Onion

Serve with: Grilled herbed potato slices and a salad of mixed baby greens and chopped beefsteak tomatoes, dressed with a red-wine vinaigrette. Dessert: Purchased plum tart with whipped crème fraîche.

You've never seen these on the menu at your local fast-food Mexican restaurant, and you probably never will. One of the joys of cooking is that leftovers can be used to create better meals than most people get when they eat out. These tacos are remarkably simple to make. Just put the various ingredients in their own serving containers on the table and let everyone serve themselves.

The agrodolce (tart-and-sweet) flavors of vinegar and raisins used in marinating the fish are typical of Jewish-Italian cooking.

Coffee beans soften the heat of the chile and bring out the other flavors in this paste-like marinade. You can also use the paste on chicken, as they do at Maroons, where this dish is served. Begin marinating the meat the day before.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes of less.

Here's a perfect partner for turkey or veal burgers, sausages and toasted French bread.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 45 min

This sauce can be prepared with yellow bell peppers instead of poblano chiles. Both sauces go equally well with the chicken-and they also complement each other nicely. So follow your mood: earthy poblano or sunny, sweet yellow bell pepper-or make half a recipe of each and serve them both. This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.