If you get bored with burritos before you run through your flour tortillas, turn to quesadillas, or any of these ideas:

Pinwheels are a popular party prep in which fillings are layered on flour tortillas, which are then rolled up tightly and sliced crosswise, exposing a “pinwheel” of ingredients. Filling options are almost endless, but a combo of seasoned cream cheese with meat and/or fresh vegetables is a common theme. Flour tortillas are also perfect for wraps of all kinds—similar in concept and execution to burritos, but with fillings of any kind (laurendlewis likes these Thai chicken wraps).

They can also be used in Southwestern and Tex-Mex casseroles, like stacked enchiladas. Emme makes a tortilla breakfast strata by building layers in a baking dish: tortillas; browned sausage and onions, shredded cheese, and chiles; tortillas; sliced tomatoes. Whisk together eggs, milk, cream, salt, pepper, and cumin, pour over all, top with more cheese, and let it all soak for a while. Bake at 350°F for 50 to 60 minutes, until puffy.

If you really want to experience flour tortilla nirvana, Becca Porter recommends making these puffed, chewy Texas-style tortillas and eating them warm with nothing but butter.

Flour tortillas can make tasty sweet snacks, too. Spread a hot flour tortilla with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Or try Mexican s’mores, a camping treat (or just a backyard treat): Spread peanut butter on a small flour tortilla, and sprinkle it with chocolate chips and miniature marshmallows. Roll the tortilla up and wrap in foil, twisting the open ends tightly. Cook on a grill grate over your campfire for about 5 minutes, turning once. Unwrap and indulge.

Board Link: Flour Tortillas

There’s only so much you can do to make brownies more healthful without robbing them of their essential brownieness. Here are two opposite approaches: One uses cake mix and replaces the fat with alternate ingredients, the other uses all the normal decadent ingredients but sneaks in some whole-wheatiness.

ChocoHound made brownie muffins, which consist of devil’s food cake mix and canned pumpkin, and says they’re nice and chewy, and more subtly chocolaty than most brownies.

geminigirl has made low-fat brownies by puréeing a can of black beans with their juices and combining them with a boxed brownie mix; she says the brownies come out well, with no bean flavor.

Babette makes her “healthier” chocolate chip–dried cherry brownies from scratch, using the best-quality butter, chocolate, and cherries she can (she prefers Plugrá, Scharffen Berger, and Purcell Mountain Farms, respectively); whole-wheat pastry flour; and opting for organic ingredients.

Here’s her recipe:

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups brown sugar
4 large eggs

1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cups dried cherries

1/4 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the flour, salt, and vanilla. Add chocolate chips and cherries. Pour into a buttered 9-inch square pan. Bake for 35 minutes. Do not overbake. Brownies should be very moist. Cool in the pan. Dust the cooled brownies with powdered sugar, and cut into squares.

Board Links: Brownie Muffins!

Adding 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of water per pound of ground beef makes burgers cook up extra tender, and even a little juicier. Ninety percent lean sirloin, for example, has great beefy flavor but so little fat that it dries out during cooking; just add water for a delicious, juicy burger. Adding liquid will even keep well-done burgers tender and moist—now that’s magic!

Board Links: The Niki Rothman Method

In the Midwest, it’s standard procedure to cook bratwurst in a bath of beer and onions, then grill the brats over charcoal and serve on a bun with mustard and sauerkraut. kolgrim has improved the whole deal by spicing up the ’kraut and cooking the brats in it, creating a terrific commingling of flavors. The brats will be amazing, and so will the ’kraut, he promises.

Halve and slice thinly 1 1/2 onions, and caramelize them in 4 tablespoons butter in a cast iron pan. When they are nicely browned, add 1/2 to 1 tablespoon each yellow and brown mustard seeds and caraway seeds. When the mustard seeds start to pop, add a bay leaf or two, 5 to 10 whole allspice, and black pepper to taste. Drain a bag of refrigerated sauerkraut and add it to the onions and spices, along with a bottle of dark beer. Make a bath of two bottles of dark beer, half an onion thinly sliced, and 4 tablespoons butter. Bring the bath to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer the bratwurst until it’s cooked through. Grill the brats 3 to 5 minutes per side over hot coals; at the same time, put the sauerkraut mixture on the cooler side of the grill and add the beer bath to it. When the brats are done grilling, put them in the pan with the ’kraut and beer for 30 minutes to an hour. It will be at its best when most of the liquid is cooked away.

Board Links: Bratwurst?

Avocados don’t often meet heat in the kitchen. They’re usually used raw—whether mashed in guacamole or sliced or diced for sandwiches or salads—appreciated for their creamy, unctuous texture. But throw them over the coals on your grill, and that texture takes on a whole new character, says lebelage: Grill slabs of nice, ripe avocado rubbed with oil for a few minutes, and they crisp up on the outside and become molten on the inside—a contrast similar to seared foie gras. Grilling avocados brings out a nutty flavor you don’t get when they’re raw, notes kittychow.

Old Spice grills skewers of avocado, cherry tomatoes, and chicken marinated in a cumin-lime vinaigrette, passing more vinaigrette at the table for drizzling. He also makes a salsa of grilled chunks of avocado and pineapple mixed with minced jalapeño, a bit of olive or grapeseed oil, and lime juice and zest, which is wonderful with grilled scallops or fish.

mpd grills avocado halves and fills them with tomato salsa as a first course.

Board Links: grilled avocado–anyone try it?

