Eating

I'd eat watermelon all Summer even if it wasn't the Cheapest fruit around. Which leaves me with a lot of watermelon rind. Perfect for pickling. Intense, crunchy sweet-sour pickles that elevate the flavor status of all sorts of meats, salads and cocktails.

$1 for a plate of fried zucchini that's enough to start for a table of four. Crispy outside. Soft and warm inside. Not oily. Delicious. Gone in seconds.

Really ripe peaches. So sweet you won't even think about adding sugar. A deeply sweet and wonderfully refreshing Way to end a meal on a hot day. Or to start a hot Summer day. Lick your breakfast.

I thought this would be a great Summer vegetable dish to have with grilled chicken or tuna. Or hot dogs. And it is. But it's so flavorful you can build a meal around it. Have it with a simple salad. Toss it with pasta. Spread it on grilled bread.

Summer squash and tomatoes on a big, crisp pizza crust. Looks beautiful. Tastes even Better. Maybe the best good lookin' pizza ever. For $2. Required kitchen skills: stirring, slicing.

Could be your first course. Or your dessert. It's a cool, refreshing, flavorful way to start or finish a Summer meal. Preparation's a 10-minute job, start to finish. $1 serves 4.

Quick and simple to make. Less than $2 per person. Every bite's a little party in your mouth. Light, fun, interesting, beautiful. Almost fat-free. Want to come back as grilled vegetable sushi in your next life?

This stuff is addictive. And Cheap. Rich and luscious. Deep eggplant and sesame flavors. A little brightness and tang from the lemon and garlic. With pita bread or a warm, soft fresh corn tortilla. Or straight from a spoon.

A big salad posing as a pizza. A huge mound of exceptionally fresh, dark red, flash-baked radicchio on a hot, fresh pizza crust. Delicious. Another example of pizza crust as the perfect platform for almost everything fresh and tasty. Dinner for two for $2.