Eating

The Far East and the Middle East meet over a piece of really good bread. The fresh sweet pea-like flavor of the thick Edamame Puree and the smooth, smoky, garlicky Baba Ghanoush make one of the all-time great flavor combinations.

This is what summer should taste like. A light, intensely flavorful but not too sweet dessert. Pretty terrific for breakfast, too. Amazing how easily you can make this Better and Cheaper than you can buy it. 70 cents per slice.

Very luscious. Slightly sweet. Soft and crisp. Highly aromatic. The perfectly seasonal fruit, cheese and bread brunch. Fresh figs are at the Farmers Markets right now. You should be, too.

Two minutes from thought to bowl. Suddenly, before you know it, dinner's on the table. Big, fresh tomato flavor barely enriched with yogurt and olive oil. And the fragrance of a little basil. And you have plenty of time to enjoy it.

It's all in the tea. Smoky lapsang souchong. And sweet, aromatic ginger-liquorice tea. For big, deep, smoky flavor with a little sweet spice. Like an invisible, zero-calorie barbecue sauce. Whether you grill over a fire or on the stovetop.

Dessert for a lazy, late summer cookout. A no-labor day dessert. As satisfying as a pie right out of the oven. Without making a pie. Hot. Sweet. Just slightly smoky. A little crumbly. Like a great pie once it's in your mouth. Where it counts.

Sweet, soft, smoky eggplant slices. Wrapped around tart, salty feta cheese spiked with aromatic oregano. Brightened with a little fresh lemon juice. Best hand-held dish of the month. If you can slice eggplant and mash cheese, it's in your mouth in less than 20 minutes.

I had to think for a while about this zebra eggplant. How to eat the delicious inside without destroying the dramatically beautiful outside? Here's how you make an addictive Eggplant-Garlic Salad and serve it in its own skin.

Add aromatic, herbaceous fennel to sweet, fresh cabbage for the season's best cole slaw. They're both in abundant supply. And at their seasonal peak flavors and low prices. Light, bright, crunchy and intensely flavorful. Get to your Farmers Market for the best stuff.