And while you should think of dill as the perfect herb for great grilled salmon — there’s a reason “salmon and dill” go together — you should not treat dill as if it’s only reason for being is to bring an added layer of tart flavor to everybody’s favorite fish. (Don’t forget dill is also the basis for great party dips.)

But first, let’s grow some dill. Buy a little plug at the nursery or a favorite farmstand and stick it in the herb garden. You can even put it in a little pot by a sunny window, just for the season although it might last well into fall. You’ll be amazed at how tall the plant grows over the summer, providing you with sprigs of this wonderfully pungent herb for months to come.

Be careful, though, because dill will want to spread all over your garden. It’s not a big deal — and it can be very pretty to see feather yellow-green shafts of dill waving in the summer breeze. But then it will come up again next year in spots you maybe hadn’t imagined. Again, that’s no problem.

If, however, you favor a tidier herb garden, put dill in a pot to contain it. Just make sure there’s a hole in the bottom. Dill roots like to dig deep, and when you plant dill in a pot, you’re happy and so is the plant if its roots can go way down into the earth. (P.S. It may still spread outside the pot but not as much.)

Which brings up another note about caring for dill: Make sure it has plenty of water; don’t let it dry out. Stake it, too, when it gets to tall to keep it from falling over. (Check out all of the recipes so far in our “Herb Garden Tips & Recipes” series, where new posts will go up every Tuesday through June.)

Now, let’s cook. You bet we’ve got some great salmon recipes. But don’t forget, dill is a good base for luscious salmon appetizers, too.. And — let’s see, wasn’t there one other thing? Oh, yes, dill pickles. With a hearty crop of fresh dill on your hands, you can put up dill pickles all summer long. When you aren’t busy taking orders for grilled salmon, that is.

Dill Pickles

Let’s begin at the beginning, with a great recipe for classic dill pickles — herbs from your own garden, of course.

Salmon with Cucumber-Dill Cream Napoleons

How good does this sound? Salmon poached in white wine and served, sandwich-style on flaky pastry crusts with sour cream-and-dill dressing. Fancy, yes. Hard to make? Not at all, and it looks so festive.

Easy Salmon Burgers

These healthy, tasty burgers will become a backyard staple for summer grilling. And that’s a promise!

Smoked Salmon & Dill Mascarpone Toasts

Dill takes center stage on these wonderful little appetizers.

Dill Salmon Quiche

Add a salad to this quiche for the perfect light summer dinner with no muss or fuss. Pretty elegant, too.

Crab Dip

Not just any crab dip. This crab dip is pre-assembled and delivered in neat little pastry cups. It’s easy to make, and nothing makes a bigger splash at a party. Don’t save this for the holidays! Crab Dip wants to be served at all your summer get-togethers.

Creamy Shrimp Dip

Quite simply, the shrimp dip to end all shrimp dips. Watch it disappear fast!

Make pickled green beans with dill and all kinds of other great pickle recipes!

Where the men are gathered in another pack to investigate what’s on the grill, even though only one of them needs to be cooking. Why aren’t the rest of them helping the women get the food onto the table? Because, even though it’s 2013, cookouts are “traditional.” (Check out all our recipes for “31 Days of Great Grilling.”)

Not that I’m complaining in this case! Why would I want to stand around a hot grill getting smoke into my face? Besides, the grilled stuff at cookouts is never as interesting as the other food. Not that I’m complaining about that, either! It’s still early in the summer.

No one is sick of grilled steak yet. The bugs aren’t as bad as they will be later on, when it gets hotter. And we don’t have to eat the meal in three minutes so as to get good seats at the fireworks. (Better get ready with these recipes for 4th of July.) We can just stay put, watching the sun go down and yelling at the big kids to include the little kids for once.

And every now and then, we’ll raise a beer — or a Diet Coke — in memory of the soldiers who’ve made it possible for us to gather together like this. Let’s hope all the troops will be home next year to celebrate Memorial Day with their own friends and family in their own backyards. They’ve been away for too long.

Bacon and Artichoke Hummus

People sometimes steer clear of hummus: They think it’s too good for them.  They won’t have that  problem with THIS hummus, oh no no no. It’s been solidly party-ized with artichokes and a big ol’ pile of bacon. The only problem: You may find it hard to go back to regular hummus after you’ve tried this.

Marinated Cherry Tomatoes over Warm Provolone Garlic Bread

Cherry and grape tomatoes are the only kind that stay good year-round, even when they’re not local. You’ll have no trouble finding them for this zesty, amped-up bruschetta. The recipe also works as a light vegetarian entree.

Picnic Caviar

There’s no actual caviar in this bean salad. Excellent! Who wants caviar in bean salad, or anywhere else? But this is the caviar OF bean salad. It gets even better the farther ahead you make it. Most of us can’t find fresh corn this early in the season, but frozen will work just as well. No need to cook it; just let it defrost.

