Anyone who's slurped down a icy bowl of gazpacho on a steamy July evening knows how cooling summer soups can be. A chilly bowl of pureed or chunky fruits or vegetables is a healthy meal, an antidote to the season's heavy (though no less tasty) burgers and grilled meats.

Borscht for Blistering Hot Days
You won't find a more eye-catching bowl of soup than this deep red puree, which includes baby beets, orange juice, marjoram and fennel. A spin on cold borscht, it also contains buttermilk and a blend of toasted coriander, caraway and fennel seeds.
Get the recipe: Beet Soup with Buttermilk and Marjoram

A New Use for an Old Southern Favorite
Pickled watermelon rind is a classic Southern condiment that's delicious on its own or added to chicken, shrimp or tuna salad. Making your own isn't difficult, but it takes a few days; otherwise, you can buy it on Amazon. In this recipe, the rind makes a tangy salsa that adds texture and flavor to a smooth watermelon-cucumber-chili soup.
Get the recipe: Cucumber-Watermelon Soup

Once upon a time, lobster was a luxury item, something you'd eat on a special occasion at the height of summer. These days, though, the Maine lobster population has exploded, with lobstermen hauling in record numbers. The result: rock-bottom prices. And not only are the crustaceans plentiful in the waters off the New England coast, they're also quite colorful. As the Associated Press reports, odd colors have been showing up in catches lately: orange, bright blue, yellow and white (the photos are stunning).

And when life gives you a surplus of inexpensive lobsters with the promise that some may even be cerulean, we can't think of anything better to do than make the easier-than-it-sounds Lobster Thermidor. You could also fold the sweet meat into mac 'n' cheese (rich and buttery, with a decadence we didn't know was possible). Or, take the outdoor route and grill your lobsters and serve them with chili sauce. One more idea: simply mix together a lobster salad and scoop it up with toasted slices of baguette.

Finally, open up a bottle of equally cheap summer wine (perhaps raising a glass with a lobster-tinted manicure?).

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Photo: Ditte Isager

More grown-up than ice cream swimming in chocolate sauce and more Roman Holiday than fruit and store-bought pound cake, affogato is the two-ingredient treat I'm making most often this summer. And by "making," I mean pouring a shot of espresso over a scoop of vanilla gelato. The hot and bitter coffee melting into the sweet frozen dessert is pretty much heaven on a hot July night.

Not that you need much more of a "recipe" than the one described above, but you can top your affogato with crushed espresso beans, shaved dark chocolate and chopped hazelnuts, or dulce de leche. However you serve this treat, it's best to eat it while envisioning yourself at a cafe in Rome, while your Vespa waits just across the piazza.

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Photo: Thinkstock

Whether you're finding relief from the heat by eating a dinner that consists of chilled soup, a cool salad, or ice pops (don't judge! they can be very nutritious), it's possible that at some point before temps dip into the mid-80s, you may want a home-cooked meal that really is cooked. And yet: the thought of turning on the stove, oven or even grill makes you sweat (well, sweat more).

You're in luck if you have a rice cooker--and not because a nice big bowl of aromatic basmati is the answer to all your steamed-up prayers. These handy little appliances (which also happen to be cheap--you can get a decent one for less than $20) aren't just for rice. You can use them to make pasta, eggs, stir-fries and much more. Like slow cookers, they don't generate a lot of heat, but they're powerful enough to sear slices of chicken sausage, soften risotto into creamy spoonfuls and yes, give you perfectly-cooked grains of rice. Making dinner in the rice cooker is fast and easy, usually involving tossing all the ingredients into the pot, covering it with the lid and turning it on. Your one-dish meal will be ready in about 20 minutes. One last reason to dig out your rice cooker: clean-up is minimal--which means you'll be back in front of the fan, with an ice pop for dessert, in a flash.

Photo: Chow.com

Grilled hot dogs are way up there on the can't-screw-it-up scale of outdoor summer cooking: no guest will tell you they want theirs medium-rare; there's no basting or brushing with sauce; and once they look done, they pretty much are done. But there's a way to take this humble food and turn it into a masterpiece that will just about blow everyone's mind at your next barbecue. All you need is a wooden skewer and a knife.

As this Chow.com video demonstrates, making a spiral-cut hot dog is easier than it sounds. First, you thread a skewer straight through the dog (if you mess up, just try again; the tutorial promises hot dogs are forgiving). Then, make a long cut with a knife that winds around and around the stick. Remove the skewer, and you're left with a curlicued tendril of beef, chicken or tofu, ready to cook. The increased surface area results in more caramelization and crunch from the grill. The spiral-cut dog also gives you a row of little crevices where you can tuck extra bits of relish, mustard or ketchup (or not ketchup, depending on where you stand in this debate). And last we checked, no one's ever asked "How'd you do that?" when it came to a grilled burger.

