Recipes! Tim Walz’s Tater Tot Hotdish, Chickpea Salad With Sumac Onions, beer cocktails and more

What to cook during the week ahead, from Post Food editors.

As recipe developers and publishers, it's never our intent to get a rise out of readers. But, as with anything on the internet, people can muster creative, diverse reasons for finding fault with most recipes, including ours.

Certain dishes, though, are more triggering than others. Hotdish is one of them.

This Midwest specialty received some high-profile attention once Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz joined the Democratic presidential ticket as Vice President Kamala Harris's running mate. As my colleague Tim Carman explained, hotdish, broadly speaking, is a casserole with a protein, starch and sauce, and possibly some vegetables. Often, the crowning glory is a layer of golden Tater Tots. It's filling, hearty and guaranteed to get people up in arms whenever we feature one.

I'm used to the reaction at this point, given my experience with Molly Yeh's Chicken Pot Tot Hotdish, which is also in our archives (so, too, is her meatless Veggie Supreme White Bean Hotdish). There's something about these semi-homemade, rib-sticking, no-frills Midwestern dishes that raises the hackles — see also Strawberry Pretzel Salad.

Mostly I'm tempted to take the high road and leave it at "Don't yuck on someone's yum." But because I like an underdog, allow me to highly recommend Tim Walz's Tater Tot Hotdish. It is, in many ways, a chicken pot pie with a Tater Tot topping. Walz's recipe builds everything else from scratch, relying heavily on fancy-sounding but approachable French culinary techniques, including making a roux, béchamel and Mornay (cheese) sauce, if not in so many words. Nutrition- and time-wise, this is not an everyday meal, and it's unquestionably a dish to share with a crowd. All of us who tried it gave it top marks.

Thankfully, we shared other lighter recipes this week to balance things out. Aaron Hutcherson's Kale Salad With Lime-Hot Sauce Vinaigrette is a reminder that eating your greens can be fun and unexpected. Raspberries and goat cheese help tame the punch of the spicy dressing, and chickpeas nudge the salad into main-course territory.

Speaking of those garbanzos, Joe Yonan will have you reaching for one of my favorite spices with Chickpea Salad With Sumac Onions. Rubbing sumac, which is simultaneously tart, floral, fruity and earthy, into onions brings out the best of both ingredients. This is an ideal no-cook meal as we close out summer.

We still have a few weeks left to fully appreciate the season's produce. Ellie Krieger does that with her Tomato Galette With Buckwheat Crust. It features a whole-grain pastry crust (made with olive oil, so no need to chill) topped with thinly sliced tomatoes, shallots and gruyère. Choose heirloom tomatoes for the most eye-catching result.

What else are you hoping to cook before summer's over? I'm looking forward to hearing about it, as well as answering all your cooking questions, in our live weekly chat Wednesday at noon Eastern. Submit your questions now, and come back next week to join the conversation.

Have a good week, and happy cooking.