Summer

To intensify the flavor of the compote, Jeanne cooks the plums with their pits. Any leftover compote would be delicious spooned over vanilla ice cream.

The combination of condensed milk and lime gives this dessert a bit of tropical flair.

Be well this fall: Have one bowl and you'll spoon up nearly three quarters of your daily requirement for vitamin C.

This herb lends an unexpected hint of mint to bean dishes. For a change, feel free to swap in lowfat feta for the olives.

If plums aren't available, pears are an easy alternative. And with calories this low, go ahead—indulge in seconds!

Since emigrating from Vietnam in the 1970s, Kia Dickinson has been generously sharing her incredible recipes with everyone she meets, including food editor Ian Knauer. This colorful mix of moist poached chicken, cabbage, carrots, and fresh herbs tossed with a wild, tongue-searing dressing is the quintessential summer salad—cool, colorful, and very fresh. When preparing this recipe, Dickinson uses the leftover poaching liquid to make rice.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text are from Dana Slatkin's book The Summertime Anytime Cookbook. With an appealing assortment of textures and flavors, this simple yet unexpected whitefish preparation will enhance any evening. In case you're not familiar with kohlrabi, it's part cabbage, part root; looks like a small, light green (or sometimes purple) turnip; and tastes like a cross between celery root and broccoli stem. This dish is flexible enough that you can substitute any mild fish, such as halibut, red snapper, or John Dory, or swap the kohlrabi for broccoli or cauliflower.

This satisfying chowder is sweetened with summer corn and made extra-creamy by adding the milky starch from the cobs.

Though we can appreciate the beauty of a panna cotta that's been turned out of its mold, the light-as-air texture of these, just set enough to melt in the mouth, will have you happy to eat them right from the cup. Yogurt gives the almond-infused cream a little tang, and peaches that have been macerated with lemon thyme just long enough to meld and soften seem to exist expressly for this dessert.

This vibrantly colored crisp is the perfect combination of sweet, tart, and spicy flavors.

A fragrant peach and berry filling is topped with slightly crunchy, gingery biscuits. You'll notice that the biscuits  contain grated hardboiled egg yolk: It adds some body.

Satay is an Indonesian-style kebab served with a spicy peanut sauce. Here, we've amped up the sauce's flavor with some sweet peach nectar.

Almond extract deepens the flavor of fresh cherries in this summertime treat.

Summery and light, this vivid salad and its tangy dressing help balance the tuna and its rich glaze. Salting the zucchini slices takes the edge off their rawness while preserving their pleasant snap.

A ripe peach eaten over the kitchen sink is hard to beat, but this comes mighty close.

You would be hard-pressed to find something more refreshing than watermelon. This cooler is easy to make, beautiful to behold, and not too sweet. You'll want a pitcher of it in the refrigerator all summer.