Summer

Create endless riffs on this salad by using the bright herb dressing with your favorite grains and vegetables.

Cerciello marinates small chickens with garlic and herbs, then roasts them until golden. In summer, he serves them with a quick, piquant sauté of corn and peppers along with a chunky pistachio sauce that's so good, you'll want to make it all season long.

This is a gem from my mother's notebook of Nonna Mary's recipes. I remember Nonna Mary serving these tomatoes along with assorted grilled meats during the summer in Cesenatico. They are also a perfect accompaniment to veal cutlets, and together they make a great sandwich, one of my favorite lunches that my mother would pack for me to take to school.

{sauceless} When we found out our dear friends Katie and Parker got engaged, we packed up our pizza dough and big bag of greens from our garden and headed to their place for an impromptu celebration that's become a tradition in both our homes. Though the best pizza dough takes a little preparation {it gets more supple as it sits overnight}, a pizza topped with little more than fresh farmers' market finds can be thrown together on the fly like a grand game of Twister, with everyone's arms cutting, slicing, patting, and rolling in a tangle that is soon to become a very good dinner. Sip: Snappy and crisp Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand

この味は驚くばかりである! We make White Miso ice cream in the summer with peaches, in the fall with apples, and in the winter with pears. Alice Waters would be so proud of us . . . you know, if she knew who we were. Doing a flavor with miso was a natural and logical extension of our love for savory elements in our ice creams. Miso is a thick traditional Japanese soy paste that's often used as a condiment or a flavor ingredient in cooking, and it's been growing in popularity as an ingredient in desserts. Since miso is so salty, this is one of the few recipes in the book that doesn't call for added salt or vinegar. In his search to get the flavors right, Jake went to a Japanese supermarket and bought pretty much every kind of miso in the joint: red miso, mixed miso, rice miso, purple miso, soy-only miso, miso-horny, and so on. He eventually settled on a white style. White miso is much more delicate than its counterparts. It's mellow. He still doesn't know what the label says, but boy, it sure gets the job done. White Miso is another "Wow" flavor, with distinct umami undertones that pair well with the seasonal tree fruits. It also goes secretly well with a scoop of Guinness Gingerbread, or simply a little splash of olive oil on top. Inspiration: Jake used to serve miso apple butter with crepes and olive oil ice cream.

With the neo-eco-bio-cool. We'll pick our own apricots, cut some rosemary from the garden, a little organic honey…

With different girls

Since I've spent so many years eating and cooking in Spain, I would be remiss if I didn't include a gazpacho in this book. But alas, this is not your abuela's gazpacho. In this version, peaches, plums, and watermelon all come together in a bright, colorful, chilled soup that is topped with a single seared diver scallop. The tart sour plums allow the sweet plump scallop to feel a little less self-conscious in its summery dress. If you can't find sour plums, substitute sweet plums, preferably golden plums, plus the juice of 2 lemons.

Sweet nectarines balance the earthy green peppers in this colorful side.

If you can't find almond syrup, floral, almond-flavored orgeat syrup is a fine substitute.

Berries get a subtle herbal note from tea-infused whipped cream.

Coating the toasted pita in olive oil prevents it from getting soggy when mixed with the vegetables and dressing.

The secret to this flavorful sauce, which is delicious with almost all grilled meat and fish, is to use any herb that looks good at the market. Just be sure to include parsley: It gives the salsa backbone.

Sprinkle salt and sugar on produce like cucumbers, tomatoes, or berries (hold the salt!); let stand for 20-40 minutes. This process, also called maceration, draws out the juices, creating a natural sauce.

There's so much more to leafy greens than lettuce. Here, they're tossed with a light vinaigrette and spooned over sliced stone fruit, nuts, and blue cheese.

If you grow pole beans, you know that at first glance, you have only a few beans, and then suddenly there is an onslaught. That's when bean varieties like the green Blue Lake or the yellow wax beans can be stir-grilled with a bit of olive oil for a very simple yet satisfying dish to use the surplus of beans. When you're in the mood for a more robust sauce, try this lemony pesto tossed with the grilled beans right before serving. Editor's note: If you can't find lemon verbena leaves or even fresh lemon balm leaves, substitute basil pesto.

Backyard garden strawberries are often smaller than store-bought, so be the judge of how many strawberries you need for the skewers. Or even simpler, grill strawberries on a grill rack until a bit charred and warmed through and spoon atop frozen yogurt or ice cream.

Fig trees love warmer climates. However, for the adventurous northern gardener, the best way to grow figs is in a container that can be placed outdoors in warm weather and then brought indoors to winter. The best variety of fig tree for a container is the Petite Negri fig. It's a small- to medium-sized black fruit with sweet, red flesh. If you have great weather, Mission figs are superb. The natural sweetness of figs goes well with pork tenderloin in this dish. If you like, use sturdy fresh rosemary branches (as from the Tuscan variety) for the skewers.