Summer boasts a plethora of delights – lingering sunlight, dancing fireflies, and the exquisite flavors of fresh produce that effortlessly transform into delectable dishes. Fortunately, the cost of fresh produce hasn't surged as much as other ingredients this year, making it a delightful and cost-effective choice.
We offer flexible guidelines, akin to our no-recipe recipes, for 20 captivating combinations. Choose what appeals most to your senses (and budget), and feel free to experiment with the following suggestions, adjusting quantities to suit your taste. For those seeking precise proportions and instructions, detailed recipes can be found on New York Times Cooking.
These dishes encompass a variety of salads: crisp and fresh leafy tosses, robust mixes that withstand time or can be prepared in advance, and substantial pastas, grains, and beans that can either complement or constitute a meal. Additionally, there are fruit combinations that strike a perfect balance between sweet and savory.
Feel free to personalize these recipes. Substitute milder lettuces for bitter ones, mix different fruits, or play with herbs – the choice is yours. Remember to season according to your taste; salt enhances flavors, tempers bitterness, and balances sweetness and acidity, while pepper adds a floral bite. Above all, embrace the ease of summertime cooking.
LEAFY SALADS
Crunchy Greens With Carrot-Ginger Dressing Recreate the sweet and savory Japanese American restaurant-style dressing by blending a small carrot, fresh ginger, olive oil, rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, and onion powder. Toss with crisp leaves of Little Gem or romaine lettuce and garnish with mint.
Arugula Salad With Parmesan A classic salad featuring perky baby arugula tossed with olive oil, fresh lemon juice, salt, and topped with shards of Parmesan.
Radicchio Caesar Salad Embrace the bitterness of radicchio with a lemony garlic and anchovy dressing. Toss with bread crumbs for an extra crunch.
Chicken and Herb Salad With Nuoc Cham A Vietnamese-inspired dinner salad with a perfect balance of sweet, salty, savory, and spicy flavors. Whisk together sugar, lime juice, water, fish sauce, garlic, and chile, then toss with cabbage, red bell pepper, cucumbers, mint, basil, shredded chicken, and top with crispy fried shallots.
Chopped Salad Melissa Clark's satisfying riff on a classic Cobb salad, featuring chopped romaine, cucumbers, tomatoes, avocado, eggs, bacon, blue cheese, and herbs. Toss with a simple dressing of olive oil, lemon zest, and juice.
STURDY SALAD
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Corn Salad With Tomatoes, Basil and Cilantro Sweet corn gets a zesty boost from chile, lime, and herbs. Mix lightly cooked corn kernels with halved cherry tomatoes, lime zest and juice, olive oil, and minced fresh hot chile. Tear basil and cilantro leaves over everything and mix in.
Crunchy Kale Salad With Plums and Dates Add crunch to tenderized kale with sunflower seeds. Massage thinly sliced kale with salt and lemon juice, then combine with chopped dates, fresh plums, sunflower seeds, and olive oil.
Tuna Salad With Hot and Sweet Peppers Freshen up pantry-hero tuna with sliced sweet and hot peppers marinated in vinegar. Add oil-packed tuna, diced celery, roughly chopped parsley, salt, and pepper.
Green Bean and Tofu Salad With Peanut Dressing A Southeast Asian-inspired dish featuring chunky nut butter and fragrant hoisin tossed with tender tofu and green beans. Cook green beans and toss with a dressing of crunchy peanut butter, hoisin sauce, lime juice, sugar, and red-pepper flakes.
Shrimp Salad Plump, perfectly cooked shrimp coated with lemony mayonnaise and accented with fresh herbs. Simmer shrimp with lemon slices, drain, and toss with a dressing of lemon zest, juice, mayonnaise, olive oil, diced celery, red onion, and chopped dill, parsley, or cilantro.
PASTA, GRAIN AND BEAN SALADS
Pasta Salad Melissa's pasta salad infused with garlicky flavor. Cook and drain pasta, then mix with a red wine vinaigrette spiked with grated garlic and dried oregano. Add tomatoes, mozzarella, salami, cucumber, red onion, parsley, and basil.
Orzo Salad With Lentils and Zucchini Boil lentils and orzo, toss with pickled pepperoncini slices, lemon juice, chopped zucchini, pistachios, scallions, and fresh herbs.
Toasted Millet Salad With Cucumber, Avocado and Lemon Lightly toast millet, simmer until tender, toss with olive oil, lemon zest and juice, cucumber, mint, and sliced almonds. Top with avocado and more vinaigrette.
Chickpea Salad With Gim Season chickpeas with roasted seaweed and sesame mayonnaise. Whisk together mayonnaise, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, and sugar. Toss with finely chopped gim, chickpeas, and diced red onion.
Rice Salad With Currants, Almonds and Pistachios Middle Eastern-inspired side dish with short-grain rice tossed in olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, zest, plumped currants, chopped almonds, pistachios, and various herbs.
SWEET & SAVORY FRUIT SALADS
Fruit Salad Aromatic tropical fruit salad by Eric, combining ripe pineapple, mango, and slightly underripe banana. Season with salt and spritz with lemon juice.
Stone Fruit Caprese Ali's sweet-tart twist on Caprese, featuring stone fruit (nectarines, peaches, plums, cherries), fresh mozzarella, basil or mint, olive oil, sugar, and flaky salt.
Mango Slaw Millie Peartree's barbecue side with slivered mango, shredded cabbage, carrots, cilantro, lime juice, honey, celery salt, and black pepper.
Watermelon and Feta Salad Eric's balanced salad with thin slices of watermelon, white balsamic vinegar, salt, feta, olive oil, basil leaves, and black pepper.