Have you ever cooked with radicchio? Until recently I have only had it in salads. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with it, radicchio looks like a small head of red cabbage; you can usually find it in the produce section of your grocery store. It's actually not a cabbage, but a chicory, and it has a just slightly bitter, crisp taste.

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Please welcome Hank Shaw as he takes is through the steps of grilling a whole fish, using sustainably farmed branzino. ~Elise

Branzino. Sounds kinda like a the name of a 1940s prizefighter. If it?s ringing a bell, that?s because this fish is popping up in American supermarkets for the first time. Also known as European seabass, the fish ? now farmed throughout the Mediterranean ? has been a prized item on European menus since the days of ancient Rome. The farmed variety began appearing on American restaurant menus a little less than a decade ago, when the European farming operations ramped up production.

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Have you noticed the brightly colored bell peppers in the market lately? They're glorious. Here's a quick and easy recipe for Italian peperonata, or fried peppers, with onions, fresh plum tomatoes, garlic, and basil. This is one of those "I almost ate the whole batch" dishes, only reluctantly shared with my parents who agreed they were terrific. Peperonata recipes come in many versions; some get cooked a good long time, some get cooked with potatoes, or without tomatoes. This dish is certainly open-for-improvisation. Rather than cooking the peppers until they were stew-like, we opted for a light sauté so there is still some crunch in the vegetables. A perfect side dish for chicken or fish, great on bread, and great on its own too.

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If you have friends growing zucchini, right about now they are probably delighted, bordering on desperate, to give some of it away. Especially problematic are those huge, baseball bat-sized monsters, that appear out of the blue when you've neglected to check the garden for a few days. This soup is made for such occasions. It uses lots of zucchini, it cooks up quickly, perfect for a midweek meal, and it keeps for at least a week in the fridge. I like it just as well chilled as hot.

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Mmm, mmm okra! Yes, some people shy away from this odd little vegetable, usually because depending on the preparation it can be a little slippery slimy. Personally I love okra, any which way, including slimified. Alas, not everyone shares my affection (it's a texture thing), but the good news is that okra can be a perfectly un-slippery vegetable if it is sautéed quickly, on high heat. That way you get all the benefits of the crunch and flavor, but without the slurp. This recipe is one such preparation. The pairing of okra and tomatoes is classic. In this recipe, inspired by one in Donald Link's Real Cajun, sliced okra is seared first on high heat, before being simmered together with tomatoes, onions, and garlic.

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Recently I had the privilege of dining with one of my favorite food bloggers, Carol Blymire, who after cooking her way through the French Laundry cookbook and blogging about it, is tackling an even more absurdly complicated project with her blog Alinea at Home. Hank, his girlfriend Holly and I met up with Carol at Bouchon Bistro in Yountville, north of Napa. One of my favorite dishes of the evening was a simple side in which corn kernels had been slowly cooked in butter and Pernod and tossed with fresh tarragon. This is my attempt to recreate the dish and I think we've come pretty close. With all the fresh tarragon growing in my garden I've been on the lookout for recipes that would use it well. Who knew corn and tarragon were such a perfect match? The tarragon just seems to make the corn taste more exquisitely sweet, without being overbearing.

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In spite of the oddly cool weather here in Sacramento, my tomatoes are growing swell. And there is nothing better to do with fresh home grown tomatoes on a summer day than have them in a cool, colorful salad. While most summer tomato salads rely on basil, this one uses fresh parsley and dried oregano, along with onions and avocados. It comes from my friend Michelle (we've known each other since age 13) and is one her favorite salads to bring to summer potlucks and family gatherings. Michelle comes from a large extended Italian American family that truly loves food. It's like a traditional Italian tomato salad, but with avocados instead of mozzarella.

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