Summer

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Strawberries and whipped cream are sandwiched between orange-scented butter cookies in this pretty dessert.

Here's a great combination of colors and flavors that add up to a pretty and refreshing seasonal finale.

Brush this peppery sauce onto beef, chicken or pork during the last 15 minutes of grilling. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The savory butter is also good on potatoes, rice, pasta or bread.

Plums replace pineapple in a terrific rendition of a favorite dessert.

Marietta's tomato sauce — made this simple way — is the best I've ever tasted. Roasting the tomatoes has a magical effect and intensifies the flavors. Though especially delicious in summer, this recipe is also just the thing when you can't find perfect fresh tomatoes. The sauce brings out the best even in a winter tomato.

At Mirabelle, chef Reuge serves the paillards, in this case thin slices of strip steak, on a bed of red cabbage braised in red wine and garnishes the dish with fresh herbs.

Prepared pesto is put to delicious use in this easy and elegant appetizer.

This sorbet has summer in every bite. Be sure to use very ripe apricots, and don't neglect the lemon juice. The sorbet is best eaten right after it is made.

"My grandmother, who was a successful restaurateur from C″rdoba, Spain, hesitantly relinquished her gazpacho recipe to me," says Lawrence Saez of San Francisco, CA. This nourishing cold soup is ideal for a hot summer day and is best enjoyed with a glass of Manzanilla Sherry.

Whether you pick blossoms from your garden or buy them at the farmers market, choose male flowers. The males — which don't produce a vegetable but exist to pollinate the females — are recognizable by their long, straight stems and the unmistakably male-looking stamen in the center of each blossom. Females swell at the base of the blossom, where the squash forms, and four little shoots make up the pistil inside. Some chefs like to fry female blossoms when the baby zucchini is just emerging and still attached, but Mexican and Italian purists wouldn't hear of it. Other chefs like to remove the stamen of the male flowers, but it isn't necessary.

Colorful salsas and relishes made with fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs became popular in this decade of diets. The toppings are light and fresh and packed with flavor-just right with grilled low-fat fish.