Summer

The veggies are great at room temperature, so grill them a couple of hours ahead, if you like. Cooking them ahead also frees up room on the grill for whatever meat you’re grilling (lamb would be delicious with the vegetables).

These are delicious as part of an appetizer plate, or as a Martini garnish.

The fillets are cooked in foil packets with a mix of herbs, citrus, beer, and wine, then served with maque choux, a Cajun succotash.

Any leftover chile butter would be delicious on roasted sweet potatoes or cornbread. If you make the butter in advance, take it out of the fridge before serving to allow it to soften.

This grown-up dessert is perfect for a backyard bash.

Chipotle chiles canned in adobo sauce are sold in the Latin foods section of some supermarkets.

This is terrific on grilled baguette slices, sprinkled with feta or fresh goat cheese. Or try it as a topping for grilled fish or chicken.

Fresh and colorful, this vegetarian entrée is an ideal bring-along for a potluck supper. Quinoa, a delicate grain with a texture similar to that of couscous, cooks up in just 15 minutes. A complete protein, it's also nutritious. Look for it at supermarkets and natural foods stores. Smoked paprika can be found in the spice section of the supermarket.

Halloumi, a firm, mild cheese from Cyprus, is sold at some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores, natural foods stores, and Greek markets.

Not to be confused with coconut milk, coconut water is the tart liquid found in the center of young coconuts.

Fresh mint and lime juice add a bright finish to this drink.

Frozen açai puree is available in the freezer section of most supermarkets.

This has to be one of the oldest porch drinks. My grandmother once told me it was the soft drink of her generation (that, and Coca-Cola, which, with a trace of cocaine in its early days, put a pep in her step). Shrubs make great use of fresh fruits—blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, you name it—and are kept in concentrate form, which, tightly covered, will keep in your refrigerator for a couple of weeks (just whisk it to incorporate the sugar "foam" that forms on top). Don't be alarmed by the vinegar; the sugar and water tone it down, leaving it most enjoyable. This could be made into a punch by pouring the shrub concentrate into a large bowl and adding 12 to 14 cups of water followed by ice cubes.

A press-in crust makes this party-worthy dessert easy to put together. For a pretty presentation, don't cover the lime curd completely with berries. The contrast between the dark berries and the bright lime curd is striking.

Sauce verte is French for "green sauce." In this recipe, the sauce gets its vibrant color from basil, green onion, parsley, and capers. Any leftover sauce can be stirred into couscous or rice, or served with grilled chicken or fish.

Panna cotta is an Italian custard dessert. It's similar to pudding but is thickened with gelatin instead of egg yolks. This version is a velvety almond custard topped with fresh cherries and a candied almond garnish.

A V-slicer or mandoline is the perfect tool for thinly slicing the fennel. The fresh apricots add a nice sweetness to the salad, but feel free to skip them if they're not available in your area.

Smashing (called muddling in the bartending biz) the raspberries with the vodka, sugar, and lime wedges brings out the berry flavor.