Summ
105 recipes found
Slow Cooker Chicken and Creamed Corn
This easy stew has all the gentle pleasures of creamed chicken and creamed corn along with the zip of maque choux, a Cajun sauté of corn and peppers that is often enriched with cream. This slow-cooker recipe combines the best of both dishes for a rich braise, good on its own or served over buttered toast or biscuits. Because it is not as thick as a roux-thickened version, this dish feels right for corn season. It’s lightly creamy and full of sweet corn flavor thanks to the cobs, which cook alongside the other ingredients. There is no need for liquid; the chicken and vegetables give up theirs, making this essentially self-saucing. Add the reserved corn kernels just before serving so that they retain their sweet pop.
Tajín Mango Cucumber Salad
Vibrant, refreshing, juicy and crisp, this salad is perfect for warmer days or any day when you need just a little pick-me-up. Coming together quickly, the combination of mango, cucumber and romaine is simply dressed with fresh lime and cilantro. Tajín, a popular Mexican seasoning made with chiles, lime and salt, adds a tangy and mildly spicy flavor, contrasting nicely with the sweetness of mango.
Corn and Parmesan Pasta
If there is a sign at the farmers’ market saying corn is on sale, I am coming home with at least six ears. While I always have the best intentions of turning my first haul into a salad, I love making a dent in my stockpile with this creamy pasta. Summer corn has a nice sweetness that plays with the saltiness of the Parmesan, but don’t worry, frozen corn will get you great results. The main thing is to make sure to blend your sauce as smoothly as possible, so the corn can thicken into the creamy yellow, slightly cheesy sauce it is meant to be.
Easy Homemade Ice Cream
This easy vanilla ice cream doesn’t contain egg yolks as a lot of ice cream recipes do. Instead, it relies on cream cheese to provide texture, stability and scoopability. The cream cheese adds a brightness to the finished ice cream and helps any flavor you add to it shine. While it’s excellent on its own, this ice cream also makes a great base for building almost any flavor you can imagine, from strawberry cheesecake to peanut butter pie.
Carlota de Limón (Lime Icebox Cake)
Carlota de limón is an iconic Mexican icebox cake that transforms just four ingredients into something greater than the sum of its parts. This refreshing dessert combines tart lime juice with creamy condensed milk between crisp cookie layers that become moist as the cake chills. Synonymous with asadas (cookouts) and family gatherings, it is traditionally served directly from the dish in which it’s assembled, making it a great portable dessert to bring to your next potluck. Maria cookies are a staple in Latino grocery stores and bodegas and are increasingly available at any supermarket. Vanilla wafers (like Nilla) work as a substitute, though they absorb less liquid at first than the Maria cookies do, resulting in a more textured, but still delicious, bite.
Slow Cooker Creamy Tomato Lentil Soup
A summer soup is not an oxymoron. Take this lively lentil soup, rich and aromatic from both fresh and cooked tomatoes, and basil. Adding fresh tomatoes and basil at both the beginning and end of cooking ensures you get both their mellow, sweet side as well as their fresh, zingy side. The tomato paste and cream lend their sturdy flavors in a way that’s reminiscent of vodka sauce, while the lentils almost melt away into the background. The slow cooker is actually a great warm-weather tool, because it doesn’t heat up your kitchen the way the oven does, and it uses very little energy. This soup holds very well on warm before you add the finishing ingredients, making the timing flexible and weeknight-friendly.
Fresas con Crema (Strawberries and Cream)
This classic Mexican dessert features fresh strawberries swimming in sweetened cream that tastes like melted ice cream. It's summer in a cup! Popular throughout Mexico and at Mexican celebrations, fresas con crema is a crowd-pleasing dessert that’s refreshing on a hot summer day and comes together in just 20 minutes. Serve half-portions to yield 8 servings, or double the recipe to generously serve a crowd. Fresas con crema will keep in the refrigerator for up to four days; the chill will also thicken the cream slightly. Try this same cream mixture with other summer fruit like raspberries, golden berries, blueberries, or sweet or tart cherries.
Peach Ricotta Cake
Peaches are one of the very best things about summer, and this cake celebrates them two ways, with chopped pieces folded into the batter and wedges fanned out to decorate the top. The batter is enriched with ricotta for moisture and a generous amount of lemon zest for brightness. This cake is beautiful enough to serve at a party and can be prepared and baked in less than an hour. If fresh peaches aren't looking good at your market, you can substitute the same weight of any other fresh stone fruit. (If summer fruit isn't available, you can even use a 12-ounce package of frozen sliced peaches; just be sure to thaw the slices fully and pat them dry before adding them to the batter.)
