F&W Staff Favorite Summer Recipes

"This dish makes you understand the less-is-more approach of Italian cooking," says Andreas Viestad about his pasta tossed with a raw tomato-and-zucchini sauce.

Prepare hefty soft-shell crab sandwiches by layering salty slices of pancetta, slabs of tomato and a remoulade made with store-bought mayonnaise.

Fish tacos are a staple among California surfers but are often beer-battered and fried. Kerry Simon's healthier, grilled version enriches the guacamole with low-fat sour cream.

For this recipe, summer watermelon and chicken come together in a puckery salad dressing made with lime juice and fish sauce.

The key to this dish is the sweet addition of Granny Smith apples.

Blueberry glaze makes the edges on these ribs nice and sticky.

At her restaurant, Amanda Cohen tosses herb fettuccine with pickled squash blossoms and grilled zucchini. This simplified recipe features squash that's pickled and then grilled, plus freshly sautéed squash.

"This is an easy way to bring height-of-summer cookout mojo to our favorite vegetables without fussing with a charcoal or gas grill," The Lees say. Cooking the corn and okra on the stove in a heavy skillet gives them a superb char.

Matt Neal cooks the key ingredients—eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers and onion—separately. "That way, I can make sure each vegetable cooks exactly how I want it; plus they won't steam in a big group all together," he says.

A terrific salsa verde makes this velvety potato salad extraordinary. Here the salsa is made with parsley and chives; try making it with other summer herbs, like tarragon or basil, as well.

A summer staple from the coastal town of Antakya, this light stew is a favorite of Musa Dagdeviren's wife, Zeynep, who was born there. To keep the textures and flavors of the vegetables distinct, Musa layers the eggplant in a pot with tomatoes, lentils, chopped onions and garlic, then slowly cooks it, covered, without stirring.

Fregola is a bead-shaped pasta from Sardinia; it's nicely chewy and can be used as a phenomenal base for a summer salad. Chef Jeff Banker roasts cherry tomatoes in the oven before he adds them to the fregola, which makes them especially sweet.

Jalapeños not only garnish this sweet-smoky grilled salmon but also infuse the oil used to sauté the tomatoes.

Zucchini and yellow squash can both be mild in flavor, but nothing about this tangy, herby pizza is bland. The summer squash is sliced into slender coins, then roasted in a hot oven until it's lightly caramelized, bringing out its sweetness.

With only a few ingredients, Rick Bayless's salpimentado (salt-and-pepper) ceviche is typical of what one would find at stands around the southern tip of Baja. Cooks often make it with sierra, a large and meaty Mexican fish, but tuna works just as well.

Alain Coumont’s simple dessert delivers a lot of flavor without a lot of work. Try it with any combination of summer fruits, such as plums, peaches or raspberries, or use thyme instead of lavender. It's also delicious with crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream.

Rollie Wesen's secret for making a crisp topping is to sprinkle it lightly over the fruit in a thick, even layer without packing the crumbs together. He is super-generous with the topping because he loves how it complements the tangy filling.

These striped, sugary popsicles derive their flavorful kick from lemon zest, ginger liqueur, and nectarines.

Endlessly versatile, flavored syrups can be churned with ingredients like pureed fruit, fruit juice or fresh herbs in an ice cream machine to make sorbet. Jean-Georges Vongerichten first developed this breezy lemon-thyme ice for F&W, then started serving it as a special at his Mercer Kitchen in Manhattan's Mercer hotel.

Inspired by the sliders at White Manna in Hackensack, New Jersey, Adam Fleischman creates beef patties by flattening balls of ground meat on the griddle.

Tip: Burger purists handle ground meat as little as possible; over-working the beef can create a tight, meatloaf texture.