Easy summer dishes

Leave more time for fun with recipes that are a breeze to make

This easy recipe harnesses the electric flavors of tajín, the beloved chile-lime spice, and uses them to bring chicken to life. You can serve this as is or sandwiched on a bun. Armando Rafael/The New York Times

Julia Gartland/The New York Times

Cannellini beans step in for the traditional chickpeas in this hummus, which comes together in the food processor and is ready in mere minutes. David Malosh/The New York Times

More fun, less drudgery. That’s my goal for the summer — and specifically for my summer cooking.

In my dreams, I’m whisking together a vinaigrette in a seaside cottage with a big breezy kitchen and a farm stand down the road. While that’s not the reality for most of us — myself included — you can still welcome that relaxed sensibility in the recipes you cook and how you cook them.

We’ve rounded up some of our most delightful summer recipes that will excite, not exhaust, you.

Since summer can look a lot like the rest of the year, with more sweat and sunblock, all are the kinds of dishes you can throw together on a busy weeknight when the kids are worn out from day camp and the traffic was hellish.