I love a Caprese salad of tomatoes, basil and cheese, so why not use them with chicken? You can grill this dish, but my family agrees it’s juicier straight from the oven. —Dana Johnson, Scottsdale, Arizona
Haricots verts are thin, tender green beans. If you can't find them, use trimmed regular green beans, but add them to the pasta after 8 minutes of cooking since they'll take longer to cook. You can make the salad ahead, but dress it just before serving so the beans don't turn drab.
Look for caper berries near the olives in the supermarket; they should be next to the capers, but they're much bigger and have a stem. In a pinch, substitute about a tablespoon of chopped capers. Japanese eggplants have thinner skins than typical globe eggplants, so you can leave the peel on. The light purple color is pretty, too.
Yellow-red Mr. Stripey tomatoes give this ice a light hue. Use red or purple tomatoes if you want a darker granita, if you prefer. Mixing purple basil with deep-green Italian basil yields a nuanced flavor and a lovely garnish.
