Green Bean

Yukon Gold potatoes cut into one-inch pieces can be substituted.

This filling is definitely not peas and hard carrots and tough chunks of chicken. Instead, there are sun-dried tomatoes and shiitake mushrooms with flavorful pieces of thyme-seasoned chicken. And best of all, the individual pies can be assembled a day ahead, leaving only the baking to be done before sharing them with the family.

In this recipe, green beans are enhanced with buttery, slow-roasted onions that have been stirred into a sweetened vinegar sauce.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Asparagus, green beans and peas give this pasta its name. Start with an antipasto platter of purchased marinated vegetables, cured meats and cheeses. Serve the pasta with some crusty Italian bread. Champagne makes a festive beverage.

Pla Phad Phrik Khing The pummelo salad makes a nice first course with this dish.

An updated southern side dish.

Ensalada de Ejote, Espinaca, y Betabel The green beans and the poblano chiles in the salad dressing may be the only ingredients that are indigenous to Mexico, but the colorful combination of vegetables, with their contrasting textures, results in a fitting accompaniment to any Mexican dinner.

If you trim and blanch the green beans and turnips one day ahead of time, this dish will come together in just minutes.

"Whenever I visit my family in the Chicago area, my sister and I make a point of having lunch at Fresh Starts Restaurant in Flossmoor," says Carol De Biase-Ruffe of Arvada, Colorado. "They serve delicious, healthful food — and we're never disappointed. The last time we went there, I ordered a fish entrée topped with tomato salsa." The restaurant uses tilapia for this dish; we substituted the easier-to-find orange roughy.

Serve rice with this dish from Le Colonial, a Vietnamese restaurant in West Hollywood.

An overnight pickling tames the red onions.