Keeping it cool, here’s a recipe for one of the more delicious “salads” the world offers, what the Vietnamese generically call “bun,” pronounced “boon” (written more exactly, “bún thit nuóng”). It’s much more than a salad, actually, and in its variations—only one such is given here—easily can stand for the main meal of the day. 

What we call “French toast” may well be one of the oldest recipes in our culture. A collection of recipes called “De Re Coquinaria” (“The Art of Cooking”), dating from the 4th or 5th century, calls for dipping stale bread in milk and frying it. And we’re off.

I used to say to myself “Why bother?” Sherlocking the sesame seed paste called tahini (that isn’t really rare to find anymore), pulling out and slopping up the food processor to grind a couple cans of chickpeas, peeling some garlic and squeezing some lemons to make hummus at home when I could find tubs of it—flavored in as many nights as are in Arabia—for $3-$4 on sale. Until I made my own.

Instead of steaming the clams on a stovetop, doing so over a charcoal fire adds a nice whisper of smokiness. Plus it looks way cool.

This is the classic Spanish gazpacho, originating in the southern region of Spain called Andalusia, home to all the traditional ingredients: its vegetables, sherry vinegar and, in this recipe, jamón serrano.

Known in its native Catalonia, in the Catalan language, as “Pa amb Tomàquet,” this starter or nibble course of bread rubbed with ripe tomato is ubiquitous throughout Spain.

This is essentially a Salade Niçoise wrapped in a rice paper roll. It is delicious, in addition to being comely to the eye.

This firm yet flaky and moist textured fish is farmed in Alamosa by a family-owned company, Colorado Catch.

Iranian cooks take next-day leftover pasta preparations, fry it in clarified butter and olive oil, and call the crisp pancake a “tahdig.”

Grain-based “chopped salads”—typically a mix of vegetables chopped up or shredded into uniform size with cooked grains in some manner mixed in—are close to perfect warm weather fare.

A serving of Fabada Asturiana, a pork and bean stew from Asturias in northern Spain. Photo from Flavio Lorenzo Sanchez on unsplash

Special (mayonnaise-y) tips to make the everyday Grilled Cheese something special.

Colored vibrantly green from an abundance of herbs and field greens, its Italian name is “risotto verde.”

The word “congee” is originally Tamil (kanji) and the dish goes by many names throughout southeast Asia such as “juk,” “jook,” “zhou” and “khao tom.”

This pizza recipe is in the style of both the classic New York or New Jersey “Grandma Mozzarella Pizza Pie” and the square pizzas of Detroit, Michigan.

Pasta alla zozzona combines the ingredients of the four pasta dishes for which Romans are famous: amatriciana, cacio e pepe, carbonara, and gricia.

A terrific blend of corn, vegetarian sausage, and collard greens for a hearty, non-meat meal any time of the day.

“ . . . And all around the table, ‘fingers’ of what Mrs. Di Tomas called her ‘white pizza,’ her focaccia-like flatbread.”

One bread pudding recipe uses any “quick bread”—such as banana bread or zucchini bread—while the other uses up stale panettone, the Italian brioche-like bread studded with dried fruit.

Way more delicious than dorm-room ramen is a close-to-scratch Homemade Ramen.