Pesto Rosemary Skewered Baby Potatoes and Carrots

Spicy BBQ Chicken Wings

Do you agree that the wings are the best part of a chicken? I thought you would. I think you’ll also agree that this is the best way to prepare chicken wings if you’re not going to Buffalo them. (Which is a bad idea for company because of all the deep-frying required.) You marinate them for 48 hours and then simply bake them with barbecue sauce. Of course you could grill them instead, but this is one recipe with enough flavor that it doesn’t need additional smoke and charring.

Turkey Burgers

Black Bean Nacho Burgers

The search for a good vegetarian burger has continued for at least three decades. This one may be the best yet. Black beans are easy to shape and cook. They look more like regular burgers than the pallid grain-based kind. They’re super-healthy, too —enough so that some extra oomph in the form of crushed nacho chips won’t do a bit of harm. (It also gives their texture a bit of beef-like chewiness.) I’d use regular Cheddar instead of low-fat if I were making these. But you knew that, right?

Brownie Peanut Butter Gems

In the 19th century, the word “gem” meant “small cake”–what we now call a cupcake. Or, in this case, a mini-cupcake, which works better than the full-sized version because these are so rich. The brownie batter hides a creamy filling of chocolate and peanut butter, turning these into upscale Hostess cupcakes. I recommend salted or lightly salted peanuts to top the gems; unsalted ones  would seem too bland and rich.

Aloha Paradise Bars

Here’s an updated recipe for a classic favorite.  Using dried pineapple makes the bars extra-chewy. (In most supermarkets, you’ll find this in the produce section, along with other dried fruits, rather than in the baking section.) The sugar-cookie mix makes them easy. For a slightly more complex flavor, you could toast the coconut lightly before adding it to the mixture.

Beer Float Cupcakes

By now you’ll have noticed that there’s a small-cake theme going on with this menu. Cupcakes and bars have so much going for them–they’re fun and easy to make, and you can eat them without plates or utensils. Most recipes also serve a bunch of people. You should rush to make this recipe before cupcakes stop being trendy–it’s amazing, and none of your guests is likely to have tried it. The icing is especially delectable, which isn’t too surprising when you realize that it’s got a generous helping of vanilla ice cream mixed in.

Check out all of these Potluck Perfect Recipes for Memorial Day!

And you’ve got to combine all those ingredients, shape ‘em into meatballs, and then gently sautée the meatballs before they’re ready to toss into the sauce. And you haven’t even made that sauce yet!

Do you really want to go through with all this? Yes, yes, yes. A million meatballs times “yes.” (Before declaring yourself an expert, though, click to find out about “Perfect Meatballs: What’s the Secret?“)

Number 1: Meatballs are the most delicious, crowd-pleasing, feed-a-crowd buffet dinner you can think of. Number 2: Meatballs are FUN to make. And, best of all, Number 3: You can make a ton of meatballs and sauce and freeze it for gangbuster meals for months to come.

Think of meatballs as a play date in the kitchen (get the kids involved); make a game out of the heavy lifting, and, after that, it’s all about unfreezing and boiling pasta.

But maybe we left out one important detail: You can double, triple, quadruple your batch and keep going until you run out of Ziploc bags. (Yes, be sure to freeze by portion size, so your next meal is all set to go.)

Another secret is to make up the “gravy” in advance, like the day before. Also, while the red sauce in this Meatballs in Tomato-Wine Sauce is just dandy, feel free to use any sauce you like. (Get more great tomato-sauce recipes here to go you’re your meatballs.) There’s just no need to follow a strict recipe as long as you have a favorite saucy topping you love.

Also, to add variety to each new meal of meatballs, use a different pasta each time. We think spaghetti or linguine is best, but penne, ziti, rigatoni — any pasta — works fine.

And finally, do not use fancy ground round; meatballs are the one thing that benefits from cheaper, fattier cuts. By the way, the recipe here, for Meatballs in Tomato-Wine Sauce, only uses two kinds of meat. But check out the other three recipes below, each one of which is perfect in its own way!

Classic Spaghetti and Meatballs

This is the all-time favorite. It’s a little more complicated but pays off in delicious, cheesy meatballs and a thick sauce that is nevertheless easy to make. Remember to make the sauce in advance.

Easy Spaghetti and Meatballs

The hands-down easiest spaghetti-and-meatballs you’ll ever make. Make this on a busy weeknight, and you’ll still have great leftovers to freeze.

Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs

Because not everybody loves meatballs made with meat, check out this recipe for turkey.

Watch this video to learn how to make perfect Handmade Italian Meatballs!

