lsanderson | Summertime! and it's Food Wednesday at the NY Times...

The Minimalist
Summer Express: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less
By MARK BITTMAN

The pleasures of cooking are sometimes obscured by summer haze and heat, which can cause many of us to turn instead to bad restaurants and worse takeout. But the cook with a little bit of experience has a wealth of quick and easy alternatives at hand. The trouble is that when it’s too hot, even the most resourceful cook has a hard time remembering all the options. So here are 101 substantial main courses, all of which get you in and out of the kitchen in 10 minutes or less. (I’m not counting the time it takes to bring water to a boil, but you can stay out of the kitchen for that.) These suggestions are not formal recipes; rather, they provide a general outline. With a little imagination and some swift moves — and maybe a salad and a loaf of bread — you can turn any dish on this list into a meal that not only will be better than takeout, but won’t heat you out of the house.

1 Make six-minute eggs: simmer gently, run under cold water until cool, then peel. Serve over steamed asparagus.

2 Toss a cup of chopped mixed herbs with a few tablespoons of olive oil in a hot pan. Serve over angel-hair pasta, diluting the sauce if necessary with pasta cooking water.

3 Cut eight sea scallops into four horizontal slices each. Arrange on plates. Sprinkle with lime juice, salt and crushed chilies; serve after five minutes.

4 Open a can of white beans and combine with olive oil, salt, small or chopped shrimp, minced garlic and thyme leaves in a pan. Cook, stirring, until the shrimp are done; garnish with more olive oil.

5 Put three pounds of washed mussels in a pot with half a cup of white wine, garlic cloves, basil leaves and chopped tomatoes. Steam until mussels open. Serve with bread.

6 Heat a quarter-inch of olive oil in a skillet. Dredge flounder or sole fillets in flour and fry until crisp, about two minutes a side. Serve on sliced bread with tartar sauce. More

Far From the Big Cities, and Not Missing Them
By JOE DRAPE

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

COLBY GARRELTS never doubted that his hometown would appreciate his skill in the kitchen. He had climbed from busboy and steakhouse line cook to sous-chef at one of this city’s most adventurous restaurants. Then he wandered the culinary horizon, but he always intended to return home.

He went to Chicago and into the kitchen of Tru, one of the Midwest’s most acclaimed restaurants, and to Las Vegas and Jean Joho’s Eiffel Tower restaurant in the Paris Hotel. He worked in Santa Monica under Hans Röckenwagner.

When Mr. Garrelts, 33, returned here in 2003, he had married Megan Schultz, who was a talented pastry chef with an equally accomplished résumé. They had a dream: to own a home, raise children and open a restaurant every bit as daring and recognized as the places where they had learned.

Here, in a short time, the Garreltses have started or realized all three tasks. Their first child, Madilyn, was born on June 24 and has a nursery in the family’s three-bedroom home in Brookside, one of the city’s oldest and most desirable neighborhoods. Their restaurant, Bluestem, has a large following devoted to its prix fixe menu that can run from 3 to 12 courses. More

Recipe: Torchio Pasta With Oyster Mushrooms, Braised Chicken and San Marzano Tomatoes

Chocolate With Attitude (from Food Stuff)

Rough-hewn bars of Belgian chocolate studded with nuts, spices and dried fruit have arrived from Massachusetts. Berkshire Bark is the creation of Kevin Schmitz and David Renner, who own the Marketplace in Great Barrington, and Jerome Bertuglia. Shown, top to bottom: Midnight Harvest puts almonds, hazelnuts, orange zest and cranberries in dark chocolate; White Lightning, with cashews, ginger and lemon, has exotic allure; Tropical Heat embeds macadamia nuts, dried fruit and chilies in dark chocolate; and Mocha Buzz uses milk chocolate as a base for almonds, cocoa nibs, crushed coffee beans and caramel. The 2.8-ounce bars are $3.95 to $5.95 at Westerly Natural Market and Food Emporiums in Manhattan, Foragers Market and Blue Apron in Brooklyn, at stores listed at www.berkshirebark.com and at www.igourmet.com. More

Cherries’ Garish Glory Revived
By MELISSA CLARK

MARASCHINO cherries? Why bother?”

This was not the response I was looking for when I mentioned to a friend that I was going to undertake a homemade version.

“What would you use them in besides Shirley Temples, anyway?” she added, wrinkling her nose.

Though she forgot about manhattans and Rob Roys, she had a point. Homemade maraschino cherries are not the most practical of recipes. Then again, I’m not always the most practical of cooks. More

Recipe: Spiced Brandied Cherries
Maraschino Cherries