Over the Memorial Day Holiday I decided to help my Dad with a little grilling, he wanted to do the meat and I decided I would tackle the grilled vegetables. Rather than slather the veggies with BBQ sauce or eat them plain with Olive Oil and Sea Salt (my usual way), I decided to give this recipe a try. It was surprisingly good and didn't take away from that wonderful grilled flavor. Although onions, yellow squash, and zucchini work best for the recipe, I also added a few sliced sweet potatoes (yams) which are available practically year round in my neck of the woods.

I have a growing number of vegetarians in my family, so I'm always on the lookout for interesting entrées. This one appeals to a lot of different palates--for what's not to like about roasted veggies and pasta in a creamy, cheese-laced sauce with fresh basil? This recipe is also cook-friendly, since the lasagne noodles do not require boiling, the whole casserole is easily made in advance, and the recipe is easily doubled for a larger group. With a big Caesar salad and a loaf of crusty artisan bread, this makes a rich and satisfying buffet dinner. For dessert, offer your favorite fruit sorbet and a platter of store-bought biscotti.

My first introduction to Japanese food was eating Teriyaki Chicken. Although I have since moved on to sushi, miso soup, Udon, Soba, and of course Tempura, every now and then I will get a mad craving for Teriyaki. Usually, when I prepare it for my family it consists of sliced chicken breast and a jarred Teriyaki sauce, but this time I wanted to make my own sauce and try it out on a roasted bird. The sauce is simple and quite versatile, try marinading a little skirt steak in it. One thing I did differently was I actually marinated the entire bird in the sauce overnight rather than just basting it to intensify the flavor. Brown crispy skin, tender flavorful meat a nice change of pace for a weeknight meal.

Chilled soups are not on my list of favorite foods. When I think of soup, I think of cool Fall and Winter months and soups that are hearty and nourishing not to mention warm. But there are two chilled soups that I could eat every day during the hot and hazy days of summer: Gazpacho and Avocado soup. I love Avocado's and this soup showcases its flavor so well. It's cool, creamy, incredibly rich and this recipe is so simple to make. You can increase the amount of chicken stock if the consistency is too thick for your taste and I like to garnish it with red onion and crumbled bacon...bacon makes everything better!