Summer

A smoky spice blend gives this quick, modern stir-fry a fantastic kick.

Just about any fruit will work under this delicious lattice crust, but the sweet-tart trio of nectarines, plums, and raspberries is hard to beat.

Inspired by the classic steakhouse wedge, this salad gets a double hit of smokiness thanks to the bacon and grilled iceberg.

This simple tangy-style potato salad is inspired by dill pickle-flavored potato chips.

Broccoli rabe and pasta, crowned with golden shards of garlic and zapped with a touch of chile heat, is one of the fastest dinners to make, and definitely one of the most satisfying. Because broccoli rabe is loaded with vitamins, minerals, and cancer-fighting bionutrients, I like to double up on the greens. Those who find broccoli rabe a bit bitter—it is a cousin of mustard—will find that the bitterness is greatly tamed by boiling it in lots of salted water with the pasta. You can embellish this basic rendition with bacon or sausage, but it's pretty darn delicious just as it is.

The Paloma—often made with store bought grapefruit soda—is Mexico'’s most popular cocktail. This fancified version uses grilled fresh grapefruit and grilled lime to give the drink a slightly smoky edge.

This recipe is infinitely adaptable—swap in whichever summer fruit you prefer, add coconut flakes or sunflower seeds to the topping, and amp up the filling with fresh ginger or herbs.

An addition of almond flour gives this pie crust a nutty, toasted flavor—a great complement to the sour-cherry filling.

Perfecting this recipe required a mother-daughter collaboration. My mom started it off by cutting the kernels off the cobs, simmering the corncobs in the stock, and then scraping the cobs to capture every ounce of delicious corn flavor. Her friend Darryle Pollack taught her the trick of including potatoes and blending part of the soup to thicken it. I added warming spices like paprika and cayenne pepper to complement the sweetness of the summer corn and topped it with charred red bell peppers. Together we created a perfect soup. —Marea

Reason alone to save your chard stems, though thinly sliced fennel can also be used. Whole runner beans are completely edible; swap in flat beans or Romano types, or any other snap bean you like.

For some, the beginning of spring is marked by budding crocuses and blooming daffodils. For me, it's all about the rhubarb. After a long winter of baking endless nut, citrus, and chocolate cream pies, the emergence of those leafy pink stalks from the ground is a harbinger of the coming bounty of spring and summer fruits. Some wait until strawberries are in season a few weeks later to start baking with rhubarb, but I use it as soon as humanly possible. Toasted almond frangipane is a lovely, creamy foil to the tartness of the rhubarb, and adds an extra layer of flavor without overwhelming the star ingredient.

Koreans celebrate the first one hundred days of life, so for my son, Hudson's, hundredth-day party, we had a bash with lots of Korean food. The next day, with my taste buds toned and thinking of the great Korean tacos I've devoured at food trucks in Los Angeles, I created this version. The marinade for the steak is to die for. I guarantee you'll want to try it with Korean-style short ribs, pork tenderloin, and grilled chicken. A little planning and prep a day ahead is a great way to save time on hurried weeknights. This steak gets even better with an overnight marinade, so you could marinate it on Monday, and it's ready to grill on Tuesday night. If you're doing it all on the same night, use the marinating time to multitask—prep your vegetables and whip up the guacamole. You'll be surprised how quickly it comes together.

Yogurt subs for heavy cream, so it's lowfat and only tastes splurgy.

The spicy and perfectly tart shrub (flavored drinking vinegar) gives this pitcher-friendly cocktail a refreshing quality.

Whether you pile this spicy, marinated grilled steak and cabbage into warm tortillas or over a bowl of rice, the only thing you’ll wish is that you had made more.

Flavor Profile: Spicy, tart, aromatic, salty, umami-rich Try it with: Any Som Tam (Papaya salad and family) and/or Phat Khanaeng (Stir-fried Brussels sprouts). Needs Khao Niaw (Sticky rice). The recipe for steak salad is a classic, but naam tok made with mushrooms is less common. Yet mushrooms are everywhere in Thailand and echo the texture and even the umami-rich flavor of animal flesh. Thailand has a long history of vegetarian food, for strict Buddhists and those celebrating Buddhist holidays. And while I rarely spend time considering the needs of vegetarians, I figured that if I swapped out the fish sauce in the original for thin soy sauce, then they'd have something to eat at Pok Pok.