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Tuna

Everything-but-the-kitchen-sink tuna salad: A can of tunafish in olive oil, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, spring onion, sliced gherkins, olives, carrots, pine nuts, ricotta, parmesan, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper.

1st Street Tostadas

Chop an onion, chop some garlic. Saute some of both in a pot with olive oil for a bit then add a can of pinto beans and some salsa. In a separate pan, saute the rest of the onion and garlic in some olive oil. Add slices of yellow or red bell pepper. When they’re almost soft, add spinach leaves and cook until they’re just wilted. Soften tortillas—corn or flour—in the oven. To assemble, take a tortilla, add grated cheese, a dollop of the beans, a dollop of the spinach/pepper mix, guacamole, chipotle or other chile saude, chopped tomatoes, lime juice.

Bar Saigon

Like taco night, only Vietnamese. Lay out mint leaves, basil, cilantro, sesame seeds, peanuts, sliced radishes with sugar and soy sauce, lime wedges, sliced jalapenos, a jar of chile-garlic sauce, whole leaves of butter lettuce and leftover carrot-beet salad. Meanwhile, marinate the skirt steak in fish sauce and slices of lemongrass. Grill the steak , slice it, lay it out with the rest of the fixings. Use the lettuce as taco-shell-like wrappers, and stuff with fixings of your choice. Wash it all down with grape soda.

Early Spring Dinner

Slice and grate a bunch of carrots and raw beets (grating is easiest in the food processor), add a bunch of raisins and pine nuts. Pour in a few things from the cupboard—in this case, olive oil, sherry vinegar, honey, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, fresh lemon juice—until it tastes the way you like it. Pair with a nice cheese, crackers and fig jam.

Fish dinner ($16.95 from farmer's market)

A dozen oysters (shuck them over the sink), a few filets of mackerel sliced for sashimi, and two whole mackerels grilled on the stove with olive oil, salt and pepper. Accessories include sliced jalapenos, horseradish, lemon, wasabi (made with store-bought wasabi powder and mixed with water). Bottle of $8.95 Reisling.

Beer-in-the-Butt Chicken

Take the top of the beer can off with a can opener, empty half the beer out, then plop in spices of your choice—in this case, garlic cloves, thyme, tarragon. Rub the chicken with butter, sprinkle it with salt and pepper, stick it, butt first, over the beer. Cook in a 350-degree oven for about an hour.