Summer is by far the best time of year to cook and eat: sizzling grills, seawater-flavored beach picnics, dripping stone fruits, flavorful vines, and melted pastel-colored ice cream. I love summer.
To celebrate the season, we’re releasing our “Summer 100” New York Times Cooking recipes that we think you should make over and over again for the next three months. Our picks include our favorite salads and desserts, recipes that require no grilling or cooking at all, and, of course, dinners like this shrimp scampi below.
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Let me know what you’re cooking now and what you’re looking forward to making in the future (mine is warm sour cherry pie with vanilla ice cream). I’m available at dearemily@nytimes.com. I love hearing from you!
1. Summer shrimp scampi with tomatoes and corn
Are tomatoes and corn in season? Not yet. But if you start making Ali Slagle’s delicious recipe now, it will be perfect when the vegetables ripen in the summer. Honestly, this dish is almost as good to eat now, thanks to the garlic butter sauce. It doesn’t have to be served with pasta, but I definitely do.
View this recipe.
2. One-pot chicken meatballs with greens
Yasmin Farh’s new recipe has already garnered five-star ratings and glowing comments. I’d serve these meatballs with lemony pan sauce over rice, and if I could find some ground turkey for extra flavor, I’d use that.
3. Charred bok choy and cannellini bean salad
Hettie Louis McKinnon’s new salad recipe has a wonderful ginger maple dressing that can be used all year round. This dish is perfect for a warm-weather dinner when paired with cold soba noodles. You can also add shrimp or chicken if you like, but neither are required.
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Four. Pepper Flank Steak
This super simple steak recipe from David Tanis is the perfect way to kick off summer. Don’t pre-ground the black pepper here, or it will lose flavor. Instead, crush the peppercorns in a mortar and pestle, or adjust your pepper grinder so that it produces large, coarse peppercorns when you twist it. (You can also vigorously crush the peppercorns with the side of a knife on a cutting board.) David serves this dish with a green bean and cherry tomato salad. Add a French potato salad and a bottle of rosé for a Francophile feel.
Five. Spanakolizo and eggs with jam
Hetty’s Greek Spinach and Rice uses non-traditional eggs, with a shiny yolk that stands out against the greens. The pot is loaded with spinach, spring onions and herbs and served with feta cheese.
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