Dips, chips and chicken wings at the ready, set… go!

Granita, semifreddo and parfait are all machine-free – or just buy in some ice-cream and upcycle it into affogato, sundaes or even homemade choc ices

If you find yourself with too many strawberries, try them in a sorbet, or a frangipane, roast them on a barbecue or pair underripe ones with cheese or in a pickle jar

You can keep it as simple as you like or go the extra mile and serve a range of courses

Our panel says lots of dressings are light on oil: honey or yoghurt give texture, nuts the creaminess, or go for a south-east Asian nam pla and lime dressing

New ideas for summer coolers

While your noodles are cooking, mix up a yakisoba, mentsuyu or goma-style dressing, then drain, toss and serve

Freeze raw pastry odds and ends for emergency patching, creating cheesy snacks or making all sorts of pop-in-the-mouth treats

Sunshine and outdoor cooking are the perfect combination, but you don’t need a fancy grill to serve up a feast. Our experts reveal how to keep it simple

Marinate it first, then steam, grill or fry it any way you like, our panel says

A slaw doesn’t have to be a cabbage and carrot number; it can be adapted to suit just about every cuisine

Our panel of culinary experts offers advice on seasonal quiches and tarts with an edge

Char it, grill it, even soupify it – our panel of cooks lets us in on secret ways to enjoy lettuce

What are the best meat- and dairy-free tortilla fillers?

Soups and stews are what the rice-shaped pasta was made for, but it also works in salads and even some sweet dishes

Celebrate spring veg and rustle up irresistible Thai salads by mastering the four key flavour profiles of the country’s cuisine

Gochujang is sweet, spicy, fruity, savoury, umami and you can eat it as it is, in dips or on toast. Our panel pick a variety of ways to enjoy it

Fried, roast and boiled are all well and good, but to make your spuds the stars of the show, spice them up, stick them on the barbecue or drown them in cream

Our panel separates the soups and stews from the salads and dips, and unearths plenty of beany substitutes, from pearl barley to pasta

With Ramadan now upon us and Lent well under way – and with fasting generally often used as a tool for better health – we ask our panel how to optimise nutrition to fit around those lean periods