Conventional wisdom says that the prized sweetness of Vidalia onions is wasted in cooking, and that they should be enjoyed raw. Chowhounds disagree, loving Vidalias both uncooked and cooked in preparations that are often designed to play up their sweetness.

Make a salad of sliced Vidalias, tomatoes, cucumbers, and some bell pepper if you like, dressed with vinegar, olive oil, and dill. Served very cold, it’s great on a hot afternoon. Similarly refreshing is a salad made from 1 Vidalia onion, quartered and sliced, 1/4 of a small watermelon cut in chunks, 1/2 cup raspberry vinegar, and sugar to taste, tossed together and chilled.

Grilling and roasting are favorite ways to cook Vidalias. steakman55 simply slices one crosswise into four slices, threads a couple of skewers through them, brushes them with olive oil and adds whatever spices strike his fancy, and grills.

itsrob removes the center core of the onion, leaving the bottom intact, and puts a knob of butter and some brown sugar inside, then wraps the onion in foil and throws it on the grill (or in a hot oven) for 20 to 25 minutes. The butter and sugar soak through the onion, making the whole thing supersweet. For a savory version, use a beef bouillon cube instead of sugar, suggests LaLa.

Ellen makes foil packets of thickly sliced Vidalias, dotting them with butter and coating with teriyaki sauce, or with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and grills the packets, turning frequently, until the onions are well browned. She also likes to roast thick-sliced Vidalias, tomatoes, and whole garlic cloves tossed with olive oil, sea salt, and pepper at 425°F until caramelized, saying this combo is heavenly alone, over pasta, or on good bread.

Board Links: Fave recipes with vidalia onions

If you come upon a load of good jalapeños, here are some ways to preserve and enhance them.

holy chow makes quick refrigerator pickles: In a skillet, heat slightly crushed garlic cloves in enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Add whole chiles and cook for a few minutes. Add a cup or so of vinegar, a pinch of sugar, and some fresh oregano and thyme. Continue to cook for 5 minutes at medium heat, then allow to cool somewhat. Pack in a canning jar, adding enough water to fill the jar to the top, and refrigerate once the pickles have cooled to room temperature. They’ll keep for about a month.

pinotnoir makes jalapeño “candy”:

1 1/4 cups fresh jalapeños, sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

Combine jalapeño slices, sugar, and water in small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, until jalapeños are cooked and liquid has boiled down to a thick syrup. Place in a clean jar and refrigerate.

Of course, you can also freeze jalapeños for later use. Some people char them and remove the skin and seeds before freezing, but you can also freeze them “as is,” giving you greater flexibility later on (the skins are easy to remove from the thawed peppers, says C. Hamster).

Board Links: preserving some Jalapenos

oolah loves pignoli cookies from Italian bakeries—almond macaroons rolled in pine nuts—and craved a gelato to match their flavor. When she couldn’t find a recipe, she came up with her own, which she says tastes like a less sweet pignoli cookie (but is extra special when served with pignoli cookies!):

3/4 cup pine nuts
3/4 cup sugar, divided
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon almond extract
5 egg yolks

Put pine nuts in a pie pan and roast them at 350°F until fragrant; cool. Put roasted pine nuts and 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor and process until you get a paste with a texture similar to peanut butter. Combine this with whole milk in a saucepan. Add almond extract. Bring to a boil and then immediately remove from heat. While the milk is heating, whisk egg yolks with remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Once milk mixture boils, slowly whisk it into the egg mixture. Pour back into saucepan and heat over low heat, stirring constantly (do not allow to boil). Remove from heat once custard is thick enough to coat a spoon, about 10 minutes. Chill for at least 3 hours. Process in your ice cream maker, and freeze overnight before serving.

Board Links: Pignoli (pine nut) ice cream or gelato

Banh chuoi is a Vietnamese cake literally full of bananas—and they provide all of its sweetness. It’s so simple, yet so amazing, marvels Candy. It’s a dense cake that would be great with a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream.

1 1/2 pounds very ripe bananas
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter an 8-inch round cake pan and line with parchment paper. Choose the firmest of your bananas, and set aside half for the top of the cake. Cut the remainder in 1/8-inch slices and place in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine the egg, milk, melted butter, and flour. Gently mix this batter into the sliced bananas and pour into the prepared pan. Slice the remaining bananas 1/16-inch thick, arrange the slices decoratively over the top of the cake batter, and sprinkle with the sugar. Bake 1 1/2 hours, until golden. The cake will puff up in the oven, and fall as it cools.

Board Links: Too Many Overripe Bananas?

Chowhounds have found at least four ways to cook crispy bacon that keeps splattering fat off their stovetops.

Oven: Some use a rack over a rimmed sheet pan, some don’t bother; some turn the bacon, some don’t bother. All agree that your bacon strips will stay nice and flat in the oven. Takes about 20 minutes to crisp up at 350°F.

Broiler: nicoleberry83 flips the bacon when it begins to curl up a little. The broiler’s fast, and all the fat drains away in the broiler pan.

Microwave: Line a plate with several paper towels, a single layer of bacon, and a few more paper towels. Cook at high power 4 to 6 minutes, depending on the amount of bacon, your microwave, and your taste. The paper towels soak up a ton of grease.

Grill: Veggo swears by bacon on the grill, saying it gives extra flavor, fat drains away without causing flareups, and the bacon even stays flat.

Board Links: Alternatives to pan frying bacon