Pomegranate molasses is the secret ingredient in this simple marinade. Its punchy, sweet, earthy notes add long-cooked depth of flavor to cheese and vegetable skewers in just 30 minutes of marination, with pleasantly bitter tahini rounding things out. The pomegranate-tahini marinade goes the extra mile as a final drizzle for the skewers; thinned with fresh orange juice, it supplies the perfect, sweet-savory finish to the dish. Be sure to soak wooden skewers in water before threading on the cheese and vegetables to prevent flare-ups while grilling or broiling.

This iconic dish from the South of France is a celebration of summer.

Toasted coconut, curry leaves, and peanuts amp up the flavors in this summer grilled corn salad.

For her jackfruit tacos recipe, Jocelyn Ramirez, cookbook author and chef at Todo Verde in Los Angeles, uses cumin, chile flakes, and salt to capitalize on the pulled-pork texture of jackfruit, transforming it into a plant-based taco filling that tastes like carnitas. Don't turn the jackfruit too often while it cooks; give it time to develop a golden brown crust for the best texture and flavor. Served with tart, creamy avocado salsa and lemon wedges, the spicy, crispy seared jackfruit tacos are a satisfying vegetarian meal.

Black-eyed peas, peppers, onions, and tomatoes get a zesty Italian dressing in this bean salad perfect as an appetizer or potluck side.

A luxurious black garlic-tahini dressing dresses up skillet-seared Japanese eggplant.

When tomatoes are at their best, take a cue from Hetal Vasavada and don't cook them at all. "In the summer, Indian families often make kachumber salad. It's basically an Indian pico de gallo situation, minus the cilantro," says Vasavada. "My husband loves gazpacho—he's the kind of person who drinks salsa from the jar—so I thought this would be a nice, cool summer dish." Vasavada channeled her love for kachumber, a fresh, cucumber-based Indian salad, to inspire this exciting riff on the classic chilled summery soup. Warm spices and a hint of chile add flavor and heat without overwhelming the fresh tomatoes; sev, a crispy chickpea noodle snack, adds a pleasant crunch.

This flavor-packed pie is topped with mozzarella, paneer and a spiced tomato sauce.

Smoky roasted cauliflower and nutty brown butter headline this satisfying vegetarian main course. Like tiny gnocchi, German spaetzle are delicious simply blanched but spring to a whole new level when crisped with butter in a pan. This recipe calls for store-bought dried spaetzle, which turn springy and chewy when cooked. Boiled then crisped in butter, they get a finishing lift from fresh dill and crushed red pepper.