Like any traditional food, po-boys have mythic origins. Their name  may come from the French “pourboire,” meaning “tip.” But most of us prefer to believe that po-boys were created by Benny and Clovis Martin, who scrounged up fillings to make sandwiches for striking streetcar workers. They called the strikers “poor boys,” and we’ll take it from there, thanks.

What turns a sandwich into a  po-boy? Mainly, it must be served on a baguette. (A full po-boy is a foot long, which makes our version a “Shorty.”) It can be filled with beef, sausage, or chicken — there’s even a french-fries-with-gravy po-boy — but fried seafood is the most popular.

Our Peach Po-Boy freshens the classic with grilled shrimp and adds bacon, jalapeño, and fresh peaches for a flavor contrast even Benny and Clovis would love. (Click here for more New Orleans-inspired recipes.)

Make this Peachy Po’Boy recipe!

•••

Grilling is hot! Each day in May, we’re bringing you a different tasty, creative way to get the most out of your grill all season long. Find all our “31 Days of Great Grilling” to date on Pinterest, or click here.

Love to grill?

Explore all our great grilling recipes!

These hearty burgers taken their inspiration from … well, guess where. Top them with ham, melted cheese and crisp dill pickles for a bit of South Beach in your own back yard. But what really gives these burgers their, um, mojo is the easy-to-make mojo sauce: just saute garlic in olive oil, then stir in equal parts orange juice and lemon juice with a dash of spice. So simple, yet so, so delicious!

It’s not the same as being in Havana, but you know what? Pour us a mojito and cue up some Afro-Cuban jazz on Pandora, and we’re happy to pretend. Happy, too, knowing that this recipe for Cuban Burgers yields four hearty burgers at just $1.88 per burger.

Make these Cuban Burgers!

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Got $10? Then we’ve got plenty of dinner ideas for you!

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But you already eat lots of salami, you’re thinking. True, but now you can bring the homemade stuff back — legally — without having to hide it in your luggage, according to NPR’s website, The Salt.

We’re talking specifically about sausages like sopressata, a slow-cured dried pork, similar in appearance to salami; pancetta, which, in Italy, is cured in salt and pepper, not smoked like the American variety; coppa or capocollo, pork shoulder or neck that is seasoned with wine, salt, and spice — not quite the same as the American gabagool that Tony Soprano was so fond of.

Why the change? The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture has announced that certain Italian regions are free of swine vesicular disease, reports The Salt. Up to now, only a few Italian pork products were approved for import to the US: prosciutto di Parma and prosciutto di San Daniele, as well as mortadella, which itself was banned until 2000.

Cook up all these delicious recipes with Italian sausage!

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Not long ago, Bloomberg News reported on a new grocery store phenomenon: “mobile blinders.” Say what? Well, more than half of Americans now own smartphones, and what do smartphone owners often do when we’re standing in line at the checkout? We stare down at our tiny handheld screens, checking messages and surfing the web.

From a grocery store’s perspective, it’s like a substantial portion of customers now have blinders on. We’re suddenly blind to the dazzling display of impulse items — magazines, candy, gum, single-serve drinks, etc. — near the registers. How else to account for the fact that impulse items have experienced significant sales declines in the last 18 months, as smartphone ownership has increased?

So … go ahead and check your email while you wait in line! Especially if you’re prone to splurge on impulse items; think of it as a protective shield.

Better yet, use your smartphone to check for deals at your store. Many chains are planning more marketing promotions that incorporate smartphone use, so those could be a new source of coupons. Walmart, for example, is experimenting with a Scan and Go app that would send electronic coupons to people’s phones while they’re shopping.

But be careful, too: to counteract the mobile blinder effect, stores are now placing displays of impulse items throughout their aisles, hoping to bait shoppers while their smartphones are tucked away. And you can bet that apps like Scan and Go will surely take advantage of new opportunities as well, sending ads for impulse items to phone screens, the one place where more and more consumers are guaranteed to see them.

So if you’re using your phone to shield you from temptation, stay alert and be aware when new ads appear. And as always, don’t buy something unless you really need it and it’s a good deal.

Shop smart and save! Check out more tips on couponing and savvy shopping!

Maybe it’s because sweet potatoes are so versatile and so healthy. We love them mashed, roasted, baked, even as a sweet pie filling! But grilled? Yes!

These grilled sweet potato wedges are easy to prepare. Just boil for eight minutes, then send ‘em straight to the grill! A coating of salt and pepper is all the seasoning they need, and the grilling takes no more than 10 minutes. You’ll be amazed at the smoky-sweet flavor grilling gives the wedges, and we especially love how our two distinct dipping sauces bring out different nuances of the sweet potato’s flavor.

