Weeknight Meals

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. For a side dish, serve couscous mixed with sautéed red bell pepper, carrots and dill. Buy a strawberry tart to finish.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

For a more substantial salad, add one cup chopped cooked chicken breast or one cup drained flaked tuna.

Michael McLaughlin, cookbook author, says, "Green beans amandine used to be the festive vegetable of choice at any number of my family's holiday celebrations. Over the years, a few of us have improvised here and there, resulting in this easy side dish, a real family heirloom. For a change of pace, orange peel can replace the lemon."

The leftovers make outstanding sandwiches.

Honey and mint are the special ingredients in this lovely lamb dish.

Brushed with garlic oil, grilled over the fire and stacked onto crusty buns with plenty of burger trimmings, portobellos are this season's snazziest alternative sandwich filling.

If you can't find fresh sea scallops, use peeled large shrimp, leaving the tails on. Rice pilaf or orzo would be a good accompaniment.

(POULET AUX ARTICHAUTS)

In making this omelet, the key is in the movement of the skillet, which must be positioned and repositioned over the heat to evenly color the side, top, and bottom of the omelet. A non-stick skillet is essential.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This is probably the simplest soup ever made from scratch: you just throw everything into the pot at once and walk away. The rice cooks in the pot along with the chicken long enough to give its starches over for extra body. Everything you dislike about brown rice — its starchiness and heaviness — works to advantage here. It turns soft and almost falls apart but still has texture. Don't substitute white rice, because it would get mushy. This soup may not be beautiful, but it sure is good.