When it's super-hot outside, who wants to cook? In the heat of summer, dinner prep should be low-maintenance. Appetites are limp in high temperatures, and fresh salads filled with juicy ingredients are cool and nourishing. For a whole meal, salads can reach beyond the garden while remaining light and fresh. The addition of legumes and grains provides substance, less the weight of heavy meat proteins. Tabbouleh salad is a perfect answer to this tall hot-weather order.

Tabbouleh is a Middle Eastern salad consisting of nutty bulgur wheat and gads of fresh chopped herbs and chopped garden vegetables. Bulgur is a nutritious, cracked whole-wheat cereal grain that is minimally processed, and a good source of protein, B vitamins, magnesium and iron. It’s available as a fine, medium or coarse grain.

While traditional tabbouleh often uses fine-grain bulgur, I prefer medium-grain with its toothsome satisfying texture. The salad is bound together by olive oil and generous squirts of bright citrus juice, and infused with the flavor of an unabashed amount of spices.

This salad is delicious as is, or spooned into pita pockets and garnished with additional feta, fresh mint and a squirt of harissa or hot sauce. Either way, it’s guaranteed to wake your taste buds from their summer siesta reverie.

Greek Tabbouleh Salad

Active Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes plus chilling time

Yield: Serves 4 to 6

1 1/2 cups bulgur

1 1/4 cups boiling water

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne, or more to taste

3 scallions, white and green parts thinly sliced

1 to 2 garlic cloves, minced

1 red bell pepper, stemmed and seeded, diced

1 poblano pepper, stemmed and seeded, finely diced

1 cup cooked or canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

1/2 cup chopped fresh mint

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/3 cup crumbled feta

Combine the bulgur, water, and lemon juice in a bowl. Cover the bowl and let stand until the liquid is absorbed and the bulgur is tender, about 20 minutes.

Fluff the bulgur with a fork, and add the oil, cumin, salt, black pepper and cayenne and stir to blend. Add the remaining ingredients, stir to combine and taste for seasoning. If the bulgur is too dry, add additional olive oil, 1 tablespoon at a time, to achieve your desired consistency. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to allow the flavors to develop. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

CAPTIONS AND CREDITS

It’s Nacho Night at our house. Yes, I confess. Foodie I may be, parent I certainly am, and health-minded ... almost without fail. But there is always a time and place for nachos. We can all do with a little cheesy nacho goodness from time to time to balance out a healthy diet, to dig into with our hands, and to wash down with an ice-cold drink. And as a heaping platter of chips goes, this one is relatively, um, light. Is it possible to call nachos healthy? Where there is a will, there is a way.

This recipe for fun food isn't as decadent as you might think. On the nacho scale of goop and weight, it scores relatively high on lightness and freshness. Sure, it’s layered with the requisite melty cheese (as any bona fide nacho plate should be). Otherwise, it is not bogged down with mounds of meat, cream and beans, rendering its nest of chips soggy and heavy. Instead, there’s a generous helping of plump, garlicky shrimp and a colorful smattering of chopped fresh vegetables and herbs, such as tomato, onion, avocado and cilantro, layered throughout the chips in the spirit of a deconstructed salsa.

The point is that these nachos are tasty finger food, inviting interactive, family-style dining. And we can also all do with a little fun and togetherness when it comes to sharing our food and eating. These nachos score top points for that.

Shrimp Nachos

Active Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: Serves 6

Shrimp:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 small garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon ground cumin, divided

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 pound medium (21/25) shrimp, shelled and deveined

Salsa:

1 large ripe, but not mushy, avocado, diced

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

8 to 10 ounces salted tortilla chips

4 cups grated sharp Cheddar and/or Monterey Jack cheese

3 scallions, white and green parts separated, thinly sliced

2 jalapeno peppers, stemmed and seeded, finely chopped

1 small red onion, finely chopped, about 1/2 cup

1 large vine-ripened tomato, cored and seeded, diced

1/2 cup cilantro leaves

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, 1/2 teaspoon cumin and red pepper flakes, and stir until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add the shrimp in one layer and cook until pink and just cooked through, turning once, 2 to 3 minutes. (It's OK if the shrimp are a little under-done. They will continue to cook in the oven.) Transfer the shrimp to a plate lined with a paper towel.

Combine the avocado, lime juice, remaining cumin, salt and pepper in a small bowl and gently stir to coat.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spread half of the tortilla chips in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish or sheet pan. Sprinkle 1 1/2 cups cheese, half of the white scallions, half of the jalapenos and half of the red onion over the chips. Spread the remaining chips over the top and sprinkle 1 1/2 cups cheese over the chips. Scatter the remaining white scallions, jalapenos and red onion over the top. Bake in the oven until the cheese is melted and the nachos are hot, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and turn on the broiler.

Arrange the shrimp over the cheese. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup cheese over the shrimp. Transfer to the oven and broil until the cheese melts, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and scatter avocado, tomatoes, green scallions and cilantro evenly over the top. Serve immediately.

CAPTIONS AND CREDITS

I discovered this fresh and light-handed salad years ago when I lived in Denmark. Most likely it was at one of our frequent family gatherings, seated outdoors at a long wooden picnic table in the shadow of a thatched roof farmhouse with the summer sun hanging, as if caught on the hook of the horizon, refusing to sink as the evening set in. It was certainly summer, because that's when new potatoes are at their peak in Denmark, and considered not only a staple but a delicacy to be greedily devoured.

I was smitten by the salad's restraint, simply tossed with oil and vinegar, and generously layered with freshly snipped flowering sprigs and herbs from the garden. As an American, my experience with potato salads to that point had been the heavy-handed mayo and egg sort -- tasty for sure, but more of a cloak to disguise the mild-mannered potato. I would prod a fork through those murky salads swathed in cream, sugar and oil in an attempt to fish out any intact morsel of potato, which by then had no flavor except that of the coating with which it was blanketed.

The Danish potato salad was delightfully different, and appropriately Scandinavian in its understatement and use of fresh ingredients, celebrating the humble potato with a confetti of garden herbs. Most important: I could taste the potato. And when the season's newest potatoes are available, delicately sweet and faintly redolent of butter, there is nothing as sublime as that flavor.

I chose blue potatoes for this salad, since I love their unusual color and how they contrast with the flowering yellow mustard greens I found at the farmers market. You can also use yellow or red new or small potatoes. The combination of herbs is up to your taste and whatever might be growing in your garden or stashed in your fridge. If you can find flowering mustard, add it to the mix or use it as a garnish, since it adds a nice peppery bite and vibrant color to the salad.

Danish Potato Salad With Garden Herbs

Active Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes plus cooling time

Yield: Serves 6

3 pounds new potatoes or small potatoes (red, white or blue), washed

Salt

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 cups fresh herbs, such as parsley, mint, dill, chervil, chives or tarragon, coarsely chopped

Flowering mustard sprigs for garnish

Place the potatoes in a large pot. Cover with cold water and add 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Partially cover the pot and cook until the potatoes are fork-tender, but not mushy, 10 to 15 minutes depending on the potatoes. Drain the potatoes and let stand for 5 minutes to cool slightly.

Cut the potatoes in half or into large bite-size pieces. Add the potatoes, oil, vinegar, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and the black pepper to a large bowl and stir to thoroughly combine. Cool to room temperature.

Before serving, taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if desired. Add the fresh herbs and stir to blend. If the salad is too dry, add additional olive oil. Serve at room temperature.

CAPTIONS AND CREDITS