Gazpacho was invented for days like these. The hot, humid days of summer when the very idea of setting a pot over a burner has us reaching for another glass of lemonade. There are a million and one versions of gazpacho out there, all equally easy to whip up in a blender and all equally perfect for a hazy summer night. Here's our most basic, simple recipe to get you started. More

What, to you, is the perfect simple salad? I'm not talking lunch salads or grain salads, but the simplest of dinner accompaniments, the salad that gets tossed at the last moment to lay beside a piece of grilled chicken or a plate of pasta. This kind of salad often feels like an afterthought. It's the obligatory vegetable to be munched down before enjoying the rest of your dinner. But this doesn't need to be so! Here are some thoughts, tips, and directions to help you turn your side salad into the most delicious part of the meal. More

Roast beets are a year-round staple in our house, fantastic for tossing in salads, quick pickling, or making into fritters. We roast several at once by wrapping them in foil and tucking them into the oven to cook alongside braises, bread, or whatever else we might be cooking. Then the beets are ready for whenever we need them. Here's a step-by-step guide for roasting perfectly tender beets every time. More

One of our favorite summer meals is steak from the grill. But many of us simply do not have access to a grill, at least not on a daily basis. If you're craving that quintessential taste of summer cook-outs, the taste of a juicy steak with crisp, peppered crust, we have you covered. No, you don't need a grill; yes, you can make a perfect steak indoors.

Here is an absolutely foolproof, easy, and quick way to make a steak indoors, in the oven. Add a loaf of bread, a salad, and a bottle of wine, and you have an easy and delicious meal. No grill required.

The folks over at Hog Island Oyster on Tomales Bay just north of San Francisco know what they're doing when it comes to grilling oysters. A quick shuck, a little dab of chili-butter, and a brief spell in the sauna of the grill. Smoky, tender, and a little spicy: they're perfect every time. Let's take a lesson from the pros on this one and let them show us how it's done. More

There will be a crumble of one kind or another on my table from now until Thanksgiving. Not to mention crisps and cobblers. Making any of these is so easy that you barely need a recipe; in fact, one basic recipe with some variations will serve for each. The only requirement is fresh summer fruit, the riper and closer to jamminess the better. More

See this wok? It just made a delicious batch of chicken stir-fry and now it needs to be cleaned. Like cast iron skillets, carbon steel woks require some TLC when it comes to cleaning. Fortunately, this special care boils down to nothing more complicated than "rinse, scrub, dry." Here's a step-by-step guide on to how to clean your carbon steel wok. More

If your experience with fried rice has only been the greasy, overly-salty affair from Chinese take-out, then you need to make this fresh, seasonally-inspired version — without delay! Grace Young's stir-fried rice is light and aromatic. Soy sauce and ginger are used for seasoning, but they're not so heavy that the vegetables get lost. You could eat this dish every day and never get bored.

Here's a step-by-step guide on how to make quick, easy, and delicious fried rice at a moment's notice. More

Do you own a wok? If you listen to Grace Young talk about stir-frying for long enough, you'll certainly start wanting one! The beauty of a carbon-steel wok is it heats quickly and evenly. When you stir-fry it sears meat and chicken perfectly, imparting wok fragrance. While the high sides of the wok are perfect for stir-frying meat and vegetables without crowding the pan or dumping ingredients over the side, a wok is also more than a stir-fry pan. You can pan-fry, braise, deep-fry, steam, boil, poach, and smoke with it. Carbon steel woks also become naturally nonstick the longer you use them, meaning less oil needed for cooking.

Ready to take the plunge? Here's how to pick a wok and season it for the first time. Also, Grace shows us how to give an adolescent wok a "facial" to keep it looking good as its true patina develops. More

We are always trying to eat more vegetables, more greens! A quick stir-fry is one of the fastest, easiest, tastiest ways to make a last-minute vegetable side dish to suit any meal. Grace Young proved this to be true when she demonstrated a basic stir-fry recipe for us: Romaine lettuce leaves, warm and slightly wilted, tumbled in a sauce of garlic and chilies. After that — the same recipe and method, but this time with halved baby bok choy. We couldn't stop eating either of these.

Here is a recipe and a stir-fry technique that any of us can take into our kitchens and adapt to just about any vegetable we find in the fridge. More