I have a number of posts in mind—a great new muffin recipe, some more anti-fad-diet rants—but for today here are some ideas for you to ponder as you head into the rest of the summer with all of its get-togethers. I’m sure there are cookouts and weddings yet to come, family visits and maybe even block parties. (Jim and I are pondering that last one.) There’s always the temptation to simply check off boxes for the menu. We have potato Salad from Costco—check. We have fried chicken from King Soopers—check. We have a cake from King Soopers or Costco–check. We have one of those big tubs of astoundingly cheap ice cream from, again, King Soopers or Costco—check. We have Oreos—check. We have chips—check. Okay. We’re all set.

Now just to be clear, I’m not trying to be personally nasty and critical. (Some would say that I don’t have to try to be that way.) My point is a little more nuanced: that we often just do what we’ve always done without thinking too much about it. Let me tell you what got me started on this particular rant: a video from Sally’s Baking Addiction about how to make tiramisu. I’m not particularly interested in making that item myself, since so many in my family don’t like coffee (and it has raw eggs in it), but I always enjoy watching Sally.

The thought struck me as I watched that there were certainly shortcut recipes out there and also low-fat ones. Sure enough, you can use Cool Whip, regular cream cheese and instant vanilla pudding mix instead of mascarpone cream cheese, egg-yolk custard and whipped egg whites, with vanilla wafers instead of ladyfingers. That particular recipe (to which I am not linking) does at least call for brewed coffee, but there are other versions out there that call for instant. Or, if you think that somehow you can produce a version of this ultrarich dessert that’s not ultrarich, you can use fat-free cream cheese and whipped topping, nonfat egg substitute, artificial sugar substitute, and fat-free pound cake chunks. You throw all of this together and tell people, “This is a low-fat version of tiramisu,” and they eat it and think, “Huh. I don’t know what all the fuss is about. This is pretty awful.” But they also think, “It’s low fat, so I guess I can have a second helping.” Remember what I keep saying: “If food is unsatisfying, you eat more of it, not less.” And no one’s saying you have to splurge on the pricey ingredients in the real thing, especially the mascarpone. Instead, just don’t make it at all if you’re not going to make it correctly. Serve something else. Serve a nice fruit salad with a lightly-sweetened yogurt-lime dip.

So let’s go back to the store-bought menu I listed at the beginning of this post. What would be a reasonable one that would include more homemade items but wouldn’t break the cook’s back or budget? Well, frankly, I’d keep the King Soopers fried chicken. It is totally great. And that Costco potato salad made with the red potatoes isn’t too bad, so if you just can’t stand the thought of scrubbing, cutting up and boiling a lot of potatoes you can certainly serve that if you want. But . . . everyone does that. People go through the line and think, “There’s that potato salad again.” Maybe you could make something a little different that wouldn’t take all that much more effort and time. How about a black bean/corn/vegetable salad? You use canned beans, frozen corn, and as many chopped vegetable add-ins as you have the patience for. I use red onion, a variety of peppers (including poblanos, which are only mildly spicy), and, if I’m feeling really fancy, some diced avocado thrown in at the last minute. I make an extremely simple dressing of 3 parts olive oil to 2 parts lemon juice with good old McCormick’s taco seasoning, and tiny bit of sugar, and an even tinier bit of gelatin to thicken it. (So for a big batch, say 1 cup olive oil, 2/3 cup lemon juice, 1-2 tablespoons taco seasoning, a teaspoon of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon gelatin. Use a stick or regular blender and process on high until emulsified, then taste. You may want a little more sugar, but you don’t need much.) Some chopped cilantro is nice, too, but not required. People love this stuff, and it’s such a nice change from the usual!

You could keep the chips, but it would be better to nix them and serve something different. You could buy some breadsticks or rolls, or you could make my astoundingly easy homemade breadsticks. You could make a big green salad, maybe the classic strawberry-spinach-almond one that’s so easy and so good, with its quick dressing of 4 parts mayo to 2 parts milk to 1 part sugar and vinegar. (So 1 cup mayo, ½ cup milk, and ¼ cup sugar and vinegar. The original recipe calls for equal amounts milk and sugar, but that’s awfully sweet. You could tweak the sugar to your taste, though. The original recipe also calls for poppy seeds, and if you have some on hand you can certainly throw in a couple of tablespoons. I don’t see much point, though, as they’re more for looks than anything else and very expensive. So don’t think you have to run out and buy some.) You could buy the big bin of pre-washed baby spinach and another one of strawberries (both at Costco), slice up the strawberries and a red onion, and throw in some sliced or slivered almonds that you already have on hand in your freezer. Toss the salad and get it on the table, and watch people go crazy.

For dessert you’d have the aforementioned fruit salad and yogurt dip, and if you really thought there needed to be something more indulgent you could make or buy some cookies. People will probably take only a couple if the cookies are served alongside the fruit salad. They won’t be standing around scarfing down the same old stuff! Everyone will go home happy! Score!

So there it is. Resist the urge to serve the same old thing, but don’t drive yourself crazy in the process. What do you have coming up for the rest of the summer where you could use some of these (or your own) slightly-more-original food ideas?

Make the Effort to Serve Real Food