Zucchini Tart Recipe (Tarte aux Courgettes)

Savory tart is a very versatile dish. The crust is usually puff pastry, a sauce serves as the filling and the topping is roasted or grilled vegetables. I made pesto using goat ricotta cheese and topped the tart with zucchini. Once you choose your favorite flavorings, you can come up with your own combinations for the pesto sauce, cheeses and vegetables.

Zucchini is a relatively easy vegetable to plant from seeds. My husband Lulu's uncle grew humongous 18-inch zucchini in his garden. Ratatouille would have been a great way to make great use of the veggie but I really wanted to showcase the size of the slices in a tart.

Fruit Caprese Salad Recipe

Caprese salad is a simple and easy recipe. It consists of stacked slices of buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, seasoned with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. To mix things up, I made an Asian variation of this salad, adding stone fruit and berries. I drizzled toasted sesame oil and plum vinegar to season the salad.

Unlike berries, this year has been a bummer for the tomatoes in our garden. My husband Lulu has been struggling with the vegetables he planted. Since last year, we've been fighting gophers and rabbits. So to avoid the proliferation of these animals, we decided to install several elevated tomato planters. Unfortunately, this method has attracted all the deer from the neighborhood. They don't eat the fruit, but they do devour all the young sprouts. I managed to gather a few ripe tomatoes and made salads, but there aren't enough to can any tomato sauce this year!

Doogh Recipe (Persian Yogurt Drink)

If you're familiar with Persian food, you might have already tasted doogh, which is the traditional yogurt  (or curdled milk) drink that accompanies Iranian dishes. It's one of my husband's favorite drinks.

Unlike Indian sweet lassi, the taste of this yogurt drink is unique; it's more savory and tart rather than sweet. The preparation is fairly simple. Just combine, plain yogurt, carbonated water (you could also use still filtered water), dried mint and a few other flavorings. This cold drink is not only refreshing for hot summer days but also can be used as an all-natural nausea remedy, thanks to the properties of the mint.

Tofu Recipe Ideas (How To Prepare Tofu)

Whether you're trying to fit in your bikini for the remaining days of the summer, don't like the taste of meat (like my husband Lulu), you have moral concerns or just want to cut down your grocery bills, tofu might be the ingredient to turn to.

If you're a meat lover like me, you might have preconceived notions of what tofu tastes like. When I first met my husband, I was put off by tofu because I felt that it was boring and lacking taste. Well, after seven years of marriage, I can say that I was wrong! Tofu, or soybean curd, is pretty bland by itself, but picture it as a blank canvas upon which you can "paint" whatever flavors you'd like.

I've listed some recipes that have become my family's favorites. Boiled, pan-fried or sautéed, tofu can taste absolutely delicious, and almost any meat dish can be transformed into a flavorful, vegetarian meal. Enjoy!

Brown Butter Glazed Carrots with Toasted Hazelnuts

Here's a unique carrot and hazelnut side dish that is both simple and delicious. Carrots and hazelnuts pair wonderfully well. The natural sweetness of the carrots complements the nutty and crunchy nature of the hazelnuts.

For extra flavor, I also added rosemary in brown butter for an earthier taste.