Stir-Fried Pork and Plums With Fresh Herbs
This combination of pork with plums is a superb way to incorporate fresh fruit into an easy and exciting one-pan meal. Pork belly is quickly stir-fried to create a crisp exterior, and renders oil in the pan to blister slices of plum. (Apricots, peaches or nectarines will work just as well here.) Of course, you could pull out your wok for this, but a large cast-iron skillet will do just fine. With a mix of sweet, sour, spicy and savory in the sauce, this dish packs a complex array of flavors in every bite. Serve immediately over cooked rice or thin noodles and peppery or bitter greens.
Dijon Chicken With Tomatoes and Scallions
A one-pot dish that guards all the delicious flavors it creates as it cooks — the crispy browned bits of seared chicken, simmering soft scallions and burst tomatoes — and transforms them into a sauce with the addition of white wine and mustard. The tomatoes pop and deflate as they soften, adding their juices to the liquid, which helps gently braise the chicken. Tip in pickled jalapeños and a bit of brine to add punch. Serve this with crusty bread or spoon it onto rice or polenta. A green salad or steamed broccoli complete the meal.
Fresh Corn and Black Bean Salad With Corn Chips
This superquick corn and black bean salad is enlivened with crackly corn chips, in the spirit of salads like fattoush, panzanella and crispy noodle salad. When corn is at its peak, its subtly sweet raw kernels are plump and juicy, and the perfect addition to salads. Corn pairs beautifully with earthy black beans and this sprightly cumin-lime vinaigrette. The corn, black beans, cilantro and vinaigrette can mingle up to 4 hours ahead, so this make-ahead dish is perfect for a picnic, potluck, cookout, or simply dinner. For best results, toss in the corn chips and avocado just before serving.
Heirloom Tomato Sorbet
This tangy sorbet transforms peak-season heirloom tomatoes into a quenching savory-sweet treat. Flavorful and refreshing, it’s the platonic ideal of what summer sorbet should be. Reminiscent of a sweet gazpacho, the base comes together quickly: Add the tomatoes, sugar, water, lemon and a pinch of salt to a blender; purée the mixture until smooth; then pass it through a fine sieve directly into an ice cream maker. (No ice cream maker? This base makes an excellent granita; see Tip.) The quality of your sorbet or granita directly reflects your tomatoes, so opt for the ripest, most fragrant ones you can find.
Tomato Basil Chicken Breasts
This chicken takes a cue from piccata then heads in a decidedly summery direction: A quick pan sauce of butter, shallots, tomatoes, capers and a splash of red wine vinegar turns rich, juicy, and bright — just the thing to spoon over the top. A handful of fresh basil at the end wilts gently in the heat of the sauce. No lemon here, but the vibes are still tangy, savory, and buttery. There’s plenty of sauce, so pair with bread or rice to help soak it all up.
Chakalaka (South African Vegetable Relish)
Chakalaka is an easy way to make the best of seasonal ingredients. A versatile dish, forgiving in all the right ways, this quick South African staple is hearty on its own, yet it can accompany almost anything, and can last for 10 days in the fridge. But all that generosity comes with some constraint: Balancing flavors here is a discovery, as you figure out how to adjust ingredients to your preference. Typically served with grilled meats or fish, it can be an easy way to have vegetables with every meal. Serve on toast, alongside a jammy egg, over pita with hummus or enjoy spoonfuls in a bowl by itself.
Cardamom Dutch Baby With Caramelized Peaches
Made with pantry staples but dressed up with peaches and cardamom, this Dutch baby makes for a large-format weekend brunch dish that can easily feed the whole family but feels fancy. The recipe takes advantage of the abundance of juicy summer peaches, which simmer gently in a foolproof caramel sauce that uses little more than butter, brown sugar, cardamom and the liquid released from the peaches. A dollop of whipped cream ups the luxury factor. While the peaches can be prepared up to three days in advance and refrigerated, the pancake is best eaten right away, crisp at the edges and fluffy to the core.
Apple and Plum Croustade (Croustade aux Pommes et Prunes)
Rustic is best when you are trying to make the most of your high-season fruit. Rolling up your sleeves and getting down to what suits the fruit — like a simple crust around lightly sweetened fruit — seems to be the call of the season for bakers who don’t want to mess with a good thing. This croustade is that dish, the one that keeps things easy. A classic French double layer pie, croustade is worth heating up your kitchen on a hot summer’s day and does not disappoint in its beautiful simplicity. The flaky crust holds the sweet-tart fruit and balances it perfectly with its sparkling sugar topping. You might also want to embrace the croustade’s rustic nature and simply serve it with a dollop of crème fraîche, but lightly sweetened whipped cream, crème anglaise or a scoop of speckled vanilla bean ice cream are also perfect additions. This French classic is a hit at any table, bien sûr.
