I first had this summery salad at a family reunion, and it's become one of my husband's favorite dinners. Sometimes, we leave out the chicken and serve it as a side dish instead. —Jennifer Madsen, Rexburg, ID
Yellow-red Mr. Stripey tomatoes give this ice a light hue. Use red or purple tomatoes if you want a darker granita, if you prefer. Mixing purple basil with deep-green Italian basil yields a nuanced flavor and a lovely garnish.
These may look like everyday ribs, but balsamic vinegar makes a pronounced difference, thanks to a distinctive tang that melds well with the sugars and multiple peppers in the rub.
Chinese Wide Noodles with Barbecue Pork and Dried Mushrooms is a Chinese comfort-food favorite. This quick version of char siu pork amps up pork tenderloin with a marinade of sweet-salty hoisin sauce and aromatic five-spice powder. Then slivers of this meat meld with meaty wood ear mushrooms among chewy noodles bathed in a salty-sweet sauce.
These Asian dumplings are traditionally vegetarian but can also be stuffed with chicken, seafood, or vegetables. This recipe includes directions to make the wrappers. Or you can use refrigerated wonton wrappers from the produce section.
Iris Van Rynbach, 61, Glastonbury, Conn."With lots of vegetables, cheese and a poached egg, this salad walks the line between indulgent and nutritious."
Feast or Famine. Half the year my husband is really busy with work and gone a lot and the other half he has a lot more leisure time to spend with us. Thank goodness because I was pretty fried there for a while. It takes about a week for us all to adjust to him being home more. …
