Weeknight Meals

Serve with: Baked potatoes and sautéed zucchini. Dessert: Dulce de leche ice cream with toasted almonds.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr (not including frico) Test your springform pan with water for leakage before getting started. If it leaks, tightly wrap the bottom and halfway up the side of the pan with two layers of foil before filling it.

For a delicious, quick accompaniment try our Creamy Parmesan Polenta .

The smoked paprika in this recipe adds depth. Unlike Hungarian paprika powder, which is prepared by drying the chiles in the sun, the Spanish smoked version (like La Chinata brand) is prepared by roasting the peppers over smoldering oak fires before being ground to a velvety powder. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 30 min

Tracey Medeiros of Atlanta, Georgia, writes: "I'm a food stylist and recipe developer — and passionate about my job. It was a dream of mine to have a career in the culinary arts, but I didn't think that was possible. In college I was a political science major and considered going to law school. But soon after graduation I realized cooking was my true calling." Italian-inspired sandwiches hot off the grill.

Goat cheese and truffle oil add rich flavors to the humble sweet potato.

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

M'Eloise Waters of Yakima, Washington, writes: "Throughout the years, I have enjoyed so many 'R.S.V.P.' recipes, and now I have a request of my own: the chicken pasta from Spazzo Mediterranean Grill in Bellevue, Washington. It has fresh herbs, walnuts, almonds, and caramelized onions."

Serve with: Warmed flatbread. Dessert: Vanilla pudding with sliced mango.

The Lime Mojo (a sauce of olive oil, chilies, garlic and spices) provides a spicy, tangy counterpoint to the pork. Serve the Spiced Butternut Squash and the Corn and Cheese Arepas (see recipes) as side dishes, and pour a Zinfandel or dark beer. Begin preparing the pork a day ahead.

Juicy cantaloupe makes a refreshing salsa for grilled chicken or fish. For a milder salsa, discard all the chile seeds.

Roasting the lamb, instead of braising, intensifies its flavor.

Don't skip the green peppers when making these sandwiches. They give just the right balance to the pepper mixture, slightly cutting the sweetness of their red and orange companions.

Executive chef Dan Swinney serves this terrific dish on a bed of sautéed fresh spinach.

"In our family we have a saying that the Greek kitchen is the original twenty-four-hour diner: It never closes," writes Georgia I. Chletcos of Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. "The great thing about these home-style dishes is that they're generous to the cook and to everyone else: You don't have to be a pro to prepare them, there's always plenty to share, and you'll have a delicious meal on the table in no time." This light soup is based on a traditional Greek recipe called avgolemono.

"I had three kids in three years when I was a 'young married' in my twenties," writes Sheryl Hurd-House of Jupiter, Florida. "That's when I started cooking and realized I liked it."

Insalata Pantasca Insalata pantasca is the potato and tomato salad of Pantelleria, a small, poor island near Sicily, which is famous for its capers. Big, fat capers, full of flavor and packed in salt. Like any local recipe, this has as many variations as there are cooks. The fish that you would find in the Pantelleria salad, however, is something you can't locate in this country. I like sardines in it; you might try something different, such as smoked trout. You wouldn't find yellow-fleshed potatoes on the island, but I love their flavor in this salad. The more traditional choices would be whites, or red-skinned — something on the waxy side.