Lemon

Like the striped pops from the ice cream truck—without the artificial flavors and colors.

"There are as many variations on this easy, classic dessert as there are fruits."—Jimmy Bannos, Jr.

"I like to put these little doughnuts in a brown paper sack with a few shakes of powdered sugar and eat them straight out of the bag."—Ethan Stowell

At San Francisco's Contigo, chef Brett Emerson created this muddled soda to showcase the small, sweet strawberries he finds at the farmers’ market.

Again, easy peasy. Not only can this be made while the pasta is cooking, you have plenty of time to make a lovely salad and assemble a cheese plate for after dinner. Parmesan, lemon, and basil are a threesome made in heaven. The cheesy lemon basil flavors are also very kid friendly.

Here it is: the recipe that started it all. And once you've made it, you'll know why. It serves up the kind of home-cooked goodness that no restaurant meal can top. The chicken's crispy skin is drenched in herb-infused juices (don't forget to pour the pan dripping back over the chicken before serving or, alternately, to drizzle them over individual pieces on the plate), and the trick of turning the chicken 15 minutes into cooking keeps the meat uniquely moist. Any simple sides will work with a main course this splendid. You can go with either white wine (in which case a Riesling would be nice) or red (try pinot noir). Happy cooking-and an even happier future to you and the lucky person you've deemed worthy of this dish.

I think we all play favorites in the kitchen; I know I do. One day I am all over my Tahini-Lemon-Yogurt Dressing, dreaming up salads and dishes that would marry well with its salty tang. Then, suddenly, I abandon it in favor of another dressing and another direction. At this writing, this is my most loved dressing, and I drizzle it on everything I can get my hands on!

The fresh lemon juice and lemon zest give these crisp and buttery shortbreads a zesty kick.

Graham crusts typically start with crushed graham crackers. Here, graham flour gives the crust a nutty flavor and hearty texture.

Serve the lamb with your favorite tzatziki (cucumber and yogurt sauce) and horta (sautéed greens tossed with red wine vinegar and honey).

The beauty of this basic recipe is that it can be tweaked in numerous ways. For a spicy version, add some sriracha sauce. Try swapping out the lemon juice for lime juice and use feta cheese instead of Parmesan and mix in some chopped fresh cilantro and chopped red onion or shallot. For a curried chickpea salad, leave out the Parmesan and add curry powder to taste, dried currants, sliced green onions, and shredded carrots.

Believed to be the oldest alcoholic drink known to mankind, mead is made by the simple fermentation of honey with spices and other flavorings. There are a bewildering number of variations and recipes for mead—including spiced mead (metheglin), fruit mead (melomel), and mead with mulberries (morat) or hops (sack)—but this is a basic home recipe. Once you have mastered the technique you can begin to experiment with your own flavors. The mead will reflect the flavor of the honey you use so bear this in mind.

Any shrimp will work in this recipe, but for the best-tasting, most sustainable choice, go for American farmed or wild shrimp.

We hit upon our favorite recipe a few summers back, when we helped out a buddy with his annual Labor Day pig roast in Connecticut. In addition to the 125-pound porker we were planning to serve, we decided we should have some chicken just in case not everyone at the party wanted to partake of the sacred swine. We got about 100 birds, halved them, and soaked them in a simple marinade of just lemon, sage, and cracked black pepper. It turned out to be one of the first times—maybe the only time—there was a pig roast where chicken was the hit of the day. What really made it special was the marinade. It lent a nice acidity to the meat, which became really tender, and the sage and lemon flavors just exploded. For the most classic presentation, roast a whole bird and carve it tableside. If you want an especially crispy, golden-skinned chicken, have your butcher halve it, and roast the halves skin side up so they can self-baste as they roast.

Lemons and blueberries have complementary flavors. Here, the berries are arranged inside a lemony molded frozen mixture, to create the perfect dessert for serving at the height of the summer blueberry season. The mousse can be made up to 3 days in advance of serving.