Labor Day

Save this pressed sandwich for the height of summer, when you can get locally grown zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes. After grilling the zucchini and eggplant, layer them on a roll slathered with romesco, the Spanish tomato and almond sauce. (Refrigerate any unused romesco and use it within a day or two on another sandwich or with grilled fish or shrimp.) The sandwich can be made hours ahead, so it’s a good choice for a backpack lunch or a picnic. Omit the ham to make it vegetarian. Piquillo peppers are small, slightly spicy roasted red peppers sold in jars at shops that specialize in Spanish or Mediterranean foods (see Ingredient Resources, page 193).

The dark hues of these two fruits complement one another, but you can certainly swap in other berries, such as raspberries, or slices of stone fruit, like nectarines or peaches (all are delicious with ginger). Biscuits are best served the same day they are baked.

Small and lean baby-back ribs are a quick-cooking (and very tender) alternative to spare ribs. If desired, coat them with your favorite spice rub before baking. Serve the ribs with any of the potato side dishes on page 284 or steamed corn on the cob.

A BUCKLE IS AN AMERICAN COFFEE CAKE, and this sweet and moist version is a nice departure from muffins. Use fresh, juicy blueberries in the summer for a true blueberry flavor.

Potato salad is an American classic, but this is a lot more flavorful than the mayonnaise-based version. It’s great served warm, but the important thing to remember is that it’s far better at room temperature than cold. If you like, add about 1/4 pound diced slab bacon, cooked until crisp, along with 1/2 cup minced shallot or mild onion for a Germanic twist.

Everybody in the South has their own potato-salad recipe, and our version, using red potatoes and the coarse-ground, zippy Creole mustard, makes this a winner. Be sure to drain your potatoes thoroughly, because additional water will dilute the fantastic ingredients in the salad. It’s best to dress the potatoes while they’re still warm, so they can fully absorb the flavors.

I use buttery Yukon Gold potatoes and a sprinkling of fresh dill in my version of my mom’s classic picnic-style potato salad. It’s best before being refrigerated, when it’s still slightly warm and extra creamy, so try to make it just before serving, if time allows.

Fried green tomatoes are one of those Southern classics that inspire fanatical devotion. For good reason: green tomatoes have a lovely tart flavor that mellows and warms in the heat of the frying pan, and, because they are so firm, they keep their shape and texture even after they’re cooked. They are most often eaten on their own, as a side dish, so it wasn’t until I visited a small grocery store in Greenwood, Mississippi, that I tried a fried green tomato BLT for the first time. It immediately struck me as such an obvious combination that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t already thought of it myself.

Tzatziki, a traditional Greek dressing made from cucumber, yogurt, and mint, lends a cool complement to the burgers.

What could be more American than a pot of baked beans? From “Beantown’s” own Boston baked beans to one of the South’s favorite sides for a plate of barbecue, baked beans are an integral part of our culinary heritage. Molasses is a traditional ingredient here; its dark, rich flavor and thick texture give the dish its characteristic sweetness and consistency. I use a little less than most folks and supplement it with a generous dose of honey to mellow it out and allow the rest of the flavorings—dark rum and barbecue sauce among them—to shine. My southwestern culinary leanings are what prompt me to use black beans. I like their somewhat firm texture, but you could certainly use traditional navy beans if you’d prefer. The fat and smoky flavor of bacon is essential. Double-smoked bacon gives you even more of that amazing taste.

This black pepper vinegar sauce is very much an ode to the vinegar-based barbecue sauce served in the restaurants and homes of eastern North Carolina. When you hear barbecue referred to as “Carolina style,” you know it means that your pulled pork, ribs, or chicken will be paired with a tangy, often mustard-laced, and always tomato-free vinegary sauce. If you have the wherewithal—and the will—to cold-smoke your chicken as we do in the restaurant, by all means do so, but simply roasting the chicken in the oven will more than suffice. Either way, you’ll be looking at an incredibly flavorful chicken dish.

Buttermilk gives a tangy flavor to this old-fashioned salad, which is great for a brunch picnic. Mixing the potatoes with a firm hand, so that some of the potato is mashed up, makes for a creamy potato salad. You can make this a few hours in advance. Refrigerate, covered, and serve cold. Taste for seasonings before serving.

I ate this rather soothing way with lettuce twice last week, once for lunch, accompanied by a piece of salmon, the second time for supper, with nothing but a hunk of soft farmhouse bread, the sort with a dusting of white flour on top. Light, juicy, and clean tasting.

This recipes involving as few dishes as possible. (I like to cook, not do dishes.) It’s also a bit larger than many of my vegetable dishes—it makes for delicious leftovers. Succotash has many versions, but all contain corn and beans. If butter beans are not available, I often substitute shelled edamame or black-eyed peas. Small farm stands, local and state farmer’s markets, and even the Whole Foods in my area usually carry shelled peas and butter beans in the summer. They are both doubly precious—extremely delicious and fairly expensive, the result of the luxury of not having to shell your own.

You can serve this salad as a side dish, but it’s so packed with stuff that it can easily be a meal. I love this kind of dish because I can have it as a meal one day and then snack on the leftovers for a few days (right out of the container, of course).

We had lemon trees and mint all over our ranch when I was a kid. I don’t remember when I tasted the two together for the first time, but since then I’ve never liked lemonade any other way. For kids or anyone not drinking alcohol, it’s a fabulously festive and beautiful nonalcoholic treat. Or add a shot of rum or vodka to each glass and make a cocktail out of it!

Full of colorful, crunchy vegetables and bursting with flavor, this looks really pretty on a buffet table. By the time I was in middle school, I knew that rotini and vegetables in the kitchen was the sign that we were headed to a potluck soon. This was and is my mom’s go-to recipe for PTA meetings, school plays, recitals, and baby and bridal showers.