Olive

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe was inspired by one from olive oil expert Lidia Colavita. You can make a meal around the bread by offering it as an accompaniment to bean soup.

Carrots, red onion, cilantro, Kalamata olives and a fragrant cumin dressing make a lovely summertime salad.

(SALADE DE LEGUMES AU FROMAGE DE CHEVRE) This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Roasting the potatoes with the lamb gives them a wonderfully rich, meaty flavor.

A piquant relish that is also a great sauce for pasta. To serve two people, simply double the sauce and toss it with eight ounces of freshly cooked pasta.

If hojiblanca or cacereña olives are unavailable, use other Mediterranean olives.

Though this recipe makes more than enough hors d'oeuvres, they are small and disappear in a New York minute!

Over the past few years, the popular Italian flatbread has made its way into bread baskets at home and in restaurants. This version is tender and redolent of rosemary and olive oil. It’s perfect as a snack, served with soup and salad, or split for sandwiches.

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 40 min

"Many of the everyday dishes I made when I was raising my daughters are recipes I learned from my mother while I was growing up in the suburbs of Paris," writes Fanny Carroll of Eugene, Oregon. "She was quite a cook, and with a husband and seven kids to feed, everything had to be fast. She's the one who invented the recipe for the quick pizza. It's nice that the dishes I learned as a girl are enduring favorites in my own family. The quick pizza now spans three generations: My daughter Emily makes her own version of it today." France meets Italy in this clever dish that uses a ready-made crust.

Jennifer Martin of Portland, Oregon, writes: "I am not formally trained in cooking but grew up working in food service, from chopping vegetables at food festivals to catering parties for a little extra income. Today I own Epicure Custom Cooking, a gourmet takeout shop and catering company with a few tables for dining. Our specials change weekly and are geared toward what I like to cook and eat. I simply love the business, even with my 12-hour days. At home when I'm not working, I'm usually cooking just for myself, and I don't have a lot of time. I love a good breakfast — when I have Saturday and Sunday mornings off — so that's why I came up with the frittata."

Black olives absorb the flavor of red wine and fennel in this warm appetizer.

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 45 min

Suzanne Rushing of Cannon Beach, Oregon, writes: "On a recent trip to St. Louis, my husband and I went to Harvest restaurant twice because we were so impressed with the food. I would love to have the recipe for chef Stephen Gontram's wonderful chicken with garlic mashed potatoes and herb-roasted tomatoes." The clear olive broth, flavored with fennel, spinach, and olives, makes a delicious sauce for this dish of chicken, potatoes, and roasted tomatoes.

Truite à la Tomate This trout recipe could be page 1 of [fishmonger Neige] Perez's Workbook for Cooking Fish 101. There are no fish bones to fillet, no tomatoes to peel, and no saucepans to clean. Cooked together in a single roasting pan, the capers, olives, onions, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, white wine, and trout fillets conspire to create a wonderful, unmistakably Mediterranean ensemble sure to entice even Marseillais who were scaling and gutting fish — or so they say — before they could walk.