Chicory

Preparing the zucchini for this dish won't heat up your kitchen — simply salting thin slices is enough to tenderize them. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 30 min

Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

Potato salad, grapes or fresh figs, and brownies round out this lunch. To make things even easier, use raw onions.

This sprightly first course is a cinch to put together.

The dressing for this salad is based on an old Pennsylvania Dutch recipe.

This delicious salad is from Johannes.

The radicchio is seasoned in the style of a Sicilian agrodolce ("acid-sweet") dish, which typically combines a vegetable with raisins, pine nuts, vinegar, and a sweetener.

Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 45 min We created this recipe using Louis P. De Gouy's article on green salad and agree with the quote he includes from Fred Allen: "A salad should be dressed like Dorothy Lamour — adequate but lightly."

Minestra You just know the Soprano family is eating the kind of Italian food that's getting harder and harder to find in our increasingly upscale Italian restaurants. This dish has that real-thing feeling; surely this is someone's grandmother's famous soup recipe. The soup is delicate but filling at the same time, with its pasta and baby meatballs. Unless you have Soprano-size appetites, this is a main-dish soup. We've cut the recipe in half so it will fit in your soup pot.

You can make the soufflés 4 hours ahead (keep at room temperature). Put in a 375°F oven for 8 minutes to reheat. Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 1 hr

The delicate grapeseed oil in the dressing allows all the delicious flavors to come out. Regular vegetable oil can be substituted.