Summer

Use this master formula as your guide—but feel free to get creative with the add-ins. A dried chile? Sure! A few sprigs of herbs from your windowsill? Why not?

With its winning combination of coconut, pineapple, and rum, this piña colada recipe is creamy, just sweet enough, and utterly refreshing.

Cookbook author Reem Kassis shares her take on a beloved childhood snack of melon slices and almond juice.

Pistachios are my favorite; I can very easily work my way through a whole bag, leaving a trail of broken shells as evidence, so naturally this is a cake that I make quite often.

Spicy honey helps the chops get nicely caramelized on the grill. A spoonful of peaches mixed with red onion, jalapeño, lime juice, and cilantro completes the dish.

Even though this salad is all about summery from-the-farm watermelon and tomatoes, the corn nuts make the dish. Their salt and crunch accentuate the juicy sweetness of the fruit.

A few tweaks to the standard icebox cake formula make this version stand out: jam (in this case, peach) folded into half of the whipped cream for a fruity element, Ritz crackers that go delightfully soft in the freezer but still make a case for belonging in dessert with their salty, buttery flavor, and a layer of butter pecan ice cream right through the middle.