Parsley

The flavorful olive salad is also nice with sea bass, red snapper or tuna. Serve with steamed new potatoes, and uncork a Sauvignon Blanc to go with dinner.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional sitting time. Butterflied leg of lamb can sometimes get a little unwieldy. To secure loose flaps of meat, run 2 long metal skewers lengthwise and 2 skewers crosswise through the lamb, bunching the meat together. Securing the lamb this way will also help it cook more evenly.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. In this recipe hot pasta is tossed with an uncooked sauce of oil, herbs, a little vinegar, mozzarella, and raw garlic. The pasta absorbs some of the vinegar and oil and slightly melts the mozzarella. We call for bocconcini — bite-size pieces of mozzarella — but regular fresh mozzarella cut into 1/2-inch cubes would work just as well. Tip: When incorporating raw garlic into a dish such as this, buy the freshest garlic you can find. The cloves should be dry and tightly packed together, and they should feel firm. Old garlic may impart a bitter, strong flavor — overwhelming the other components.

Pairing citrus fruit with olives is a time-honored Moroccan tradition. While most versions of this salad call for oranges, tangerines make a sweet substitute.

This elegant first course from American Seasons is topped with parsley oil, which is easy to make and could also be drizzled over roasted fish or steamed potatoes, and other vegetables.

Use this dressing on crisp lettuce or omit the buttermilk and serve it as a dip with crudités.

Lemon peel gives extra zip to this warm, garlicky bread. The recipe makes enough for everyone to have more than one helping.

"Pease porridge in the pot nine days old" fairly well summarizes the technique of stew preparation in Shakespeare's day. A thick soup would have been left cooking for days at a time, with new vegetables, stock, and bits of leftover meat continually added. This Italian version contains rich duck meat, a delicious and unusual addition to pea soup.

Tenderize the boneless chicken breast halves by flattening them as you would for a chicken piccata, then marinating in lemon juice. What to drink: A crisp Sauvignon Blanc is ideal with both the breaded chicken and the asparagus risotto.

Preserved lemons, sold ready-made in Moroccan souks, are essential to that country's cuisine. The peel, pulp, and juice squeezed from the lemons can all be used. Sometimes, however, the juice and preserving brine, can be bitter; use fresh lemon juice in that case.

This recipe makes more charmoula — a Moroccan herb and spice paste — than you'll need. You can use the leftover to rub on chicken or salmon before grilling. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 1 hr

If an herbes de Provence blend isn't available, use a combination of dried thyme, basil, savory, and fennel seeds. Dried porcini can be found at Italian markets, specialty foods stores, and many supermarkets.

Tiny whole squash are used in this pretty accompaniment, so it is especially easy to eat at a buffet.