17 Red, White, and Blue Foods to Make for the Fourth of July

Peak-season tomatoes make all the difference in this simple bruschetta from author Susan Spungen. They’re the perfect accompaniment to a bowl of soup or a large salad, or, to turn them into two-bite hors d’oeuvres, simply cut the bruschetta crosswise into strips.

Pastry chef Jennifer McCoy bristles when other people offer to bring dessert to parties. "What are they thinking?" she says. "That's mine!" McCoy often brings this raspberry tart, with its creamy filling and pistachio-studded crust. She packs the components separately and assembles the tart just before serving.

This is Michael Psilakis's modern take on the traditional Greek combination of watermelon and feta cheese. It features the creamy yogurt he grew up eating in New York's Long Island: "My mom made it at home all the time, and we'd snack on it with honey after school."

Soft, sweet and earthy, roasted beets make for a vivid pink dip that’s a fun take on hummus. If you are pressed for time, use the preroasted beets available in many supermarket produce sections instead of roasting your own.

Warm, tender, milky mozzarella is easier to make than you might think. Plus it takes just 20 minutes.

This refreshing gazpacho—made with apples, grapes, almonds and cucumber—is a perfect balance of sweet and tangy.

This creamy, sweet and tangy mousse is fantastic on its own, but Stephanie Prida will also layer it with slices of pound cake and strawberries.

This exceptionally creamy ice cream relies on two unexpected ingredients: corn starch (to help thicken it) and cream cheese (to make it scoopable).

Melissa Rubel Jacobson mixes creamy yogurt with honey so it's deliciously sweet and tangy, then she spreads it in a graham-cracker crust spiced with bits of crystallized ginger and tops it with plump blueberries.

Laurent Tourondel set out to use this lemon cream and blueberry compote for a Fourth of July pie, but decided that he preferred the look and lightness of the fillings layered in parfait glasses. In place of the blueberries, try other summer fruits like raspberries or strawberries.

Marcia Kiesel uses pickled cocktail onions to make a fast, tart, crunchy sauce for this succulent salt-baked trout.

This bluestreaked, vodka-spiked lemonade is popular on Maui bar Pacific'O's torch-lit patio, just steps from the beach.

Mary-Frances Heck refers to these lobster rolls as “knuckle sandwiches” because they showcase the knuckles—the segments that connect the claws to the carapace—which are the sweetest, most tender meat on a lobster. Dressed simply with mayo, the cold salad sits in a hot, buttered bun. Her tip for tackling the admittedly tedious work of cracking the shells? Do it with a friend and a cold beer.

“I love these nachos because they are meat-free and very healthy, with warm, spicy black bean dip and tons of veggies,” Rachael Ray says. You’ll get some red in this recipe too, thanks to red bell peppers and tomatoes.

The chile-induced heat in this dish doesn’t kick in until the last moment, creating a gentle afterburn that is cooled by sweet strawberries and a smooth bed of tangy cream.

Gail Simmons makes a spin on Rocket Pops with strawberry-lime, coconut-banana and ginger, and blueberry-mint layers. Making the simple base for the layers is easy using a home blender; just be sure to freeze each layer sufficiently before pouring in the next, and use a small funnel to get even layers and keep the sides of your popsicle mold clean.

This pitcher drink pairs hydrating watermelon with the delicate fennel-and-herb flavor of Peychaud's bitters. "The watermelon and lime in this deceptively simple cocktail pair perfectly with the sea salt left on your lips from a long day at the beach," says Stephanie Andrews of Billy Sunday in Chicago.