Basil

The words pea soup usually bring hearty dried split peas to mind, but this one—made with basil pesto and frozen green peas—has a fresh herbal sweetness.

Vietnamese-style rolls are a great addition to your summer repertoire: They require very little cooking and can be assembled at the kitchen table or out on the patio. Thanks to bean thread noodles and baked tofu, they make a substantial meal, but pickled vegetables and a trio of herbs keep each sauce-dipped bite light and cool.

These mouthwatering sandwiches are packed with zesty flavor. Wrap them up and serve at a picnic.

This soup has many layers in its complexity, but the overall effect is of cleanness and freshness. An optional addition of jasmine rice makes a heartier meal.

The secret to a great pizza Margherita is to use the best ingredients you can find—and to approach them with restraint. (Just because a little cheese is good doesn't mean a lot will be better!) We always start with our all-time favorite pizza dough, adapted from chef Chris Bianco, of Pizzeria Bianco, in Phoenix. This slightly wet dough, in conjunction with a hot pizza stone, produces a crisp yet chewy crust, the perfect canvas for bright homemade tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, and verdant basil leaves.

In the waste-not mentality of Italian cucina povera, panfried patties made with eggs and bread crumbs are a great use for leftover eggplant parmigiana ingredients. In fact, the patties are so incredibly delicious that we made them the crisp showstoppers in this fun reconstruction.

With all the amazing fresh produce available at this time of year, we always find ourselves facing the same dilemma: Which delicious, sun-warmed vegetable shall we choose tonight? But when food editor Ian Knauer threw the whole farm stand into a cornmeal crust, it took us only one bite to realize that he had solved the problem once and for all.

Pistou—France's pesto—gives these simply poached eggs tons of flavor.

This recipe originally accompanied Ratatouille .

The white bean, sun-dried tomato, and Feta mixture can be prepared up to six hours in advance, but it's best to toast the bread at the last minute.

When tomatoes are at their peak, I could eat them three times a day and straight from the vine. But every once in a while, it's nice to give them a little special attention. When that time comes, this is the recipe I turn to. It's a tartlet that looks like it takes all day to make, but is really a quickie. It's warmed in the oven for such a short time that the tomatoes never lose their fresh-picked taste and texture. I serve these as a first course at dinner or with a salad as the main event at lunch.

Scallops are rich in iodine, essential to a healthy thyroid and metabolism.

A slightly tart dressing and a perfectly crisp-sweet cucumber salad are wonderful foils for rich, meaty chunks of crab.

Three varieties of basil combine to make a powerfully fragrant and versatile topping for pasta, chicken, or fish.

Tri-tip is flavorful and well-marbled, but because it’s really a roast rather than a steak, salt and seasonings don’t affect it the same way they do a thinner cut. That’s where this Mediterranean-inspired relish comes in. The combination of roasted red pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, and capers adds savor to every bite.

Puttanesca is usually a pasta sauce, but here the addition of beans to the spicy blend of tomatoes, basil, and olives turns it into a versatile, satisfying side dish.

Tomatoes, originally native to South America, were not introduced to Italy until the sixteenth century. Now, of course, it's almost impossible to think of Italian cuisine without dozens of delicious tomato-based dishes coming to mind.