Whether you’re ready for fall or hanging onto the last days of summer, we’ve got just the salad for the season! This lemony chopped cauliflower salad has the bright, crunchy, refreshing elements of summer coating a comforting fall veggie. The best part? It’s studded with pops of sweet dates!

Made in 1 bowl in just 10 minutes, it’s a quick & easy side perfect for late-summer picnics or pairing with your favorite protein for a simple lunch or dinner.

Cauliflower Salad with Dates & Pistachios from Minimalist Baker →

How about pizza tonight? It’s hard to beat classic pesto pizza. This simple vegetarian pizza recipe is a guaranteed crowd pleaser. It offers an irresistible combination of fresh, bright flavors from the basil pesto and tomatoes, plenty of cheesy mozzarella, and a bubbling crust with a satisfying chew.

This easy pesto pizza recipe comes together quickly with the help of your food processor. You can whip together the dough and pesto in about 15 minutes—just wipe down the processor in between the two components. If you’re looking for a super simple weeknight meal that’s better than take-out, use store-bought dough and pesto instead!

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Oh you wanted a chocolate zucchini bread recipe? Don’t you know this is a food blog? I’m contractually obligated to tell a meandering and infuriatingly irrelevant story in each headnote, keeping you from the recipe as long as possible for nefarious, possibly witchy, purposes, and I don’t want to disappoint. Next week, I’ll be celebrating my 20th wedding anniversary with a guy I met because I wrote some rambling things on a blog about, like, dating and New York City and funny things that had happened, he read it, we went for a drink, I stopped dating, needed a new subject to fill the void, and Smitten Kitchen came to be one year later. [Some people have honeymoon babies, I, uh, had you.]

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The perfect late-summer weeknight dish is here: Garlicky Cherry Tomato Pasta with White Beans! It’s a go-to in our kitchen when we’re craving something simple yet nourishing. Featuring salty kalamata olives, burst cherry tomatoes, creamy white beans, and our BFF kale, it’s a vibrant dish packed with textures, flavors, protein, and fiber. 

Vegan, gluten-free optional, and just 10 ingredients and 25 minutes required. Let’s make dinner!

This simple dish begins with getting your favorite pasta cooking on the stovetop.

Garlicky Cherry Tomato Pasta with White Beans from Minimalist Baker →

I’ve cooked scrambled eggs about a million times in my life, and I’m pretty particular about them. I like fluffy scrambled eggs topped with cheese. They must not be mushy, undercooked, or overcooked (the worst—and that smell!). I’m sharing my perfected technique with you today.

This recipe is designed for a stainless steel or cast iron skillet. If you’ve ever wondered how to cook scrambled eggs without a nonstick skillet, this post is for you. It can be done!

With this technique and some practice, you’ll make beautiful scrambled eggs with little mess. Even if you think you have your scrambled egg technique down pat, I think you might find some new tips here.

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Have you tried making your own pita chips? The key is to separate your pita bread into layers so the chips turn out delightfully crisp and golden. They’re truly irresistible and last in the pantry for up to two weeks, so they’re ready to grab for a quick snack.

Freshly-baked pita chips taste so much better than store-bought chips, even when you’re using store-bought pita bread like I did. These homemade pita chips are also healthier than store-bought options because they’re brushed with extra-virgin olive oil, not fried in canola oil.

I streamlined the preparation method to make these pita chips a quick and easy project. They’re ready after a ten-minute bake in the oven. Take your favorite Mediterranean dip up a notch by serving it with these homemade pita chips!

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What did we get up to while our kids’ time away overlapped for two weeks this summer? Did we go on vacation? Did we party every night? The truth is honestly embarrassing, so middle-aged coded, Deb of the early Smitten Kitchen years would rage and weep. [“You promised you wouldn’t get lame!”] I got… orthotics. And even worse than considering this newsworthy, I love them. I caught up on appointments. I challenged myself to finish books before they were overdue at the library and occasionally pulled it off. Sometimes I drank an entire 8 glasses of water and went to bed by 10:30pm. Sure, we went out. We had uninterrupted conversations. We drank Hugo spritzes. We saw dogs playing in a kiddie pool set up in front of an open fire hydrant and lamented that the kids were missing it, then reloaded their last locations and photos from the camp stream a million more times. We said things to each other like, “I miss the kids, but not parenting.” I watched this clip and it emotionally wrecked me. I’d sleep through my alarm in the morning and nobody was there to tell me I make weird faces in my sleep or that they’d promised they’d bring homemade treats to school that day. Friends, it was wild.

