I had never made a tomato pie before, and frankly, the idea kinda confused me (the woes of growing up in the Midwest). From my understanding, it was basically just a bunch of tomatoes thrown into a crust and topped with a ton of mayo and cheese — it sounded weird.

Well, it turns out tomato pie is actually amazing (and I rarely say that about my own cooking). It was so good that I ended up eating the whole thing over a two day span — my boyfriend hates tomatoes, so that just meant more for me. You can't actually taste the mayonnaise, but it helps the top of the pie brown beautifully. I used colorful heirloom tomatoes I picked up from the farmer's market, but you could totally make these with your regular old grocery store romas. If your love tomatoes, do yourself a favor and make this recipe. — Jesse Szewczyk

Here's the recipe.

If you aren't taking advantage of avocado's creamy texture for pasta purposes, you're doing your summer wrong. This recipe has become my comfort food ride-or-die when I want to pig out a little on a pasta dish, but also do it ~mindfully~ without the usual sauce suspects of butter and cream.

You can use a food processor if you really want to, but you can also just finely chop the garlic, squeeze in a couple of lemon wedges, and then mash everything together with a big-ass fork. The basil also isn't a must. And, to make it extra healthy, go for whole-grain spaghetti — it pairs perfectly with avocado's luxurious, buttery texture, but you can also use linguini or normal spaghetti. One avocado makes for one hearty serving, and since leftovers don't keep well in the fridge, you have every excuse in the world to eat it all up. — Delia Cai

Here's the recipe.

I cannot tell you how many times I've seen a picture of this recipe — AKA the cover star of Yotam Ottolenghi's cookbook Plenty — yet I had never made it myself. Let me tell you, that was a mistake. The recipe is super simple, just a few ingredients casually thrown together to make something that's both rustic and fancy.

It starts with eggplant that's roasted with olive oil, then gets dressed in a super savory buttermilk sauce that gives it a nice tang. It gets finished with pomegranate seeds and za'atar to make it both beautiful and flavorful. I picked up za'tar at my local spice shop, but you can also make your own. For someone who is not the biggest fan of eggplant, I can confirm that this recipe is a banger. — Jesse Szewczyk

Here's the recipe.

It's the season where squash blossoms are everywhere and I couldn't help myself when I saw them at my local farmers market.

I love them on simple pizza with garlic, ricotta and olive oil, but my favorite way to make them is to stuff them with a tangy ricotta filling and fry them up. I use a really light batter, so they still remain light and delicate. It's the ultimate summer treat! — Kiano Moju

Here's the recipe.

Let me start by admitting that I don't know how to make biscuits. I'm a bad Midwesterner and I literally don't know where to begin. There are just so many variables, techniques, and processes that it legit overwhelms me — but I decided I must learn.

This recipe was the first recipe of my biscuit-making journey. It was pretty simple, just a few ingredients, and came together in no time. To make the layers, you take your dough, cut it into four pieces, and stack them on top of each other. When you roll it out again, all of the butter layers laminate it and give you those beautiful, flaky layers. I brushed mine with butter and salt and was pretty darn happy with the results.

Next time I want to try my hand at drop biscuits! — Jesse Szewczyk

Here's the recipe.

If you read food blogs, chances are you've ended up on What's Gabby Cooking — and if you follow cookbooks (I'm essentially just describing myself at this point) you know she recently came out with one.

Her book has sat on my desk for a while now, and the cover has a stunning tomato tart on it. After weeks of saying I was going to make it, I finally did — and let me tell you, it was totally worth it. Although the tart looks pretty complicated, it's actually quite simple. The only thing you have to cook is the crust, then everything else is just tossed together and thrown in.

The filling is made with ricotta and cream cheese, and the topping is just simply seasoned tomatoes and some other small things. I went crazy with garnishes, but a simple sprinkling of salt and pepper would be just as nice. — Jesse Szewczyk

Here's the recipe.