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Photo: Thinkstock

Although I'm just as big of a fan of Old Bay seasoning as any Maryland native is, I'll admit to making crab cakes without it. Yes, the contents of that distinctive yellow can work magic on crab meat (as well as other foods, like my two recent discoveries: popcorn, and this Poor Man's "Shrimp" Cocktail). But Old Bay isn't the only way to enhance crab's sweet, delicate taste. Start with this basic recipe, then tweak it one of these four ways:

Italian: Swap in 1 tsp. of dried oregano for the Old Bay, and use basil as the fresh herb.

Asian: Substitute hot Chinese mustard for Old Bay, and instead of the herbs use fresh ginger (1/2 Tbsp. peeled and minced). Wasabi mayonnaise, available at many grocery stores and Asian markets, is an ideal accompaniment.

Greek: Skip the Old Bay and amp up the herbs: stir in a Tbsp. each of fresh mint and dill. Tzatziki is the perfect dipping sauce.

Latin-Indian: In place of Old Bay, use Sambar or curry powder. For the herbs, use cilantro, and serve the cakes with lime wedges and mango chutney.

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Photo: Thinkstock

No, it's not just you wondering where that extra cash in your wallet went: the strawberry-basil rosé sangria you had when you were out for drinks with friends the other night was kind of pricey. And the flavored spirits trend may be the best thing to happen to margaritas lately, but it's definitely not the best thing to happen to your budget.

Liquor and wine prices in restaurants are up 79% over the past 30 years, NPR reported recently. You can thank the rising cost of liquor licenses and the fact that bartenders haven't gotten any more productive since 1982, i.e., they can't pour drinks any faster--among other factors, which Eater.com explains in this article (the piece also explains why prices probably won't come down anytime soon).

So where does that leave us cost-conscious sauvignon blanc seekers? Either at whatever outdoor bistro has the best happy hour deal, or following the guidelines in Oprah.com's Cheap Summer Wine Guide. Every bottle costs less than $12, from crisp Moscato to an Italian aperetif made with semisparkling wine, fresh citrus and herbs. And there are even tricks to the speediest way to chill your beverage. You're welcome.

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Photo: Travis Rathbone

You're very busy wiping peach juice off your elbows and polishing off yet another tomato sandwich (made with an ugly tomato, right?). But don't miss out on these other height-of-summer treats.

Homemade Magic Shell
The DIY version of this classic ice cream topping is surprisingly easy to make (all you need are coconut oil and semi-sweet chocolate chips), and tastes just like a dipped cone from the truck on the corner, minus the alkali and soy lecithin.

Squash Blossoms
If you're growing zucchini, you're probably familiar with their abundant but delicate flowers (which are also available at farmer's markets now). It's best to pick or buy the yellow-and-orange blossoms and eat them the same day, since they wilt quickly. While the most common--and arguably tastiest--way to serve them is to stuff the long, narrow blooms with cheese and fry them, they're also excellent baked, or incorporated into pasta dishes, quesadillas or soup.

Photo: Thinkstock

You already know about iced tea and lemonade, hot dogs and mustard, and peach pie with vanilla ice cream. How about these three pairings, though?

Black Pepper-Strawberry
Why we're thinking of these two things: Salt's BFF goes into everything we cook, and lately we've been combining strawberries with balsamic vinegar.
Putting them together: Instead of giving the berries a sharp bite, pepper lends a subtle warmth.
Add one more element: A drizzle of orange juice over pepper-dusted strawberries creates a luscious sauce for ice cream.

Watermelon-Feta
Why we're thinking of these two things: It's common to match the salty Greek cheese with olives, tomatoes or cucumbers, and eat the melon on its own or in a salad with other fruit.
Putting them together: The sweet, juicy watermelon takes on an almost savory edge with sharp feta.
Add one more element: Mint brightens both foods' flavors.

Photo: Thinkstock

If summer food is all about simplicity, summer beach food is a step further: a meal usually consists of one dish, probably requiring lots of napkins, that comes together in less than 20 minutes. As this slideshow on NYMag.com shows, chefs' favorite foods to eat after a day at the shore also do not involve an oven and are best eaten with your hands. Based on the foods mentioned in the article, here's my short list of Beach Food Rules:

1. Eat what makes you happy.
Barbara Lynch may run the kitchen at the Boston fine dining restaurant Menton, but when she's in a wet bathing suit, she wants a tuna fish sandwich on white bread with tons of mayo, a jar of Vlasic pickle spears, a Diet Coke and Utz potato chips.

2. You get extra points for drawn butter.
Dipping steamed or grilled shellfish--whether steamed clams (which are Annisa chef Anita Lo's choice) or lobster (Marc Murphy of Ditch Plains' pick)--into melted butter is messy, fun...and probably not something you do at home on a typical February evening.