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Meet the peach cobbler of my dreams! This irresistible dessert features warm, bubbling peaches with a golden cobbler topping that’s craggy at the edges and tender inside. Make this recipe from mid-to-late summer when fresh peaches are at their peak.

This simple peach cobbler recipe is sweet but not too sweet, so the glorious peach flavor shines above all else. The filling is sweetened with honey, and the topping is lightly sweetened with lemony sugar—both of which impart some lovely complementary flavors that make this cobbler taste extra special. The recipe is not complete without some vanilla extract, cinnamon and yogurt for a light, buttermilk-like tang.

The buttery topping is made of almond flour, which offers a tender crumb and light almond flavor that pairs perfectly with ripe peaches. I tried making this cobbler with regular all-purpose flour and much preferred it with almond flour. Thanks to the almond flour, this recipe is gluten-free, whether you need it to be or not!

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Into okra, but not when it’s slimy? Us too. Inspired by an amazing charred okra dish at Launderette, we’re bringing you a reliable roasted okra recipe that’s not only easy to make, but has no sliminess in sight. 

The result is super delicious and requires just 3 ingredients and 25 minutes. Let us show you how it’s done! 

How to Make Crispy Oven Roasted Okra

What’s the secret to the BEST oven roasted okra that isn’t slimy at all?

Crispy Oven Roasted Okra from Minimalist Baker →

It’s hard to beat a bowl of pesto pasta. Today, I’m sharing a classic basil pesto pasta recipe from start to finish! You’ll learn how to make basil pesto from scratch and toss it with freshly cooked noodles in perfect proportions.

I like my pesto pasta saucy, so I used a generous amount of pesto here, which is more affordable when you’re making your own pesto. It takes ten minutes or less to make pesto in a food processor, but you could certainly use store-bought pesto if you have a favorite brand.

This vibrant pesto pasta is quick and easy to make for dinner on a weeknight. It’s also a lovely side dish to serve at a dinner party or casual summer cookout. Get ready for the best pasta pasta you’ve ever had.

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Does it feel like an oven outside? Are your peaches all about to ripen at the same time? We have just the recipe your summer needs: this Frozen Peach Daiquiri!

This refreshing, naturally sweet, tropical-tasting drink is super easy to make in just 5 minutes with 5 ingredients. Bonus? It works beautifully with or without alcohol. The choice is yours, friend! Let’s get blending!

How to Make a Peach Daiquiri

This frozen peach daiquiri could not be simpler to make (or more satisfying to drink 😉)!

Frozen Peach Daiquiri (2 Ways!) from Minimalist Baker →

High on the list of cooking things that I’ve got far more opinions on than anyone has ever asked of me (and may have even, at times, prayed I’d stop yapping about), are homemade ice cream sandwiches. Why? Because it’s devastating when you realize something that should bring us nothing but incandescent summer joy — ice cream! cookies! — rarely work as well as promised. Most cookies become so hard once frozen, you feel like you’re breaking a tooth with each bite. Unyielding cookies also squeeze the ice cream out the sides, leading to drips down your arms and an immediate bad mood (for adults; kids, naturally, love it). While writing Smitten Kitchen Keepers, I became obsessed with creating a deeply nostalgic homemade chipwich-style ice cream sandwich that did everything right and I had three big a-ha moments along the way:

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I’m sure you’ve tried almond milk, but have you tasted pistachio milk?! It’s cold, smooth, creamy and tastes like pistachios. It’s dreamy and delicious, as well as dairy-free and nutritious.

I first encountered pistachio milk in the alternative milk section at Whole Foods, offered by a brand called Three Trees. As a pistachio lover, I had to try it immediately. I loved it, naturally, so I had to try making it myself.

I’m happy to share that pistachio milk is as easy to make as cashew milk and pecan milk, and it’s equally creamy. Unlike almond milk, it produces very little waste, so you won’t feel guilty about wasting any of those precious green nuts.

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Let’s hear it for burrata cheese! I always order burrata when I find it on restaurant menus, and we’ve had some stellar combinations this summer. I can’t resist burrata’s contrasting textures—it’s like fresh mozzarella on the outside, but lusciously soft and creamy on the inside.

For this recipe, I designed a quintessential summertime burrata salad with fresh tomatoes. Serve it with crostini or a loaf of crusty bread to make it an appetizer. This burrata dish comes together in 15 minutes, believe it or not, and it’s a real showstopper.

