," says Eileen M. Watson of Oviedo, Florida. "I like to serve these stuffed mushrooms as an appetizer when I entertain, but they also make a terrific meatless entrée."

"Although I’ve been a subscriber for almost ten years, this is the first time I’ve written to request a recipe," writes Danette Laver of Ambler, Pennsylvania. "The honey-garlic dressing on the salad I had at Fork in Philadelphia was so good that I used a chunk of bread to soak up every last drop."

A full-flavored Italian blue cheese adds pizzazz to this pasta. Serve the dish with a salad, bread and a glass of white wine for a lovely weekday dinner.

By mid-decade, indulgence foods were back with a vengeance-a sign that too much of a good-for-you thing was starting to get boring at the dinner table. And when the diet gurus switched their focus from complex carbohydrates to protein, steak regained some respect from nutrition buffs. Also, many specialty foods shops began catering to the most health-conscious meat eaters by offering beef raised without hormones.

Unfortunately, beets are not on the top-ten list of favorite foods for many people. Most people hate them because they've only eaten them boiled or canned, but I was fortunate enough to try the real thing at an early age. So they're on my top-ten list, and this recipe might just be a great way to get them on yours. The roasting brings out the sweetness and intensifies the depth of flavor that is lost when you boil. Once you roast a beet, you'll never go back. Don't throw away the beet greens: braise or sauté them if they are large, or add them to salad greens if they are small. The rich, thick Walnut Gorgonzola Dressing is also great on burgers or grilled portobello mushrooms or mixed into greens.

Except for the Parmesan cheese, which is pretty much a requirement, this ultra-cheesy cousin of fettuccine Alfredo can be made with any number of four-cheese combinations.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.