Simple Cooking

Raspberries are packed with polyphenols, which may protect our brains, helping to keep us sharp.

Fork up a slice of this pie on days before and after a tough workout: Anti-inflammatories in blueberries can help ease muscle pain.

Stone-fruit purée gives this beautifully colored sangria an intensely flavored base that's reinforced with juicy sliced fruit. Choose any combination of the ripest, most fragrant stone fruit (if, say, nectarines aren't looking great, swap in good-looking apricots). Chill the sangria before serving; the flavor will improve the longer it sits—up to two days.

Fruit, cheese, and nuts are a winning combination. This bright vinaigrette is also excellent on a salad with apricots, goat cheese, and pistachios.

Roasting tomatoes intensifies their flavor and coaxes out their sweetness.

This refreshing summer salsa gets some heat from serrano chile.

For this pretty side or meatless main salad, use medium and small squash for the best flavor. Quinoa and walnuts (or a grain and nut of your choosing) add heft.

Use this sweet condiment as a topping for grilled fish, cooked rice, or crostini.

When blueberries are at their best (and most abundant), let their flavor shine in simple recipes. This cobbler can be assembled in minutes, and its ragged topping is both tender and crunchy. It's especially good with vanilla ice cream.

"It's not meant to be super sweet," Reusing says of this delicious, silken ice cream. "It's a fun way to taste corn." And using coconut milk in the base means there's no need to make a custard.

Tomatoes take a bath in olive oil, then are finished with breadcrumbs.

This simple sandwich's flavor is amped-up with a hit of fresh oregano.

This tangy cheese makes friends with sweet summer tomatoes.

This unexpected brined corn is a terrific foil alongside rich and smoky grilled dishes. Start at least four days ahead so that fermentation can go to work, and taste the corn for flavor as it pickles. We used Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt; other brands may result in a saltier pickle.

This puffy, soufflé-like pancake starts in your blender and makes a fantastic dessert—or breakfast. The honey-sweetened compote works well with fresh or frozen cherries.

This crumble-topped pie stars the flavors of an Old Fashioned cocktail. Our secret weapon: jarred sour cherries (just think of all those cherries you won't have to pit!). We like Trader Joe's Dark Morello Cherries, but other brands work well, too.

This oily fish gets a summery makeover in this tomato-heavy salad.

Andrea Reusing, chef at Lantern in Chapel Hill, NC, cooks whole ears of corn in the dying embers of a charcoal fire after the burgers or pork chops have finished cooking. "I love the efficiency of it," she says. The waning heat produces some sweeter bites and others that are more charred. Keep the husks on to protect the corn, and soak the ears before they hit the embers so the kernels don't dry out.

Grunts get their quirky name from the fact that the fruit, which is topped with dumplings and cooked on the stove in a covered skillet, can make a grunting sound as the dessert steams. Molasses adds sweetness and a lovely depth of flavor.

Like the classic combination of melon and prosciutto? Then you'll love this main-course pasta salad.