Cucumber

Raita is India's signature yogurt and vegetable condiment. This one would also be good on pita or naan.

Why you'll make it: Because it's the tastiest way we know to use up all those ripe tomatoes you've got at the ready. The flavors of cold soup become muted once the soup is thoroughly chilled. Before serving the gazpacho, check the salt and vinegar and then adjust them, if need be.

This gorgeous centerpiece dish comes together in three easy steps.

Can your local deli counter inspire a cool Vietnamese-style meal? Definitely. Here, roast beef, already cooked to medium-rare (perfection, in our opinion), is a main player.

This no-cook soup defeats the summer heat — cucumber provides crunch alongside a hint of minutest, and avocado adds mouthwatering creaminutesess.

Though it's not a true ceviche, since the scallops are already cooked when they hit the marinade, the classic combination of refreshing citrus acid from orange and lime juice, heat from jalapeño, crunch from cucumber, and sweetness from the scallops themselves becomes even more intriguing with the added layer of flavor from the grill. This is the perfect way to start off this menu, as the bold marinade stirs up the appetite for the substantial main course.

It's no surprise that American cooks have adopted Asian peanut sauce as their own. The tantalizing balance of creaminess and heat has universal appeal.

The flavors get stronger the longer the cucumbers marinate.

Contrasting textures — crunchy salad and creamy chickpeas spread over freshly grilled pita — make this vegetarian meal something truly special.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Jasper White's The Summer Shack Cookbook: The Complete Guide to Shore Food. To read Epicurious's review of the cookbook, go to Summer Cooking Guides. This is one of my favorite sauces for grilled seafood, especially swordfish. It is also terrific with salmon, striped bass, halibut, tautog, and other white-fleshed fish suitable for grilling. Think of this recipe as a formula. The ratio of cucumber to the other ingredients is important, but from there you can adapt this sauce to match with different fish or even side dishes. For example, with a Latino or Caribbean dish like Black Beans and Rice, you could substitute fresh lime juice for the lemon juice and add chiles and cilantro. This recipe uses half yogurt and half sour cream, but you could use any combination of the two. Or, for salmon, you might want to use all sour cream, with dill. You could also make a low-calorie sauce using all low-fat yogurt. The first time you make the sauce, if you follow my guidelines but omit the jalapeño and use parsley and chives for the herbs, you will have a basic sauce. After that, you are on your own. The list of possible variations is extensive. For equipment, you will need a stainless steel (or plastic) strainer.

A chilled soup with a taste of the tropics; start making it one day ahead.

Fresh, simple, and spontaneous, modern Australian cooking doffs its cap to several different cuisines with an ebullience all its own. From Australian cookbook writer Jill Dupleix comes this Mod Oz version of a fish gyro. Rich, earthy beets and parsley add great flavor to this heavenly sandwich. You'll find lots more Mod Oz recipes in the May issue of Bon Appétit.

Editor's note: The recipe below is from Govind Armstrong's Small Bites, Big Nights and is part of a special menu he created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program.

Cooking cucumbers takes them out of the salad realm, transforming them into a side dish that's perfect with fish or white meat. Perked up with mint and lemon, they're as refreshing as ever.

In the islands, black-eyed peas are known as black-eyed beans.

Roasting the fish in salt makes it very moist — without, surprisingly, making it taste too salty. The lemony salsa verde adds zing and freshness that contrast nicely with the roasted fish.