Cheese

Mascarpone is an Italian cream cheese sold at many supermarkets and Italian markets.

Make these sandwiches when you don't want to turn on the stove.

Using roast chicken from the grocery store makes this recipe super-easy. Improv: Add sweet and crunchy accents by mixing a few chopped toasted pecans and some dried cranberries into the chicken salad. Instead of rolls, use crusty French bread or thick slices of sourdough bread.

This dessert is easy and indulgent.

A butter baste makes the zucchini so amazingly full-flavored that you can even omit the cheese — although it's a delicious accent to the lemony zing.

Susan Elizabeth Fallon of Boxford, Massachusetts writes: "I love to create new recipes to share with my husband, nine-year-old son, and friends. For me, that's the fun and adventure of cooking. I believe that eating well means using fresh, high-quality ingredients, so I'm choosy about what I buy and I grow many of my own herbs." Here's just what to do with all those tomatoes you have now. This versatile dish is great as a side, on toasted baguette slices, as a zesty omelet filling, or atop grilled fish.

Pasta, cheese, and a few summer vegetables make a quick and easy main course.

For a vegetarian version, substitute Soyrizo for the chorizo. Follow the same cooking directions, but do not drain.

Potatoes in three colors give this salad an all-American look.

Prolific cookbook author James McNair has been chief judge of Sutter Home Winery's burger cook-off since it began in Napa in 1990. One of his books, Build a Better Burger, includes every winning recipe. Some past winners — and McNair's Louisiana roots — inspired the burger here.

These delicate, lightly spiced cupcakes are reminiscent of carrot cake. Grated zucchini makes them exceptionally moist.

Fresh and creamy all at once, this clever combination of rich ricotta ice cream and icy-cold watermelon chunks is a twist on the classic Creamsicle. Shaved bittersweet chocolate complements both flavors beautifully.

Expect a line to form when you unveil this stunning dessert. It's swirled throughout with tangy lemon curd, which amplifies the richness of the surrounding cheesecake.

A meat-free carpaccio, this crisp mix of zucchini and arugula gets a boost from olive oil and salty cheese.

Hearty soba noodles and tangy feta cheese create a lightning-quick vegetarian dish that even meat eaters will flock to. Served cold or at room temperature, it's just what we want on a warm evening.

Goat cheese makes a lovely base for fresh herbs, carrying their flavor and punctuating their brightness with its gentle tang; in this spread, it tastes particularly mild because of the little bit of whipped cream folded in. Take the cheese out to soften before heading for the farmers market, and by the time you get back, it will be ready to mix with whatever herbs you've found there.

This dish focuses on the goodness of ripe tomatoes, letting them be just what they're meant to be — wonderful.

Asiago frico — easy-to-make crispy cheese wafers — top this salad. Look for tender young spinach at the farmers' market. In some areas, what you find at the farmers' market may be cheaper than what's available at the supermarket. If you have a first-rate extra-virgin olive oil and some sea salt in your cupboard, here's a chance to show them off.