Macaroni

I know it sounds odd, but my girl LOVED butternut squash! This dog might even go for it before a steak, especially if there were also pasta and cheese involved in the deal.

Like most little kids, Dahlia loves macaroni and cheese, and I've made it for her in many guises, running the gamut of techniques. My aim is always the same—to make the dish quickly with a minimum of fuss, and to use a maximum of vegetables that she will tolerate and not pick out. This is one of both our favorites. It's comforting, crusty topped, soft centered, and very cheesy—but not at all sophisticated. Just simple, kid-friendly, homemade food with the added grown-up appeal of lots of healthful carrots tossed into the mix. I got the idea from a chef's recipe in a glossy food magazine. The chef called for cooking carrots in butter and orange juice, pureeing them, and using the puree as a sauce for mac and cheese. I tried the recipe as written and was disappointed. It was a lot of work, and I didn't like the sweetness of the citrus fruit interfering with my cheesy goodness. So I decided to come up with my own simplified and ultra-Cheddary version. It was a huge hit with the under-three crowd and their parents, too. It's a straightforward recipe that comes together without much fuss, other than having to grate some carrots. But to make up for that, I've eliminated the need to make a cheese sauce on the top of the stove. Instead, I toss the hot pasta with grated cheddar, butter, sour cream for creaminess, and eggs to hold it all together. The grated carrots get boiled along with the pasta, so cooking them isn't an extra step. And the tiny orange shreds look so much like the cheddar that your kids might not even notice they are there. Dahlia certainly hasn't, and while I've never lied to her about their inclusion, I might have left out the word carrot in the dish description—accidentally, of course.

Savor these morsels with benefits: Each has nearly 20 percent of your calcium RDA.

The toasted crumbs on top have a cheesy crispness, and the pasta beneath is creamy and rich. Kids will appreciate the individual servings, but the recipe makes plenty, so why not pour the extra into a baking dish to feed the ravenous parents?

Here's a hearty vegetable soup that doesn't take as long to make as the classic but is much better than what you'll find in a can.

Maccheroncini al Pesce Spada This dish epitomizes what I have found true Sicilian cooking to be: fresh tasting, light, and fragrant.

Although this dish is lower in fat due to the skim milk and reduced-fat cheese, you'll love it so much you may never resort to the fluorescent-orange boxed stuff again!

(PASTA PICCANTE CON POMODORI E RUCOLA) Fresh-tasting, easy to make and perfect for weekday entertaining.

Buttered steamed broccoli and carrots are great with this ultimate comfort food; end with grapes and cookies.

Lighter, brighter flavors make this old-fashioned salad new again.

A wonderful first course, to be followed by roasted meat with vegetables. Pass some additional grated Parmesan cheese if you're not concerned about a few extra calories.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Clearly this is an Italian soup. Biete is Swiss chard, usually green, although I have a fondness for the drama and beefy taste of the red-stemmed kind.

We make half of this mac 'n' cheese plain, for kids, and into the other half we stir some chipotle chiles to give it a grown-up kick. Any tubular pasta will do, but we like to use cavatappi, a ridged, spiral macaroni that lends the dish a particularly festive air.

"Every time I visit my sister in Los Angeles, we make a point of having dinner at Mimosa, a popular French bistro," writes Frances Candler Brown of Birmingham, Alabama. "I like to think I'm an adventurous diner, but my order there has become only too predictable: a glass of wine, a salad and the restaurant's delectable version of macaroni and cheese." This French take on macaroni and cheese has a nice assertive flavor.

Soupe au Pistou During Marion Cunningham’s last visit with Richard Olney, he made a version of this recipe, which comes from Simple French Food. As he made it, he told her that he thought the trick to cooking is tasting — in the case of the soup that day, adding the right amount of salt and pepper, then cheese, then a little olive oil, and finally some macaroni. After making the soup in our own kitchens, following the recipe from the book (it's highly adaptable to seasonal produce or the contents of your larder), we can understand why this recipe is so loved among Olney’s fans.

Nearly every cook in Newberry County makes his or her own rendition of Dunbar macaroni. In Gourmet's kitchens, we combined some favorite additions to the basic recipe to come up with this version.

A robust mix of white beans and macaroni in a light tomato sauce, ready to serve in under 30 minutes.