Blog Posts by Food52

As you wipe the sand off your toes and start to ponder dinner, you're sorry to leave the beach. So don't. These simple, seafood pastas take your tastebuds out to sea. With some protein from your fisherman's morning catch and a box of pasta in hand, you'll be armed to fashion an arsenal of healthy summer meals for your family.

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Every week, at Food52.com, we're digging up Genius Recipes -- the ones that make us rethink cooking myths, get us talking, and change the way we cook.

Today: The perfect strawberry shortcake for all berry season long -- thanks to an odd secret ingredient.

- Kristen Miglore, Senior Editor, Food52.com

Sweet, ripe summer strawberries deserve lots of whipped cream and the perfect shortcake. And the secret to the perfect shortcake? It's sitting in your fridge right now, and it's going to surprise you.

>>RELATED: See 7 Sweet Strawberry Recipes on FOOD52.

The late cookbook author James Beard -- often called the father of American cuisine -- learned this trick for a tender, airy cake from his mother: Egg yolks.

Not so strange, right? But here's the kicker: they're from hard-boiled eggs.

It might sound like one of the last things you want stirred in with your dry ingredients, but crumbly cooked yolk adds just enough richness without weighing down or

Tonight's dinner: a beautiful composed salad of silky avocados and caramelized carrots followed by a perfectly cooked piece of fish (it's all about what fish you buy -- this is a moment to really buy the very best!). It comes together with little time or effort, and it is one graceful weeknight dinner.

You may not actually be at Le Bernardin (or ABC Kitchen, the inspiration for the salad), but it's possible that the loveliness of this meal will make you feel that you are. If this is the case, and you find yourself popping a bottle of Champagne on a weeknight, well what can we say? Our work here is done.

For more inspirations for dinner tonight in under an hour, check out FOOD52.com!

The Menu

Le Bernardin's Crispy Skinned Fish by Genius Recipes

Serves 4

About 1 tablespoon canola oil (enough to coat the bottom of the pan)
Four 6-ounce skin-on fish fillets (like striped bass or salmon)
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground white pepper (black is fine too, if you

Don't get us wrong: we've got no complaints about ice cream on its own. But why not turn your kitchen into a 1950s-style soda fountain, just because? With just one extra step or two, you've got a dish fit for a special occasion -- or for a lazy afternoon. Poodle skirt and horn-rimmed glasses are optional, but recommended.

• See the entries for Your Best Soda Fountain Recipe contest.

• Browse through more frozen dessert recipes on Food52

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Yeah, you read that right: no-cook salads. Though the word "salad" may imply a no-cook recipe, many recipes actually include steps to toast, to roast, to saute. Not these. Get yourself a pile of fresh vegetables, slice a bit, chop a bit -- and ta da! Lunch, dinner, an appetizer, a side dish: all in less than 10 minutes. Here are 7 vibrant salads to keep you well-fed all summer long -- no oven, stove, toaster, or heat-creating appliance in sight.

• Check out more recipes for summer salads.

• We know you won't turn on the oven, but how about the grill? See our 5 Things You Never Thought You Could Grill.

• Got a question in the kitchen? The Food52 Hotline is here to help!

Inspiration for this dinner? Two dishes that are bound to be on heavy rotation this summer. So straightforward and unfussy, yet both so luxurious in texture and flavor. A tuna steak slowly poached in olive oil is scattered around a plate with potatoes and green beans like a sort of deconstructed, lazy Nicoise, and a cheery pink homemade sherbet rounds out the meal. A weeknight dinner worthy of a Saturday night dinner party!

Check out some more great summer salads and ideas for quick and easy dinners at Food52.com!

The Menu

Warm Tuna and White Bean Salad by amanda

Serves 4
3/4 pounds best quality tuna, about 2 inches thick
5 thyme sprigs
1 garlic clove
About 1/3 cup olive oil
Salt
12 baby potatoes, boiled with skins on, until tender
7 ounces thin green beans, topped and blanched in salted water
8 ounces cranberry beans, shelled (about 3/4 cup shelled) and blanched in salted water until just tender or dried cranberry beans (see note in Step 4)

Yes, we can hear your collective sigh out there -- a sigh of relief, a sigh of gratitude. The word "shrimp" in a main course promises a dinner that's fast, healthy, and protein-packed: a savior on a weeknight, an elegant companion at a party, and every role in between. Here are 7 easy shrimp dinners, some dressed-up, some dressed-down, all sigh-worthy.

• See our 7 Dressed-Up Chicken Breasts for more easy, quick weeknight dinners. • Browse though our plans for Dinner Tonight for dinner under an hour. • Got a question in the kitchen? The Food52 Hotline is here to help!

Memorial Day signifies the start of summer, and to start it off on the right foot we're throwing a backyard barbecue feast. From refreshing drinks to seafood, steak, sides, and dessert, we've got all of our bases covered. No one will go home hungry, but everyone will leave wanting many more summer grill-outs.

See more Memorial Day recipes on Food52.

• Browse more recipes for Memorial Day.

• Find delicious recipes that serve a crowd.

• Got a question in the kitchen? The Food52 Hotline is here to help!