White Wine

A mixture of cottage cheese, lowfat yogurt and lemon juice replaces the sour cream in the traditional version of this dish. Ground turkey makes an especially good choice for those watching their cholesterol intake.

On a weekday, accompany this main course with breadsticks and marinated vegetables from the deli. Wrap up with grapes and cookies. For a festive occasion, start with an antipasto of olives and roasted vegetables, then serve an arugula, radicchio and toasted walnut salad dressed with lemon vinaigrette. Finish with an Italian fruit crostata.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 2 1/2 hr

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 35 min

A classic roast chicken enlivened with an herbed olivada (olive paste) that is rubbed under the skin. The olivada can be prepared one day before you cook the chicken. What to drink: A crisp white wine or a light, fruity red works well with this menu. For white, Pinot Grigio is a great choice; for red, try a Valpolicella Classico.

"Recently I had dinner at Highlands Bar & Grill in Birmingham, Alabama. To say I was dazzled by the baked grits is not overstating the case," writes Mary Lane Stiglets of Jackson, Mississippi. "This divine and truly southern recipe should be printed in your magazine for all to enjoy."

The origin of this dish is unknown, but it's a common menu feature of many Italo-American restaurants of the red-sauce variety. In kitchen lingo, a shoemaker is a shortcutting, skillful hack; a shoemaker cobbles things, a meal, together from the meager things on hand. In Italian, scarpa translates as "shoe" and scarpariella is slang for shoemaker. The actual name for one who plies this trade is calzolaio. In Chicken Scarpariella, a spring chicken is "hacked" up in to small pieces and quickly cooked with a few common ingredients.

Petto di Pollo alla Valdostana con Lenticchie Brasate I sometimes suggest some side dishes to go along with main courses and let you make up your mind which you prefer to serve. I love this combination so much, though, that I'm including the side dish as part of the recipe. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Offer this main course with plenty of crusty bread to soak up the delicious saffron broth. A crisp Sauvignon Blanc is good here, too.

You can save some prep time by asking a butcher to cut the chicken thighs in half for you. This dish is particularly good served over orzo.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Begin with endive spears dressed with oil and vinegar. Orzo pilaf with cherry tomatoes is a nice accompaniment. For dessert, have rhubarb compote with crème fraîche.

In these stuffed artichokes, based on a recipe by Marie Miraglia — mother of one of our food editors, Gina — the provolone melts into each bite, and the soppressata adds more depth of flavor. Though we've given a regular-pot method in our recipe, there's nothing like the tenderness the leaves acquire in a pressure cooker — and the artichokes are done in a fraction of the time. Active time: 1 1/2 hr Start to finish: 2 hr