Mussel

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 25 min

Active time: 35 min Start to finish: 35 min

Veracruz-style mixed seafood is the centerpiece of a festive meal that's rounded out with rice and vegetables. To present it as pictured, mound the seafood salad over the Mexican Rice and surround with the Tricolor Vegetable Sauté . A piquant dressing is drizzled over the seafood and mixed into the rice.

"While in Sarnia, Ontario, on business, I stayed at the Village Inn and had dinner at its restaurant, Monet's Table," says Melanie Cooke of Calgary, Alberta. "I thought I was being adventurous when I ordered the mussel appetizer my first night there. Obviously I'd lost my sense of adventure when I went back the second night and ordered it again."

(Pasta allo Scoglio) Tuscany is not famous for its seafood dishes, but fantastic fresh fish and shellfish are available all along the coast. A scoglio is a rocky seashore, and in the traditional pasta allo scoglio, only shellfish from the rugged Mediterranean seaside can be used in the sauce. Many kinds of fish are included in the various renditions prepared up and down the Tuscan coast today. Watch how to clean and prepare shellfish and how to make your own pasta.

"My boyfriend and I can't get enough of the Caribbean and Latin foods at Babalu's in St. Louis," writes Traci Anderson of St. Louis, MO. "We love the curry-coconut steamed mussels. Is it possible to persuade the chef to share his secret?" Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 1 hr

Crusty bread, an arugula and endive salad with balsamic dressing, and lemon sorbet with chocolate-dipped biscotti turn this simple Italian dinner into a special one.

An entrée from Bar Italia, St. Louis, Missouri. Herbed breadcrumbs top it off nicely.

In addition to the herb mayonnaise and blue cheese coleslaw, sliced tomatoes would be perfect alongside.

Serve this terrific dish with crusty bread and soup spoons so that your guests can enjoy every last drop.

A rich-tasting low-fat chowder with lots of spicy curry flavor.

This dish is named after the copper Portuguese cooking vessel, the cataplana, in which it is traditionally cooked.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Serve garlic toast with this to mop up all the savory broth.