Feta-Ranch Wedge Salad
A towering wedge salad is fun to look at, but the height and shape make it impractical for a couple reasons: Toppings tumble right off and dressings can’t permeate it properly. This recipe fixes all that by calling for thinly sliced wedges that are stacked on their sides. The toppings stay put, and the dressing can work its way into all the little nooks and crannies. This salad looks impressive, it tastes delicious and it’s actually quite no-fuss: You can make the dressing days ahead of time, and swap in whatever herbs, spices, seasonings you have and crave. The only tricky aspect is emulsifying your feta. The key is time: Scrape the sides as needed and keep blending. With some coaxing, it always gets there.
Seven Layer Salad
As its name implies, this colorful retro salad is composed of seven distinct layers, including vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, bacon, shredded cheese and a creamy dressing. The salad is not tossed, but gets mixed upon serving, allowing for a beautiful presentation and a dish that works well when made in advance. This recipe includes the ingredients and layers typically seen in a seven layer salad, but feel free to swap in your own favorites, using some crunchy cucumber or bell pepper in place of the peas, or avocado in place of the hard-boiled eggs. You can also have fun with the layering, as long as you keep the lettuce and tomato far from the dressing so the salad stays fresh and crisp. The optional red onion is technically an extra layer, but its sharpness works really well with the richness of the dressing, bacon and cheese.
Heirloom Tomato Salad With Ricotta and Chile Oil
Come tomato season, there is no wrong way to make a tomato salad, but this one from my book “Big Vegan Flavor” (Avery Books, 2024) is exceptional. Dollops of creamy ricotta gently swaddle meaty wedges of heirloom tomatoes, while shallots and garlic add a piquant bite. Everything gets drizzled with a mild chile oil and finished with the tomato’s best friends: fresh basil, balsamic vinegar and flaky sea salt. It’s so simple (and fantastic), there’s no excuse to not make it once tomatoes roll into season. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that this salad served with grilled bread is one of life’s finest summer pleasures. Bonus: The human body can better absorb the lycopene in tomatoes when it’s paired with a healthy fat, such as olive oil. So enjoy the heck out of that chile oil. (Watch Nisha make this recipe on YouTube.)
Tomato-Pepper Salad With Tapenade
This is perfect Provençal summer fare, with all the sweet flavors of the season. The tapenade, a pungent combination of olives, garlic, capers and anchovy, can be prepared by hand or in a food processor and can serve as a base to a bright salad of tomatoes and peppers. And it’s an ideal condiment for keep on hand, to pair with bright salads or serve over warm garlic toast.
Pesto Pasta With Corn and Green Beans
Fresh summer green beans are the best, and, if you can get them in your own vegetable garden, all the better. They’re most tender when picked on the small side, so aim for that in the garden and at the farm stand. Here, they combine with sweet corn kernels and a basil pesto for a luscious summer pasta that also happens to be nut-free, just parsley, basil, garlic, Parmesan, pecorino and olive oil.
No-Bake Peaches and Cream Cake
Like tiramisù, this simple-to-assemble dessert uses store-bought Italian ladyfingers available at many supermarkets. Made with fresh peaches and brandy, it’s a creamy, boozy, fruity delight that’s a perfect end to a summer meal. It’s also easily made without ever turning on the oven, just waiting in the fridge until ready to serve. If desired, sprinkle with toasted chopped almonds or pistachios just before serving.
Coconut-Lime Wedge Salad
This recipe provides the essential texture found in a classic wedge salad, but updates the flavors for summer, with a coconut vinaigrette and crunchy, sweet-savory coconut crumbles. Sweetened with agave or maple syrup and baked until crisped, the coconut flakes serve as a plant-based alternative to the usual bacon found in the wedge. The crumble can be prepared in advance, and can even be eaten as a snack on its own or put on top of a scoop of cottage cheese. The coconut-lime dressing is a little nutty and tangy, and makes this cooling salad very refreshing on hotter days and beyond.
Brothy Tomato Rice Soup
This quick and nourishing soup captures the concentrated umami, acidic-sweet brightness and floral aroma of fresh tomatoes. If you can buy the ones on the vine, you’ll end up with an even more intense scent. Fragrant jasmine rice lends body and thickens the broth just enough. The perfect lunch or light dinner, this comforting meal reheats beautifully, too, to a texture not dissimilar to congee or juk, and tastes like peak summer in soup form. A note on cooking with tomato vines: They lend a surprising tomatoey flavor to brothy curries and soups like this, accentuating the aroma of the fruit in a beautiful way, but they do contain plant defenses called glycoalkaloids, so don’t eat them.