Cilantro

This is a great pasta dish to serve for company. Chances are good that you'll find the Asian ingredients— increasingly carried by everyday food shops—at your local supermarket. We used the Thai Kitchen brand, which is widely available.

At the Marriott Downtown, in Anchorage, chef Patrick Hoogerhyde serves this as a starter, but we like it as a main course.

What to drink: A big red with lots of fruit, such as a California Zinfandel; an off-dry white with rich fruit, such as an Alsatian Pinot Gris; or pale ale.

Complement this meatless supper with a chopped romaine and sliced avocado salad, followed by orange sorbet with nut cookies for dessert.

Steamed jasmine rice is all that's needed to turn this into a meal.

A Vietnamese-style salad that makes a refreshing accompaniment to any kind of barbecued meat.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Serve the baked fish with rice and a salad of tomatoes, cucumber and green onions.

For some reason, small tunas like the bonito are not as popular fresh as the large yellowfin and bigeye tunas. Bonito has a delicate yet rich flavor. In this recipe, the fish is highly seasoned, grilled, and then broken up into pieces with the tines of a fork and used as the filling for tacos. The slight bitterness from the grilling combined with the smoky richness of the seasoned fish is a perfect excuse to experiment with several salsas as accompaniments. I particularly recommend Charred Tomato Mint Salsa. Don't forget to have plenty of soft, fresh tortillas on hand.

North African spices combine with a touch of honey and lemon in a refreshing summer soup.

This recipe doubles or triples easily.

The almonds and crisp green beans lend good crunch. For a light lunch, serve this with French bread and a fruit salad.

Using shrimp instead of chicken in this recipe makes for an equally delicious soup.