Serve these wedges alongside grilled burgers or steak for an exciting alternative to regular fries, or even as appetizers in their own right. We guarantee your family will join the millions worldwide who love this tasty veggie!

Make these Grilled Sweet Potato Wedges with Dipping Sauces!

•••

Grilling is hot! Each day in May, we’re bringing you a different tasty, creative way to get the most out of your grill all season long. Find all our “31 Days of Great Grilling” to date on Pinterest, or click here.

Love to grill?

Explore all our great grilling recipes!

We don’t have to remind you how easy hot dogs are. But we will point out that they don’t taste nearly as good boiled in water as they do tossed on the grill. And the chutney is no-fuss, too, because you can pre-make and wrap it in tin foil to toss on the grill later. Easy does it, all around.

With some important holidays coming up — Memorial Day; July 4 — you might want to be ready with recipes that are easy to make for a crowd. We can’t think of anything better than this one for Hot Dogs and Texas Tomato Chutney.

So get grilling. Hot dogs for the kids. Tomato chutney for an adult taste. Plenty of buns to go around.

Make this Hot Dogs and Texas Chutney recipe!

•••

Grilling is hot! Each day in May, we’re bringing you a different tasty, creative way to get the most out of your grill all season long. Find all our “31 Days of Great Grilling” to date on Pinterest, or click here.

Love to grill?

Explore all our great grilling recipes!

It’s the rib eye’s marbling that makes it so flavorful. Nope, this is not your lean, mean calorie-counter’s cut, but it’s the one that’s going to give you the ultimate steak fix.

Which also makes the rib eye the ideal cut for the Mexican treatment it gets in this recipe: a rub of fragrant cumin, smoky chipotle and sweet paprika, then a slathering of sweet butter made bright with fresh lime juice and zest. A Mexican meal, after all, is not complete without a wedge of lime for squeezing on just about any dish. Or perched on the rim of an icy salted margarita. A pitcher of cold ones and a fresh green salad are all you need to complement steaks this robust.

Make this Mexican Spice-Rubbed Rib Eyes with Lime Butter!

•••

Grilling is hot! Each day in May, we’re bringing you a different tasty, creative way to get the most out of your grill all season long. Find all our “31 Days of Great Grilling” to date on Pinterest, or click here.

Love to grill?

Explore all our great grilling recipes!

What You’ll Need:
1 sandwich (your choice)
2 kiwi slices
banana

To Make Green-Eyed Kitty:
Using a cup or round cookie-cutter, cut a circle out of the center of the sandwich. Use crust corners for the ears. Put kiwi slices in place for the eyes. Cut a banana slice in half and use the halves for the inner ears. Shape another slice of banana into a nose. Thinly slice crust and put in place for the whiskers.

So simple. So cute.

Go ahead, play with your food! Check out all of Kellie’s kid-friendly creations!

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Ah, it’s grilling season, and while nothing may get our mouths watering like the sizzle of an all-beef patty hitting the grate, probably nothing makes us lose our appetites faster than the phrase “in vitro meat.”

Yep, there’s one upcoming burger bash we’ll likely take a rain check on. Dutch researchers are heading to London in the next few weeks to debut a burger made from test-tube meat. That is, scientists have taken stem cells from a cow, converted them to muscle cells and cultivated them (in petri dishes, we guess) into what The New York Times describes as “tiny strips of tissue, about half an inch long and only a twenty-fifth of an inch in diameter, that look something like a short pink rice noodle.”

Gulp.

It takes about 20,000 of those noodle-y strips to make the equivalent of a biotech Quarter Pounder.

If you don’t think you’re ready to take a gamble on what appears to be something like meatless meat, no worries. Researches say there’s lots of technical hurdles to overcome before the sci-fi stuff is available at a supermarket near you.

Hopefully those years of R&D will give them enough time to think of a new name. “In vitro meat”? Not exactly the sort of thing you want to see on your five-star menu. “Cultured meat” is the other name being tossed around, but while, say, “cultured mussels” sounds ok, “cultured meat” conjures something like pink slime.

Yet despite the gross factor, experts say that being able to somehow produce beef and other meat without having to raise real live animals and slaughter them is a breakthrough worth pursuing. (And by “experts,” we’re not talking about cows.)

As the world population continues to grow and demand for meat rises, the livestock industry is putting tremendous pressure on the earth’s resources and having some nasty environmental consequences. The U.N. estimates that worldwide livestock production accounts for nearly as much global warming pollution as transportation, and millions of acres of rainforest and other natural ecosystems have been destroyed to create pasture in developing countries.

But there’s still a long way to go. How much did it cost to produce the biotech burger that will be served in London? $325,000. (And we bet you don’t get fries and a Coke with that.)

What’s weird, wacky and new in the world of food? Check out the latest food news!