Gourmet

To keep things simple, we don't peel the fruit before baking it. As a result, it's best to avoid ''fuzzy" fruits such as peaches and apricots.

You'll turn up your nose at plain old chocolate chip ice cream once you try this cool, stracciatella-flavored concoction—stracciatella being a vanilla-flavored cream with thin ribbons or chips of chocolate (which melt on the tongue) running through it. The stracciatella cream fills this semifreddo-like cake, which also shines with a toasted-almond cookie-crumb base, a toasted-almond topping, and a drizzle of espresso fudge sauce.

Small pasta like acini di pepe and orzo make wonderful room-temperature salads, since they mix so thoroughly with the other ingredients and never go stiff. Garlic, olives, and chile flakes lend a lot of zip to this quick side dish you'll come back to all summer.

Tossing hot vegetables with vinaigrette is the best way to get them to soak it up, and artichokes straight off the grill are no exception. Mint and capers is a combination that flatters artichokes° and somehow, with the added grill flavor, the effect is doubled here.

We were bowled over by Miraglia Eriquez's mother's method for grilled breaded chops—it truly combines the best of both worlds, with the crumbs toasting and crisping up while taking on a hint of smoke. Meanwhile, the meat inside couldn't be juicier. A light, peppery salad gives the chops a freshness that tastes just right at a cookout.

Food editor Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez picked up her technique for grilling pizza during a college visit to Al Forno, in Providence, Rhode Island. Here, she tops that irresistibly charred crust with ingredients that have a natural affinity for one another: sweet cooked-down onions, toasted walnuts, and the bite of Gorgonzola.

Thinly sliced pancetta goes a little crisp, its salty porkiness complementing the asparagus. Though the spears are wrapped, they cook through perfectly and even pick up some grill flavor.

In Guadalajara, this is not an uncommon breakfast, served with warm tortillas and sometimes rice and beans—since it is tequila country, we can only imagine that it's probably an excellent hangover remedy—but it's definitely flavorful enough to be a big hit at dinnertime, too. We particularly like the richness and suppleness of skirt steak, but any cut of beef with a pronounced grain, like flank or brisket, will do.

Nutty and faintly sweet, our fast peanut sauce tops pork chops for an American take on the Southeast Asian specialty.

A simple recipe for flaky grilled halibut with an herby sauce.

Most veggie burgers must have self-esteem issues, since they're always pretending to be something they're not. But these bulgur burgers don't try to hide their meatless nature and instead celebrate their grain-centric origins with wonderful texture and a hint of Middle Eastern spice.

Even when you're eating alone, succulent, sliced Americana can be yours any night of the week—enhanced by a flavorful blue-cheese riff on creamed spinach.

The verdict in the test kitchen was unanimous: When we order crab cakes in restaurants, these meaty beauties are what we want—not the bready hockey pucks that dot many menus around the country. Pair them with a simple salad or some fries for a Chesapeake-inspired two-person dinner done right.

This is a great excuse to get outside and grill—and an even better excuse to have smoky kielbasa for dinner. A vinegary potato salad adds a welcome note of acidity while making this a meal in itself.

Think of this as "panzanella verde." There's a lightness here and an herby earthiness that make this the kind of salad you really want on the hottest of summer days.

Any simple grilled meat would work well alongside this stunning side dish—the long, thin folds of zucchini have visual élan to spare, perking up every plate they touch.

A quick buzz in the blender and this creamy, fruity dessert is practically done. Just add juicy summer blueberries and a sprinkling of lime zest and you've got a beautiful finish you'll return to again and again.