Grilled peaches nestled atop burrata and grilled bread and drizzled with honey, olive oil and salt- each bite is a blissful revelation!

While in N.C. on vacation, I bought a small tub of lima bean hummus. I believe it was made by Roots, and I went for it because I've never met a lima bean I didn't like. This did not disappoint; on the contrary, it was love at first bite. Spectacular flavor and spice. It was so smooth and made a chip feel fancy and a good sandwich feel all gussied up! This is my attempt to recreate. Delicious!

Growing up in Louisiana, cheese straws -spicy, orange-cheddar, stick-shaped treats- were de rigueur on many party tables. I adore them, and this recipe, by Kim Severson, is the one I've found that most perfectly matches the taste-memory I have of the ones back home. This recipe is a snap to put together but pressing the dough through a cookie press can take some time. That said, double this recipe because I guarantee everyone will love these and eat more than they thought humanly possible.

This fennel confit is really delicious in a marvelously simplistic way. Eat it plain, or better, atop grilled bread slathered with ricotta. 

Utilizing lobster, avocado and grapefruit, this an absolutely wonderful, elegant starter or side dish. 

Somewhere between a sauce and a dressing, this yogurt-tahini blend is spiced with lemon, cinnamon, cumin, coriander and sumac and is absolutely wonderful. It'd make a great dressing for steamed potatoes or a dip for veggies or a sauce for roasted root veggies...

This combination of fresh figs, caramelized onions and blue cheese is absolutely scrumptious, a perfect blend of sweet, salty and savory.

One day, I bought some russets and boiled them up, planning to make mashed potatoes. But I realized I wasn't much in the mood for plain old mashed spuds so took a left turn. Into the mash went grated Gruyere, crumbled bacon, scallions and some buttermilk. The idea of puffs was running through my mind, so I mashed (heh!) the potato mixture into a ziploc, cut off the corner and played around with griddling these as well as baking-then-broiling them. 

I have long been a serious hush puppy fan. Corn and rhubarb play nicely with each other, making these both sweet and savory and adding a surprise flavor profile to the standard hush pup.

A local restaurant makes the most unreal appetizer when fava beans are in season: a fava bean puree atop grilled bread, topped with a shave of Parmesan and a generous drizzle of olive oil. Each bite is out of this world. Obviously, I had to figure out how to make this. Here you go. You'll eat more than you think you can!

A wonderfully flavorful way to use an entire bunch of radishes (greens too!), and who doesn't want pistachio-yogurt sauce?

This confit is a wonderful way to make these spring alliums the star!

Growing up, cheese and sausage balls were a ubiquitous holiday presence. They are a delicious and easy hors d'oeuvres or snack full of Louisiana flavor and kick.

A wonderful, wintry blend of flavors. While delicious as a crostini, I suspect this would also be delicious as a savory dessert, atop french toast or tossed with pasta.

This is an absolutely delicious version of green goddess from Melissa Clark. It's good with salad and crudites and grilled meats and on and on.

This recipe, courtesy of Donna Vos courtesy of Judy Whitman, makes totally addictive, scrumptious, seasoned nuts. Great for parties or general high-brow snacking. :)

I have never liked deviled eggs. Unless yolks are well-scrambled or fried, I just can't get on board, and plain, hard-boiled yolks are the absolute worst. That said, I love egg whites and the idea of deviled eggs as a snack. So, these! 

This aioli is great with kofta burgers, roasted asparagus or as a robust dip for crudite. In concert with my kofta burgers, it was chosen as a Community Pick on Food52.

Do you like bacon, remoulade sauce and greens? Then you will like this. If you don't love collards or chard, substitute any other green leaf veggie.

Known as schiacciata con l'uva in Italian, this is a terrific, unique flatbread cooked with rosemary, grapes, pine nuts and olive oil.

This is unbelievably simple, always tasty, can be made ahead/saves well, and I've never served it to anyone who didn't ask for the recipe afterwards.

If you read Em-i-lis at all regularly, you might know how I feel about summer tomatoes. Obsession is not too strong a word. This recipe came about as an homage to Sungolds, that marvelous orange cherry tomato variety.

Once you get past having to de-leaf a huge number of thyme sprigs, this is beyond fabulous, and you'll be glad you made it! Scrumptious!

This is such a delicious use of all of these ingredients. Great with pita chips, atop salads, with grilled salmon... it's just darn good. 

This is a marvelous dish from Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty. The pomegranate molasses lifts the eggplant-tahini blend to new and sweeter heights.

This recipe is very slightly adapted from Melissa Clark's Radish Crostini. It's a delicious, unique way to use fresh radishes.