30 Minutes or Less

Some interesting food folklore: In his desperation to stay at the gambling table and assuage his hunger at the same time, Englishman John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, asked his manservant to bring him two pieces of bread with some meat in between, thereby inventing — need we say more?

Serve with: Baked sweet potatoes and sautéed Swiss chard. Dessert: Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

This recipe is an accompaniment for Ginger Salad and Long Bean Salad .

Active time: 10 min Start to finish: 25 min

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 15 min

Salmon and cod also work well.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

We've given a twist to the traditional Greek salad, then tucked it into toasted pita bread to come up with a tasty lunchtime treat.

We could describe the comforting qualities of this dish, which brings to mind creamed spinach. We could tell you how we especially love that it takes only minutes to prepare. But Edna Lewis's own comments from In Pursuit of Flavor really do the job much better: "Growing up, we would sow onion seed in the garden and then thin a lot of them out before their bulbs got too big. We chopped them up, sautéed them in bacon fat, poured in heavy cream, and ate them for breakfast. This recipe is not quite as rich as that, but uses scallions in a way that tastes just as delicious. In my opinion, they are an underused vegetable and taste almost as good today as they did years ago. I buy scallions that are about the size of a pencil but if they are a little thicker they still taste good."

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.