Making Burgers? Three Tips.


A pan-seared burger with secret sauce, pickled onions, and tomato on homemade brioche.

Brioche buns on a baking sheet.

Three Tips for Better Burgers

  1. Make a secret sauce. (With pantry ingredients.)
  2. Make quick-pickled onions.
  3. Make the buns: No-Knead Brioche Buns

On the Grill: 9 Ideas


A platter of chicken souvlaki with lemon, tzatziki, cucumber salad, and pita.

A platter of grilled hanger steak, resting.

Grilled T-Bone Steak with Dead Easy and Quick Marinade

skillet-grilled fish tacos



Grilled cedar-planked salmon with soba noodles.





Charred eggplant produces a creaminess without the help of oil, and the charring moreover imparts such a nice smokiness to the eggplant's flesh. Some sort of flatbread or grilled bread is a must with each of these preparations, and if you happen to have some za'atar in your pantry, the aromatic spice mixture complements the eggplant so nicely. // alexandracooks.com

Grilled Meats

Grilled Fish

Grilled Veg

Salads & Sides: 9 Ideas




A large bowl of chopped Thai salad satay ready to be served.

carrot-quinoa salad with lemon-tahini dressing

charred broccoli salad with dates, almonds, and cheddar

A bowl filled with a spring fattoush salad with arugula, radishes, snap peas, and cucumbers.

Kristina's pasta salad

A jar of cilantro-lime chickpeas

A bowl of 3-ingredient lentil salad.

A simple dressing of olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice with just a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes works best in this quinoa salad, both complementing quinoa's flavors while not oversaturating its delicate texture. // alexandracooks.com

Slaw-ish

Veggie-Heavy

Beans & Grains

MANY More Ideas Right Here → Salads & Sides

Desserts


Bowls of blueberry cobbler with ice cream on a table.



blueberry crisp

gooey oat bars, stacked vertically

brownies

Brown Butter Blondies with Sea Salt

Just baked soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies.

I have made this strawberry mascarpone tart several times with a lemony, sweetened mascarpone topped with fresh berries. This is the only pastry crust I will make all summer long in my hot kitchen, on my unforgiving countertops, with my warm, clammy hands. Sayonara rolling pin, see you in the fall. // alexandracooks.com

Rhubarb custard cake on a plate.

Seasonal Fruits

Bar Love

More Favorites

MANY More Ideas Right Here → Desserts

What to Drink?


margarita

Classic Margarita with Tequila, Grand Marnier + Lime


A trio of paloma slushies.

watermelon agua fresca

Strawberry Paloma Slushie

Watermelon Aqua Fresca