When your garden is overflowing and your kitchen is packed with produce, there is ratatouille. This thick and silky French stew of eggplant, zucchini, sweet peppers, and ripe summer tomatoes will use up your extra vegetables in one fell swoop, making enough food to feed a crowd, pack for lunch, and still freeze for later. More

Thinking of heading off into the wilderness this weekend? Whether you're planning an all-day hike to see waterfalls or a stroll to the park for some fresh air, here are some of our favorite recipes for keeping happy and energized. More

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

I believe in the power of a good pickle. Toss baby greens with a bit of crumbled cheese and a slices of pickled beet and call it dinner. Drizzle olive oil over pickled cauliflower and it becomes a quick appetizer for guests. Nuzzle a couple of dilly beans alongside your hot dog instead of relish for a crunchy pucker. Truly, there isn't much that a pickle can't do to jazz up or round out a meal. More

I didn't grow up eating pickled shrimp, which is surprising considering my mom's coastal upbringing. Her family spans from the Atlantic beaches of Florida, all the way to the bayous of Louisiana. Seafood made regular appearances at our family gatherings, but usually in the form of spicy gumbos and jambalayas. More

If you're looking to eat more whole grains, but aren't sure how to prepare them, salads are a good place to start. Cooked grains soak up flavorful dressings without turning to mush, and taste great with crunchy vegetables, sweet fruit and soft chunks of cheese. And they make excellent leftovers, so if you give any of these 10 recipes a try, be sure to make enough for tomorrow's lunch too. More

What is a summer picnic without its side salads? This one is particularly well-suited to the potluck table. The bright green pasta beckons from across the lawn, and the pungent flavors of olives and crumbly feta make an irresistible companion to grilled chicken and grilled fish. Yup, this salad is destined for picnic glory. 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

I spent the Memorial Day weekend with my friend Joe Yonan up in Maine where he is taking a year off from his role as Food and Travel editor of The Washington Post to work on a book about vegetables and live on his sister and brother-in-law's homestead. He's growing his own produce, fetching eggs in the morning from his small gaggle of hens, and living as much as possible off the land.

With some gardening experience in my past, I volunteered to venture north and help with some homesteading chores. The very first challenge posed to me was by Joe's sister. She took me out to the garden, pointed at a tall stalky plant I knew to be lovage, and said, "What should we do about this thing?" More

I recently made my first strawberry rhubarb pie of the season and served with it an ice cream made from scraps in the fridge. I had an open container of sour cream, the dregs of a pint of yogurt, a lemon on its last legs, but no eggs. The resulting tangy sour cream ice cream was, like many kitchen inventions, a happy accident because along the way I discovered the perfect ice cream flavor for pie.

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