5 Ingredients or Fewer

Judging by the incredulous, delighted looks on the food editors’ faces when they swallowed their first spoonful of what is essentially cold, airy, whipped lemonade, this 19th-century dessert deserves a renaissance. The warm, sunny sweetness of basil infuses the accompanying custard sauce.

An easy marinade of garlic, lemon, thyme, and a dollop of the North African hot sauce harissa make these green olives memorable. If you can, prepare the olives ahead—they improve with age.

Just as diced roasted red peppers add a distinctive vegetal sweetness to any dish they appear in, these, left in large chunks for maximum boldness, really complement the meat and its stuffing.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Diane Kochilas's book Meze: Small Plates to Savor and Share from the Mediterranean Table. Kochilas also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. To read more about Kochilas and Greek cuisine, click here. Giant beans in some form or another are never absent from Greek meze menus. The key to making this dish taste as good as possible is to use high-quality roasted sweet peppers preserved in extra virgin olive oil. I usually make my own oil, and have them on hand. All you need to do is roast the peppers whole under the broiler, let them cool, peel them, and store them in a container in the fridge covered with good olive oil. You can pour a few tablespoons of the pepper-infused oil into the baking dish for added flavor. As for the beans themselves, the trick is to get the texture right. Giant beans need first to be soaked, then boiled, and finally baked. Once done, they should be soft, almost buttery, without being baked to the point that they fall apart.

It makes a great side dish, but this salad is even better as a pizza topping. Brush the with olive oil, sprinkle it with sea salt and shredded mozzarella, then bake. When the pizza comes out of the oven, top it with the salad.

Top the dough with the onion mixture, then add your toppings. Blue cheese and halved Kalamata olives would work well with the onions.

Spread the pesto over the dough , then add toppings. Roasted asparagus, well-drained cooked spinach, and crumbled feta would be delicious.

The dough gets its slightly tangy flavor from a "sponge" (a mixture of warm water, yeast, and flour that’s allowed to ferment). Timing note: The sponge needs to rest overnight; the dough needs to rise for about eight hours.

This sauce goes with almost any topping. Three to try: slices of fresh mozzarella, fresh basil leaves, and roasted eggplant. This recipe originally accompanied the <epi:recipelink id="352109">Overnight Pizza Dough recipe</epi:recipelink>

Tangy lemon curd and a white chocolate ganache are each folded with whipped cream to form airy mousses. They're layered here with pretty sliced strawberries, but any berry or soft ripe fruit will work.

Double this recipe if you want leftovers for rice bowls.

This recipe is as delicious for lunch or supper as it is for breakfast. Morel mushrooms tend to trap grit, so swish them around in cool water, transfer them to fresh water for a 15-minute soak, and pat dry before using.

Marinate the chicken overnight, then pop it into the oven the next day.

Crunchy toasted almonds make crisp snow peas even more fun to eat.

You will not regret investing in a set of coeur à la crème dishes, as this is the most captivating of summer desserts, and can be varied all season according to what fruits are available.