Weeknight Meals

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 1 hr

This hearty soup is served at Belvedere Mansion in Staatsburg, New York.

In Tucson, chef-owner Janos Wilder offers cumin-flavored rice pilaf and grilled zucchini with the fish. Flan is a good finale.

This Boston-area restaurant is dedicated to using locally grown organic produce.

"I came up with this recipe to make use of the immersion blender that I received as a gift," writes Heather Prudhon of Santa Clara, California. "It makes a good quantity of sauce and tastes great served over rice."

"Although I'm not usually a big fan of fish, I love the roasted salmon at the Saucebox here in Portland," writes Irin Haruchai of Portland, Oregon. "The sauce served with it is out of this world." Spicy sauces with sweet-and-sour flavors are popular in Javanese food and, in this case, pair deliciously with salmon.

I leave the skin on the breasts so I can stuff the herbs and garlic underneath.

What to drink: Sauvignon Blanc or a dry rosé, such as a French Bandol.

Serve with: Three-bean deli salad spooned over arugula. Dessert: Ice cream bars.

Quickly sautéed shrimp over rice is a very old, traditional breakfast in the Carolina Low Country. But it would also make a nice quick-and-easy luncheon or supper dish, rounded out with a salad and maybe cornbread.

A cold couscous salad and steamed carrots sprinkled with mint would be lovely alongside. Finish with baklava.

Accompany this with roasted red-skinned potatoes and steamed green beans. Finish with chocolate-glazed cream puffs.

"On Saturday mornings I like to go to the farmers' market near my house and buy whatever produce is at its peak," writes Justin Kulongowski of Portland, Maine. "One weekend I came home with all the ingredients to make this great salad."

The first African dish I tasted and truly enjoyed was Senegal's Chicken Yassa. The chicken marinated in lemon and onion was served with rice in a brightly decorated enamel basin. The thrill of eating in Senegal in the open air and the delicious gustatory counterpoints of lemon, chile, onion, and chicken combined to make my first taste of this dish one of my favorite culinary memories. Later, I served the dish in a modified version on the "Today Show." It has become my trademark dish, and many of my friends, if they haven't had a Yassa in a while, will ask for it. I've gotten so bold about my Yassa, that I've served it to my Senegalese friends. It's relatively simple to prepare and a perfect introduction to African food.

Mary deMuth of Rowlett, Texas, writes: "Because my husband is in a graduate program, we've been able to meet people from all over the world. It has been a great experience for our three children — and a chance for me to add to my recipe collection. We frequently have other students over for dinner, so I'm always learning new dishes. Next year our family will be moving to southern France, and we're very excited about the food we'll have there. We hope to make many new friends who will share their Provençal specialties. " Try these on grilled buns for a "burger" variation. Panko is available in the Asian foods section of most supermarkets.