Cookthink

This is Claire's grandmother's classic spaghetti and meatballs recipe. She always made twice the meatballs she needed, because inevitably a few would get swiped from the pot before dinner. If you have any meatballs left, make a meatball sub the next day.

Black Beans And Rice With Chorizo, Peppers And Onions

Here's a Spanish-influenced variation on beans and rice. The red and yellow peppers give good color contrast, and their sweetness balances the spiciness of the sausage.

Portuguese Razor Clam Rigatoni

This hearty pasta is inspired by the Portuguese-style clam chowder popular at Cape Verdean spots on Cape Cod. If linguica or razor clams aren’t available, substitute any spicy sausage or regular chopped clams. Read more about this recipe at hogwash.

Sicilian Sardine And Broccoli Raab Pasta

One can of sardines is about 150 calories and 20 grams of protein; it provides 10% of the daily recommended allowance of iron and a whopping 20% of calcium. You can buy sardines in olive oil or in spring water. This recipe was featured in Root Source: Sardine, and comes from Susan of Food Blogga. Read more about the recipe here.

Puerto Rican Clams

Clams in the marketplace that gape open often do so because they are in a weakened state from being out of water for a long time. Tap on them; if they pull shut, the clams are okay to cook. If they don't respond, discard them. Read more about this recipe in the Washington Post.

Herb And Garlic Skirt Steak

Instead of marinating the meat, we drizzled marinade ingredients over just-cooked steak for a lighter, fresher flavor. Be warned: This one's for garlic lovers. Read more about this recipe at the Washington Post.

Balsamic-Marinated Skirt Steak

A 30-minute oil-and-balsamic marinade imparts just a hint of sweetness to skirt steak. Or try oil and garlic for a more pungent flavor. Read more about this recipe at the Washington Post.

Spaghetti With Clams, Chardonnay, Lime and Cilantro

One helping of this fresh, flavorful dish and you won't go back to clam sauce made with canned clams and dried herbs. Read more about this recipe on the Washington Post.

Capellini With Cockle Clams And Lemon-Butter Sauce

This pasta dish is bursting with the briny taste of cockle clams and the freshness of Roma tomatoes and sweet basil leaves -- all happily married in a light and inviting lemon-butter sauce. Read more about this recipe at Rasa Malaysia.

Roasted Vegetable Fusilli With Triple-Creme Cheese

This dish is a cross-cultural affair, mixing cumin, pecorino and triple-creme, corn and jalapeño peppers. Read more about this recipe at the Washington Post.

Ziti With Grilled Vegetables

A quick and fresh summer pasta, this dish is also a great way to use up leftover grilled summer squash or other vegetables. This recipe is part of Andrew Schloss's Sunday Dinners.

Pappardelle With Tomatoes, White Beans, Ricotta And Basil

The sauce in this recipe is made with only tomatoes and basil, which plays nicely off the ricotta. It's a simple, classic combination. Read more about this recipe at the Cookthink blog.