(Family Features) - Craving the weekend on Wednesday because you're hungry for your favorite chef-created meal? Don't wait: The distinct flavors of your favorite restaurant dishes are within reach, without dining out every night. Skip the tired take-out fare and create a tantalizing, made-fresh meal at home to enjoy tonight.

Savory meals begin with top-notch ingredients. Meats and seafood paired with fresh produce offer endless possibilities for creating restaurant-quality meals that look and taste chef-made. Try starting with a great complete salad from the produce aisle. Chef-inspired creations, like those from the Fresh Express Completes Salad line, combine gourmet seasoning blends and condiments with artisan breads and cheeses. The flavorful combinations are topped off with perfectly matched dressings that make these salads worthy of center stage on any family's table.

These top-drawer salads - fresh mixtures of greens and vegetables, paired with savory goodies like crunchy artisan bread croutons, chef-made dressings and aged cheeses - beautifully harmonize with a variety of contemporary entrées. The combination ensures a fast, flavorful and easy-to-make weeknight menu masterpiece.

"Completes" restaurant-style salads are full of special flavor touches. New "Pacifica Supreme" from Fresh Express starts with crisp spring mix with carrot strips, tender pea pods, lightly roasted soy nuts and sunflower kernels. Tossed with a poppyseed vinaigrette dressing, it's a perfect balance of sweet and savory in this Pacific Rim inspired salad. Another new offering, Mediterranean Supreme, is loaded with baby spinach, focaccia bread croutons and provolone, Parmesan and feta cheeses, dressed with a caramelized onion-kissed Dijon vinaigrette.

Paired with these or other complete salads, simple and delicious entrée ideas will make you look like the savviest cook on the block. Match a ready-to-serve complete salad with your own list of favorite "make fast" dishes. Or check out some of these ideas and recipes to make flavorful, fast entrées that make beautiful menu music with a chef-inspired complete salad from the produce section.

Caesar's Corner

Culinary legend ascribes creation of the cherished classic, Caesar salad, to Italian chef Caesar Cardini, who owned a restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico in the 1920s. As the story goes, Chef Cardini found himself with just a few odd ingredients (the requisite romaine, pantry standards Worcestershire and canned anchovies, a lemon, a piece of Parmesan and stale bread) and unexpected guests he needed to serve. Truth or myth, the rest of the salad story is history. And we love variations on this classic Caesar theme - topped with grilled chicken, shrimp, bacon and other cheeses. Fresh Express complete salads include a classic Caesar, Caesar Supreme, BLT Caesar and Caesar Lite.

Enjoy dining in like dining out! Who needs dinner reservations?

Island Inspired Escape

For a tropical inspired evening, pair a Fresh Express Pacifica Supreme complete salad with this sweet 'n' spicy salmon fillet. Serve fresh orange wedges and store-bought almond cookies for a sweet finale.

Apricot-Ginger Glazed Salmon
Serves 2

1/2 pound salmon fillet
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons apricot jam or preserves
1 1/2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Heat oven to 450°F. Season salmon with salt and pepper; place skin side down on parchment-lined (for easy clean up) rimmed baking sheet. In small bowl, stir together jam, ginger and soy sauce; spread evenly over salmon. Roast 10 to 15 minutes, until salmon flakes easily.

Far East Café

Try pairing Fresh Express Asian Supreme complete salad with this simple Pacific Roasted Pork Tenderloin. For a dramatic finish, dish up fresh strawberries atop angelfood cake to top off this exotic dinner.

Pacific Roasted Pork Tenderloin
Serves 4

1 whole pork tenderloin, about 1 to 1 1/4 pounds
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon oil
1/2 teaspoon ground five-spice

Heat oven to 425°F. In small bowl stir together hoisin, oil and five spice; rub evenly over pork. Place pork in small roasting pan; roast 20 to 25 minutes until internal temperature, measured with a meat thermometer, is 155°F. Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes before slicing to serve.

Mediterranean Delight

Warm up the night with the new Mediterranean Supreme complete salad from Fresh Express and a Greek Grilled Chicken Panini. Lemon bars from the bakery bring this easy menu to a sunny conclusion.

Greek Grilled Chicken Panini
Serves 2

1 1/2 cups coarsely shredded meat from rotisserie chicken
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
1/2 10- to 12-inch focaccia, split horizontally
2 ounces thinly sliced fontina
1 4-ounce jar roasted red bell peppers, drained
Thinly sliced red onion
8 pitted kalamata olives, halved
1 tablespoon butter, optional

In small bowl toss shredded chicken with lemon pepper. Layer chicken, cheese, peppers, onion and olives into focaccia. Grill sandwich in a panini press, or melt butter in hot skillet and grill sandwich on each side until browned. Cut in half to serve.

Mexican Cantina

Bring a little spice to Monday night by beefing up Fresh Express Salsa Ensalada Supreme complete salad. By topping this tasty salad with seasoned beef or chicken fajita meat, you've got one flavor-packed main dish salad that rivals any restaurant dish. Indulgent hot caramel sundaes with salted nuts will seamlessly bring this menu together.

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