Joan Osborne

Shrimp and longnecks. There's little else a summer shindig requires, except perhaps these eminently easy dips.

Essentially eggs scrambled with chips (or day-old tortillas) and salsa, chilaquiles is equally enticing in the a.m. as the p.m., with a cup of hot joe or a bottle of cold cerveza.

This flour-free fried bird is contrary to everything we know about fried chicken. Or think we know. That's exactly what makes it so darn genius.

The soul-satisfying collision of brownies and ice cream has been around since we were kids. In case you've ever wanted to recreate it at home, here's the best way we know.

The quintessential summer sandwich, this stack is stuffed with grilled eggplant, bell peppers, red onions, and zucchini. Open wide.

Better known as seven layer bars, this bewitching stack of graham cracker crumbs, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate, coconut, and nuts just may exceed your childhood memories.

We know. You already have an egg salad sandwich recipe. But trust us, it's nothing like this one, which is whoppingly old school in taste, blissfully healthful in every other way.

This much-ballyhooed 'wich from Hog Island Oyster Bar in San Francisco is stuffed with fromage blanc, Gruyère, Cheddar, and Havarti.

It may seem criminal to bathe the walloping nutrition of lentils and mushrooms in anything but wholesomeness, but there's something to be said for quality of life. Hello, bacon!

This loosely defined "lasagna" is an easy little cheat of a recipe that relies on store-bought ravioli, jarred sauce, and shredded cheese. Shhhhhh.

This anything-but-boring bird borrows its Peruvian accent from a technicolor dream coat of paprika, lemon, garlic, and cumin.

These corn bread batons bake up crisp on the outside, with a fine crumb on the inside, and ready to sop up as much butter or gravy as you wish.

Summer at its simplest, not to mention its most splendid. Five minutes of effort yield a meal that rivals round-trip tickets to Italy.

Fresh baked pretzels are irresistible. This recipe shows you how to make plain pretzels, cheese pretzels, caraway pretzels, bacon pretzels, mini-pretzels.

Finally a steak taco recipe that let's you determine whether you want it with a little or a lotta heat. Just how much is entirely up to you.

We, too, were startled by the shocker ingredient in this intriguingly sweet, Easter-rific glazed ham. Tasting is believing.

This potato salad captures the spirit of summer, with its fresh basil, just-picked tomatoes and corn and freshly dug red potatoes.

Earthy black-eyed peas, Portuguese tuna, sliced onion, garlic, and parsley are tossed together in a vinegar-y salad dressing for a quick, nutritious salad.