Summer

This salad is dressed with a red pepper and tomato sauce.

Peppery arugula, sweet, ripe strawberries, and buttery hazelnuts create layers of contrasting flavor in this simple salad.

Brush thick slices of country bread with olive oil to grill alongside the vegetables. To begin, dice some cucumber into chilled vichyssoise (either from a can or from restaurant takeout); offer watermelon and bakery brownies for dessert.

A dash of curry powder transforms this cool fruit soup into a sweetly savory first course.

Typical Provençal ingredients give this satisfying pasta salad a French accent. Refrigerate this at least two hours before serving.

This recipe makes more honeydew ice than you'll need for the soup, but it's also terrific spooned into our plum limeade. And this dish, like the limeade, is one that you'll want to serve right away so that the soup won't begin to darken.

This quick little pan roast really captures the spirit of Italian food culture although I've never seen anything quite like it in Italy. The balsamic-flavored zabaglione is a nod to the classic Modenese osteria dessert of raw strawberries with balsamic vinegar and black pepper.

Whimsical pinwheel-shaped biscuits swirled with brown sugar, cinnamon, and crystallized ginger top a layer of fresh peach filling.

This simple seasonal soup depends on a single farm-fresh ingredient: corn. Its essence is captured in this purist's purée.

Serve with: Warm corn tortillas, Spanish rice, and grilled zucchini. Dessert: Fresh coconut cake from the bakery.

Candied, or crystallized, ginger is peeled fresh ginger root that has been cooked in a sugar syrup and coated with sugar.

Almond paste in the shortcake biscuits and fresh berries glazed with red currant preserves give this dessert a Swedish accent.

Start marinating the lamb one day before you plan to serve it.

Port wine and balsamic vinegar deepen the fresh fruit flavors in the cherry sauce. Be sure to get started at least one day ahead; the panna cotta custards must chill for 24 hours before serving.

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr

Pita bread serves as the crust for this pizza-style dish. Look for prepackaged mixed black and green brine-cured olives in the deli section of most supermarkets. Serve with: Tabbouleh (bulgur salad), arugula salad with red wine vinaigrette, and marinated artichoke hearts.