Gourmet

Heady lemon verbena lends an herbal, floral note to our summer pudding. Be sure to save this recipe for when you've found fresh verbena — dried just won't be the same.

A little easy preparation, plus time, yields a gorgeous old-fashioned English dessert that showcases summer berries in the most glorious way. The bread retains a bit of its texture and absorbs all the natural juices exuded by the berries for a cool, smooth intensity.

Those abstaining from the cocktails will appreciate this equally refreshing use of basil and lemon, two flavors that pair beautifully.

This recipe makes enough for several batches of the vodka gimlets or lemonade; any left over would also give a nice hit of flavor to a glass of iced tea.

This fragrant twist on the gimlet cocktail gets its clean green notes not from lime juice but from fresh basil. For extra glamour and aroma, tuck small sprigs of additional basil into each glass.

A lovely vinaigrette, enhanced with pan juices and the flavorful punch of a little tapenade, makes this simple broiled fish taste deep and complex.

Can your local deli counter inspire a cool Vietnamese-style meal? Definitely. Here, roast beef, already cooked to medium-rare (perfection, in our opinion), is a main player.

Homemade Thousand Island dressing, a timeless crowd-pleaser, is tossed with coleslaw for a quick and crunchy no-cook take on chicken salad.

One of the things we love about pesto is its versatility: Peas can take on basil's traditional role without missing a beat.

Papadzules con calabacitas We added zucchini to the eggs in this favorite from the Yucatán Peninsula. It's one of Mexico's great vegetarian dishes.

This no-cook soup defeats the summer heat — cucumber provides crunch alongside a hint of minutest, and avocado adds mouthwatering creaminutesess.

Cornmeal gives these crisp rounds a sandy texture that makes them an ideal cookie for ice cream sandwiches. They're also delicious all by themselves, or with a tall glass of iced tea or lemonade.

Catfish stays tender and moist when baked in a crunchy crust of bread crumbs and cornmeal. A take on traditional New Orleans rémoulade adds a piquant punch.

The vegetables, along with the canned Italian tuna, in this colorful tossed salad create a positively satisfying meal. (Using an imported brand of tuna will make all the difference.)

Quinoa is a fast-cooking, protein-packed whole grain. Steamed, it makes a perfect partner for lime-spiked black beans and fresh tomato.

Pouring a citrusy vinaigrette over hot grilled pork chops enhances their flavor and balances their richness. The chops go extremely well with the black-bean and tomato quinoa

For this Spanish-inspired pasta, you break the dried noodles and cook them more like rice — the result is a silky mix speckled with crunchy almonds, smoky chorizo, and aromatic saffron.

Serving flank steak (a favorite for the grill) Korean style is always a hit — guests make lettuce-leaf bundles with rice and thin slices of the meat and do the garnishing on their own.

Tossing the potatoes first with salt and vinegar and then with bacon fat while they're still warm allows the flavors to really penetrate. Chopped chives add a delicate oniony scent.

Commercial fruit vinegars usually employ cooked fruit, resulting in a heavy, jammy, and not-so-nuanced flavor. We made our vinegar with uncooked berries, so it retains that fresh-from-the-patch essence.