Couscous

The traditional dish of Trapani.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This meatless salad combines couscous with roasted eggplant, zucchini, red bell pepper and leeks. Cooked sausage may be added to make it heartier. Serve with rolls or baguette slices and iced tea or white wine.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

An elegant main course from Xaviar’s restaurant in Garrison. Ask the butcher to bone the lamb for you.

The Moroccan theme continues with this delicious salad and the vegetable kebabs .

Steaming couscous may be a bit more time-consuming than the usual boiling method, but we feel the results are well worth it. Steaming makes the grains fluffier and much more tender. You'll need a bowl-shaped steamer, such as a basket steamer, or you could set a metal sieve into the saucepan.

"During a vacation in Scottsdale, Arizona, my brother-in-law took me to his favorite restaurant, Cowboy Ciao," writes Linden Avery of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. "It serves a very colorful, delicious chopped salad called a Stetson. Could you get the recipe so I can re-create it at home?" This main-course salad is presented with the ingredients lined up in rows. For convenience, you could just toss the salad instead.

Couscous is frequently thought of as a grain, but it's actually a pasta. This is more apparent in rounds of toasted Israeli couscous, which are larger and chewier than the familiar Moroccan kind. Try this dish with chicken or fish.

This golden curry cooks quickly, so the vegetables are just tender. A flourish of mint adds the final spark.

Here's a hot Indian meal interpreted as an exotic and refreshing meatless salad.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Currants, roasted peppers, chick-peas, olives, green onions and cilantro add color and flavor to this portable salad. To start, dip wedges of pita bread into store-bought hummus (a creamy puree of chick-peas and sesame paste, available at Middle Eastern markets). A slightly chilled Beaujolais or lemonade is a refreshing beverage choice.