As the weather warms up, turning on the oven to roast a pan of vegetables stops being an option, but that doesn't mean you have to spend the next five months eating green salads or steamed broccoli. Instead, look to your grill — or a stovetop grill pan — to quickly transform vegetables into soft, smoky, irresistibly summery versions of themselves. Carrots are one of my favorites on the grill, their charred, sweet flavor needing just a squeeze of lemon and some fresh herbs to become a simple but surprising side dish.

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If you're feeling a little uninspired lately, you aren't alone — we call it the springtime slump. It seems to peak around dinnertime, when the contents of our fridges and pantries just look so...boring. Injecting a new recipe or two into the repertoire just doesn't seem to cut it. Instead, we're here with a whole week of weeknight-friendly dinner menus, with options for vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free eaters, too. Ready to shake up your weekly dinner rotation?

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One of the most exciting sections of the upcoming Kitchn Cookbook is the up-close-and-personal tours of ten kitchens. This week I revisited several of our subjects to do follow-up interviews. Bridget, who lives on New York's Upper West Side, has been an empty nester for over ten years and she's great at cooking for one. I asked her for some of her favorite homemade-for-one dishes and she immediately told me about a chicken dish with red onions and lemon that her daughter Zoe taught her. "There's something about red onions," she said, "I think they have drugs in them."

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Yesterday Emma and I shared a little peek into my new cookbook, Bakeless Sweets, and today I'm going to give you the goods: a recipe! I had a hard time choosing which one to share with you (Pistachio pudding? No-bake creme brûlée? Raspberry yogurt squares? Tiramisu?) but I settled on this tart lemon icebox cake for a very particular reason. 

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Last summer, the kids and I spent a month in Italy, ensconced in a farmhouse with dear friends near the coast in Marche, with plenty of day trips to gorgeous beaches, amazing restaurants and mad legit medieval festivals. (Yes, this is going to be a tough act to follow. This summer will be a great time to teach the boys that life isn't always crazy perfect. See you at the neighborhood park!) Every morning, I woke up before everyone. (This only happens in a perfect Summer-in-Italy world, thanks to time zone changes.) My friends' son Guido Jack, another early riser, was often waiting on the sofa patiently, curious to see what I would make for breakfast. I felt the need to perform. With limited trips to the grocery store, my surprise options were few. But what about popovers? More

Q: I love to cook dinner after work, but my boyfriend gets home a couple hours before me and is usually starving. So he ends up eating something filling, like a sandwich or a burrito, and by the time I'm done cooking dinner, he's too full to eat it. 

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Last month Megan declared baked ricotta "the best appetizer you haven't met yet." Intrigued (who wouldn't be?), I gave it a try and suddenly baked ricotta is the best appetizer I've only recently met. It's the new thing, the current crush, the little bite that perfectly straddles the divide between old-fashioned, stodgy hot appetizers and fresher, more modern tastes. If you like to have something hot on the table to start a party, then let us convince you to also make baked ricotta's acquaintance. 

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The humble quesadilla wears many hats. It's a quick weeknight meal that can transform yesterday's leftovers into something new and tasty. It's also a fuss-free snack that will satisfy a group of hungry teenagers — or the crowd at your next cocktail party. Fill it with plain cheese and beans or with shrimp and avocado, the quesadilla is whatever you want to make it.

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I was perched on the couch the other morning, catching up on food blogs and sipping a mocha when all of a sudden the urge for a warm, toasted baguette smothered with melted chocolate and a drizzle of fruity olive oil hit me. Sometimes good ideas strike at the oddest of times. This early morning craving for chocolate and bread inspired my most recent party idea: a gathering where everyone builds their own dessert!

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We've all encountered, and possibly even served, a boring crudité platter. As a vegetarian and gluten-free guest and host, I've had my fair share of raw broccoli and carrot sticks while other party guests indulged in more interesting hors d'oeuvres. But these pickled baby carrots? These ones with the zingy bite that will be ready in just a couple of hours? You might want to double the recipe. 

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