Chive

Look for the black sesame seeds in the Asian foods section of a specialty market; they add a dramatic touch to this simple side dish. If you can't find them, just use all white seeds instead.

Aioli, the garlicky Provençal mayonnaise, is accented with chives and Dijon mustard.

Though the truffles lend a wonderfully rich flavor to the shrimp, they are fairly costly, so you might want to save this dish for special occasions.

Although these are super-fast to make, you can assemble them the night before so that they're ready to bake in the morning.

Leftover pesto is great with fish.

A delicious and much lighter version of a favorite dish. Serve this gratin with roast chicken, pork, or beef.

This delicious salad is from Johannes.

These can be made one day ahead, then drizzled with the vinaigrette just before serving.

"I spend as much time as I can cooking," writes Brigette Lyons of Allendale, New Jersey, "and I'm equally comfortable feeding two or two hundred. I thoroughly enjoy giving sit-down meals, including an annual Christmas luncheon I do for about twenty guests. I just like to cook, period. Cooking for two hundred may be different from making weeknight dinners for myself and my husband, John, but organization is the key to both. I try to keep things on hand that are simple and easy to prepare." These rich and creamy mashed potatoes (thanks to sour cream and cream cheese) can be prepared ahead of time.

This delicious variation on a side-dish classic is made with red potatoes and flavored with a full head of roasted garlic. This recipe is an accompaniment for Chicken and Mashed Potatoes with Herb-roasted Tomatoes and Olive Broth .

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 25 min Chuck blade steaks are a wonderful cut — luxurious flavor at a bargain price. They may appear under different names — flatiron or book steaks, for instance — in your butcher case, but they're easy to spot: Neat ovals that are slightly larger than your palm and bisected by a slender white ribbon — of gristle.

Tartines de Caviar à la Crème Aigre Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 25 min

This is creamy corn with no cream at all. Our trick? The juice of freshly cut corn thickened with cornstarch.

This looks and tastes like egg salad, even though it's made with tofu. Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 20 min

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

Cayenne pepper in the batter gives these muffins a nice little kick.