I wanted to keep it simple but make it taste special, so I drew reference from my Easy Tomato Salad and Tomato Basil Bruschetta. I landed on a combination of cherry tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes for depth, plus freshly toasted pine nuts for a savory note. It’s not complete without a drizzle of rich olive oil, tangy balsamic vinegar, and a sprinkle of fresh basil. I hope it becomes one of your go-to recipes!

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Simple methods and BIG flavor collide in this Lemony Quinoa Kale Salad with Crispy Chickpeas! It’s zesty and sweet, full of crunch, and packed with wholesome ingredients. With minimal cooking required, it’s the perfect meal for summer or a quick meal prep session.

Just 10 ingredients and 30 minutes stand between you and this satisfying, flavorful, healthy meal!

How to Make This Lemony Quinoa Kale Salad

This quinoa kale salad comes together in a few simple steps that flow seamlessly:

1. Soak sun-dried tomatoes in hot water if they’re especially dry and hard.

Lemony Quinoa Kale Salad with Crispy Chickpeas from Minimalist Baker →

It’s Bastille Day—and also Euro Summer week here at Food52—so we’re leaning all the way in with a roundup of our favorite French recipes to help you fête like you're picnicking beneath the Eiffel Tower (or at least pretending to at your dining table).

From classics Julia Child would definitely approve of (hi, beef bourguignon and crème brûlée) to a few breezier, “lazy girl” picks that rely on good butter, flaky pastry, and fresh herbs, this lineup has something for every level of ambition. There’s plenty of cheese, a generous amount of wine, and more than one dish with an egg on top—just as the French intended.

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I didn’t mean to get so carried away making focaccia over the last few months, but don’t I always say that? As if I forget how easily I get consumed with a very specific idea for what a recipe should be and cannot let it go, even when it’s past time to move on. As if it was someone else who made blueberry muffins 25 times one summer until she found what she was looking for. Thus, perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised but I still am: I’ve made an obscene amount of focaccia this spring and summer trying to find the recipe I’ll want to use forever. Here are five things I learned along the way:

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It’s Euro Summer Week! Stay tuned for more stories, recipes, and travel tips—and tell us how you’re having your own.

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Around this time every year, it feels like everyone you know is either in Europe, just got back from Europe, or plotting how to get there. (And yes, we’ve all Googled how much a last-minute flight would be. Spoiler: too much.)

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I have a 4-year-old, which means even though I love a good sandwich, I rarely get to eat one without a little negotiation. Unless it’s a burger (she’s all in for burgers), meals between two slices of bread often fall flat. That’s why this week’s plan is all about flexible sandwiches: DIY-style builds, deconstructed options, and satisfying meatless takes that appeal to both kids and grown-ups.

Also included: a nostalgic breakfast sandwich inspired by my early 20s, when I helped open a cafe on the North Shore of O‘ahu. It was hearty, rich, and packed with meat-free protein—just how I like to start the day. As always, while the groceries are listed based on what you need, they’re flexible enough to swap based on what you’ve got—especially for things like mayo, hot sauce, or bread.

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I love my kitchen, I really do. But lately, I’ve been searching for every excuse under the sun to get outside. Whether it’s taking a long walk home from work, bringing my weekend reading to the park, or slipping outside for lunch, I’m making the most of our very warm, sunny weather. But some days are just too hot to think, too hot to move, and certainly too hot to cook. For those sticky, sweaty, sweltering days, make one of these no-cook summer dishes. That means that you don’t have to turn on the stove or oven to enjoy a seasonally inspired meal for lunch or dinner. I want dishes I can toss together sans stove or oven, like crispy salads, cool soups, and crunchy sandwiches. And, thankfully, summer’s bounty is ready to provide. After dinner, cool off with a frozen treat like our no-churn ice creams or dairy-free sorbets. We're in the dog days of summer, when all you want to do is sit by the A/C with a pint of ice cream. Here, I’ve gathered 30 of our freshest no-cook dishes. Now, go outside and enjoy the day!

1. Corn, Shrimp & Avocado Salad With Chipotle-Pepita Dressing

When you’re sick of the heat and don’t feel like cooking, this no-cook salad will save the day. Pro tip: Purchase fresh, precooked shrimp so that you don’t have to turn on the stove.

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© Julia Gartland

© Julia Gartland

© Julia Gartland

© Julia Gartland

© Julia Gartland

© Julia Gartland

© Julia Gartland

© Julia Gartland

© Julia Gartland

© Julia Gartland