Sauce

* Item: Birds Eye vegetables with sauce * What you get: 2 (1-cup) servings * Cost: About $1.35 * Preparation time: 4 to 5 minutes in microwave, 6 to 7 minutes boiled in water on stove top * Review: Birds Eye is billing the latest in its frozen vegetable line as versatile and convenient. Advertising urges consumers to try these four frozen side dishes as a quick meal for one or as an easy and flavorful accompaniment at the family dinner table. The Roletti Pasta and Vegetables includes broccoli, carrots and corn in a very mild garlic and herb sauce.

Item: Taco Bell Pour 'N Simmer Taco Seasoning What you get: Seasoning for 2 pounds of meat or 14 servings Cost: About $2 Nutritional content: Garden: 20 calories, 0 grams fat, 0 grams saturated fat, 400 milligrams sodium Preparation time: Three minutes added to already cooked meat Review: When I make tacos, I usually toss in half a jar of salsa after I add the taco seasoning. With Taco Bell's new Pour 'N Simmer sauce, I can have both salsa and seasoning in one step. The Garden sauce we tried includes onions, tomatoes and red and green peppers as well as traditional taco seasonings.

Creamy rich Mexican dishes are always a favorite, but not always a quickie. We've found a streamlined version, however, that saves time as well as calories.To accompany the chicken enchilada bake, toss together a simple salad with chopped ingredients from the supermarket salad bar.Serve fresh fruit of the season for dessert. If desired, serve a bit of fruit dipping sauce such as butterscotch or fudge to enliven the pears.Chicken enchilada bakeServes 62 cups cooked shredded chicken meat1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes1 4-ounce can chopped Ortega chilies, drained1 10-ounce container prepared Alfredo Sauce Light1/2 cup finely chopped scallions1/4 cup chopped green pimento stuffed olives, plus 8 to 10 whole olives for the top1 1/2 teaspoons taco seasoning mix6 (6-inch)

One hardly knows what to make of China Chefs. Although the name tells us that this is a Chinese restaurant, it looks pure Columbia. Its style is closer to swanky suburban watering holes like Linwood's than to your typical shopping center Hunan joint.One hardly knows what to make of China Chefs. Although the name tells us that this is a Chinese restaurant, it looks pure Columbia. Its style is closer to swanky suburban watering holes like Linwood's than to your typical shopping center Hunan joint.

In Baltimore, everybody knows Costas Inn. The Dundalk institution has been around since 1971, when Costas Triantafilos - still the owner, now working with his son, Pete - opened the restaurant. Since the '70s, Costas has grown into a nationally recognized crab powerhouse, serving steamed crabs year-round and shipping crab cakes and crab seasoning all over the country. But back in Baltimore, the restaurant is more than just a place to pick crabs. We visited Costas during the "off" season to see what else the Baltimore landmark has to offer.

With all the strip malls and traffic, York Road can get monotonous and frustrating. Step inside Cafe Spice and, almost immediately, you feel like you're miles away from the bustling suburban streetscape. Paintings and draperies spruce up the walls of the Cockeysville Indian restaurant, and colorful umbrellas hang upside-down from the ceiling alongside chandeliers. Together, they help transform what could be an otherwise drab, corrugated metal ceiling into an eye-catching presentation.

I WAS a man in distress. My sprayer wouldn't spray and a rack of ribs was sitting on the barbecue kettle cooker, begging for moisture. I pulled the trigger, trying to activate the nozzle and send a mist of soothing sauce from the hand-held spray bottle onto the meat. But nothing happened. In a panic, I loosened the top of the bottle and started pouring the contents of the bottle onto the meat. It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done. Later I figured that the honey in the sauce had gummed up the nozzle.

Overcooking is what kills asparagus for most people. Memories of gray, limp and pungent spears follow wary eaters like ghosts from a nightmare. But when treated right, asparagus is a versatile and complex vegetable. Its flavor profile can switch from green and grassy to sweet and nutty just depending on how it's cooked. That's why so many chefs love to put this "grande dame of spring" on their menus. Ben Simpkins, the executive chef at Richardson Farms in White Marsh, makes an asparagus "cappuccino," in which a cup half-filled with hot asparagus soup is topped with cold asparagus foam made by shooting the cold soup through a whipped-cream gun. "I love asparagus, and this is my favorite dish," says Simpkins.

Although I always look for the easiest way to cook any dish, I usually take an extra step and bake, then grill baby back ribs during the summer. The grilling step brings out the natural sweetness of the pork and infuses it with a smoky flavor that's irresistible. Although this two-step cooking process requires heating both the oven and the grill, the actual cooking time is no longer than you'd devote to one step. Start by baking baby back ribs -- officially known as pork loin back ribs -- in a moderate oven for an hour.

It's simple to take the famous fire of the Buffalo chicken wings and apply it to some other great favorites like shrimp. This recipe pairs well with some pasta and vegetables. The whole dinner should take no more than 20 minutes. For a sweet ending, serve some bakery eclairs.Fire-eater shrimpServes 41/2 cup olive oil2 teaspoons tomato paste mixed with 2 tablespoons water3 cloves garlic, minced1/2 to 1 teaspoon Tabasco or equivalent hot sauce1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, peeledHeat the broiler with the rack positioned four inches from the heating unit.