20 Easy Summer Cooking Ideas

By June 26, 2020

Grilled Squash and Scallions with Chile-Honey Vinaigrette
Matt Taylor-Gross

Sausage and Arugula Pasta Salad

Pasta salads are essential summer food: they travel well; they’re easy to adapt to whatever produce you have on-hand; and they’re simple to make in large portions, making them perfect dishes to carry to parties, picnics, and barbecues. Get the recipe for Sausage and Arugula Pasta Salad »

Blue Catfish

This catfish recipe is incredibly simple—the fish doesn’t need more than a quick pan-fry in butter.

Japanese-Style Swiss Chard and Sesame Salad

Turn tough chard leaves tender by giving them a light pounding, then dress them in this light sesame-flavored vinaigrette. It’s the perfect side to Amy Thielen’s Japan-meets-Midwest tonkatsu burger. Get the recipe for Japanese-Style Swiss Chard and Sesame Salad »

Summer Bolognese

This recipe for summer bolognese has the classic comfort of bolognese, but without the heaviness of a red sauce, instead embracing the summer’s bounty of gorgeous tomatoes and fresh basil.
Brown butter, or what the French call beurre noisette, is enhanced with summer tomatoes and a splash of vermouth for the superlative sauce in this weeknight fish dish. Get the recipe forSkillet Cod with Brown-Butter Tomato Sauce

Turkish Ground Lamb Kebabs (Adana Kebabs)

Serve these spiced lamb skewers with warm flatbreads, charred tomatoes, and cooling labneh.
This tomato salad with shallot vinaigrette from Alice Waters is our platonic ideal of the dish. Get the recipe for Heirloom and Cherry Tomato Salad

Soba Salad with Marinated Cucumber and Ponzu

Soba Salad with Marinated Cucumber and Ponzu
Steamed clams in a light white wine-tomato sauce are studded with verdant pieces of broccoli rabe and crunchy bits of prosciutto in this easy skillet supper.

Pan-Seared Cod with Spring Vegetables

Writer Isabel Gillies tosses together this summery dish with cod fresh from the Maine shoreline and seasonal garden greens. Rainbow chard, bibb lettuce, spring peas, and fresh herbs contrast with the richness of butter-basted pan-seared cod. Get the recipe for Pan-Seared Cod with Spring Vegetables »

Grilled Squash and Scallions with Chile-Honey Vinaigrette

Grilling adds smokiness to summer squash, a flavor that chef Steven Satterfield of Atlanta’s Miller Union balances with bright ingredients like vinegar, chile, and honey. Get the recipe for Grilled Squash and Scallions with Chile-Honey Vinaigrette »

Grilled Lobster with Cilantro-Chile Butter

Chiles, lime, and cilantro flavor these grilled lobsters. Get the recipe for Grilled Lobster with Cilantro-Chile Butter »

Sesame Noodles

A garnish of chopped peanuts and slivered cucumber and carrot add crunch to the silky, savory Chinese-American noodle dish. Get the recipe for Sesame Noodles »

Summer Succotash Salad

This summer mainstay is elevated with grilled sweet corn, plus fresh edamame in place of the traditional limas. Get the recipe for Summer Succotash Salad »

Watermelon Gazpacho

Watermelon Gazpacho
A bright salsa made from ripe mangoes, cilantro, red onion, and lime is the perfect foil for thick swordfish steaks.

Greek Pasta Salad

Tangy feta and crunchy veggies get extra body from rotini in this classic Greek-inspired pasta salad. Get the recipe for Greek Pasta Salad »

Grilled-Cabbage Caesar Salad

Flame-kissed savoy cabbage makes an excellent canvas for a Caesar-inspired anchovy vinaigrette and plenty of garlicky bread crumbs. Get the recipe for Grilled-Cabbage Caesar Salad »

Seared Scallops with Wasabi-Ginger Butter

After discovering that fresh whole wasabi plants were available in the United States, Adrian J.S. Hale found all kinds of innovative uses for them, such as this butter-rich sauce in which the pungent heat of the wasabi root, or rhizome, is balanced by the delicate earthiness of the leaves for a mild heat and slight bitterness that accentuate the sweet flavor of plump pan-seared scallops. Get the recipe for Seared Scallops with Wasabi-Ginger Butter »

Swiss Chard and Chipotle Tacos

Onions, mushrooms, sweet corn, and chiles in adobo add hearty, smoky flavor to this Swiss chard-based taco filling. Get the recipe for Swiss Chard and Chipotle Tacos »

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