Fresh corn makes a creamy pasta sauce with no cream

Enter the Italian technique of cooking the noodles only until al dente — still quite firm. To further firm up the texture, we chilled them by rinsing them with ice in the strainer under cold water. Even after reheating the noodles in the cooked sauce, they retained that pleasant toothsome quality that makes this vegetarian dish feel so hearty.

Fresh corn makes a creamy pasta sauce with no cream

Luckily, a lighter solution lies in peak season for sweet corn, whose high starch content can create a creamy sauce without having to resort to using cream. Just pull out the blender.

Sugar and savory spices liven up summer berries

In Greece and Turkey, for example, tomato sauce comes spiked with cinnamon, and in Mexico, fruit salad is sprinkled with cayenne pepper. In both cases, the spice is subtle but adds just enough contrast to make each bite more interesting.

Secret ingredient from summer corn lifts Cajun maque choux

Pronounced "mock shoe," which is said to be a French inflection of a Native American word, this Creole classic usually is made with crawfish and/or tasso ham. Both are hard to come by, so we opted for andouille sausage for its smoky, meaty flavor. We also swapped the standard green bell pepper for a poblano chili, which has an earthy flavor and mild heat.

How to cook with garden and windowsill herbs this summer

The few plants that do seem to persevere despite my sloppy gardening efforts are the herbs, and they are truly enough of a payoff to keep going.

Sustainable Living

Regrow vegetables from kitchen scraps on a sunny windowsill

General tips: Scraps will grow best in a sunny spot. Use lukewarm water, and replace it every day or two to avoid the growth of bacteria. Don't worry if the submerged portion of your cuttings becomes a bit slimy, but if the whole thing starts to turn brown, toss it in the compost pile and start over.

American Buffet

Colorado Bar