Summer

Fire-sizzled, perfectly crusty outside and pink inside -- there is nothing like a giant steak.

Make this salad at the height of summer, when heirloom tomatoes look like they’re about to burst open with flavorful juices. You can use any small, freshly dug potatoes, but try to get a mix of colors.

The herbaceousness of butter lettuce lends itself perfectly to panna cotta. There is a gentle bitterness that cottons to the fat in the cream here. Then come the strawberries and their bright sweetness. A finish of olive oil, and this truly wows.

Nordic palates prefer beets to be pickled. No wonder, the flavors of this sweet, earthy vegetable shine with a kiss of vinegar and herbs. Be patient: it takes about a week for the spices to marry. The longer you wait, the better these beets will taste.

This recipe is down and dirty and our new go-to summertime quick and easy dinner.

Dandelion flowers aren't just pretty. They are also extremely nutritious food and have none of the bitterness of dandelion leaves if you cut off the green bracts at the base of the flower cluster.

Cooking outdoors without the high-tech benefits of thermostats and heavy gauge saucepans requires greater vigilance and knowledge than anything demanded from indoor cooking, but there's an easy way to tilt the odds in your favor -- indirect grilling.