When I was a kid, one of my favorite summer meals started by heading into the garden with my grandmother to pick tomatoes straight off the vine and still warm from the sun for her famous (and famously simple) tomato sandwiches. I was partial to the sweet, golden cherries, but the juicy, red heirlooms were the best for our purposes -- all we needed was one thick slice on a piece of toasted whole-grain bread, spread with mayonnaise (homemade, or a great vegan substitute like Vegenaise) and a sprinkle of fresh sea salt. We ate them open-faced, the juices spilling down our cheeks, relishing that heavenly tomato taste that's impossible to duplicate.

To this day, I don't care how many muggy, humid, swelteringly hot days I wade through; it's not quite summer until my grandmother and I are again mopping sweet-tart tomato juice off our faces.

I haven't had a chance to get down to see the garden yet this year and have been pining away for those tomato sandwiches, so imagine my surprise when, this week, I received a special delivery. My grandmother had decided to send her garden to me, and so I found myself the very happy owner of a small potted herb garden and a planted tomato stalk.

They have found a very happy home in the sunniest corner of my New York City apartment, and I am taking great pains to water them (but not too much), talk to them (but not like a crazy lady) and, most importantly, to liberally incorporate their beautiful products into my cooking. I've made basil lemonade, sage-butter ravioli, rosemary-infused quinoa, thyme-marinated olives and ricotta, dates stuffed with mint and feta ... and, of course, beautiful summer salads, anointed with fresh-picked cherry tomatoes.

Having these fresh herbs around me has actually made me a more innovative and experimental cook. For example, rather than gobble my dates as they were -- being a huge date fan, they probably would still have been very much appreciated -- I had the smell of fresh mint wafting toward me from the corner of my living room and couldn't help but feel the inventor's calling to create. (Ha, well, something like that.) So I plucked a few fresh sprigs of mint, shredded the leaves over a small amount of mashed feta, drizzled the combination with honey and stuffed my dates full. It was one of the more decadent snacks I've enjoyed in a while (not to mention so easy to make and decently healthy), so much so that I made them again to serve my husband for dessert and ended up devouring that second batch before he got home. Poor husband, he'll never know.

But truly, being a proud guardian to this tiniest of urban gardens got me thinking about all the ways that having fresh food on hand changes the way that we eat. Even after a run to the farmer's market or grocery store, when my refrigerator is brimming with fresh ingredients, I am inspired to cook better, more healthful and more delicious foods than I am when confronted with a bland cupboard of pantry staples. But nothing really inspires simple culinary experimentation like fresh-picked items you know will perish in a few days time.

Perhaps it's the urgency to seize and relish that fleeting moment of purest deliciousness that gives these foods their muse quality. Moreover, these fresh-from-the-earth finds are generally so fragrant and flavored on their own that they barely need fixing, and even a kitchen beginner cannot undo what Mother Nature has already given.

A simple kale salad massaged with olive oil, lemon juice and salt; a vegetarian chili simmered with fresh tomatoes, peppers, carrots, celery and beans. Or a peach sprinkled with cinnamon and placed under the broiler for a few minutes. These are tastes of summer we can all enjoy. Put a few planters on your kitchen counter and get inspired!

To find out more about Daphne Oz and read features by other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.