Today is le quatorze Juillet, or Bastille Day, the French national holiday. In honor of this festive day, which is celebrated throughout France with parades and fireworks, I am rounding up all of my French-inspired recipes. I hope that one of these inspires your Bastille Day celebration.

I am a devoted Francophile. A French major in college, I spent my junior year abroad in Paris studying French literature, soaking up the city and enjoying my host family’s North African, Sephardic cuisine. Since then, I have been back to Paris several times, including a memorable week in May 2012 with my husband in celebration of our tenth wedding anniversary.

During that magical week, my husband and I strolled the cobblestone streets hand-in-hand.  We marveled at the great works of art and we were awed by the magnificent churches.  We discussed politics and the differences between our respective countries with our French friends. But, most importantly, we ate amazing food. On two occasions, my husband — who is a soup lover — ordered cold pea soup as his starter. Both versions were incredibly flavorful and refreshing. As soon as I returned home, I came up with my own version of cold pea soup with mint,

For a perfect warm weather dinner, try my version of a Salade Nicoise, the classic French bistro dish. Whenever I eat it, I am magically transported to a seaside cafe in the south of France. I imagine myself delicately picking at a beautifully composed plate and sipping a lightly chilled rosé while people-watching from behind an enormous pair of sunglasses. With a dish as light and healthy as this, you will be looking as slim as a French starlet in no time.

When you think about French pâtisseries, or pastry shops, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? An impossibly flaky, buttery croissant? An almost-too-beautiful-to-eat tarte aux fruits? A towering croquembouche encased in spun sugar? Rows of brightly colored macarons? Sensible choices all. But for me, the favorite French pâtisserie indulgence is a gigantic, puffy meringue. Yes, a meringue.

Every French pastry shop that I have ever wandered into — and remember, I lived in Paris for a year —  has a glass case of pancake-sized meringues on the counter.  These achingly sweet, vanilla-scented clouds are impossibly crunchy on the outside — each bite causing an embarrassing explosion of crumbs. But that hard shell inevitably reveals a slightly chewy, sticky center that is tremendously satisfying to bite into.

If you go a French person’s house for dinner, the evening with start with  l’heure de l’apéro, the cocktail hour. You will be offered un apéritif, a drink made with a spirit designed to whet the appetite, like Lillet, Ricard or Dubonnet, and a small, savory bite. You will never see cheese and crackers during the cocktail hour — cheese is for after the meal. But that doesn’t mean that the hors d’oeuvres won’t incorporate cheese. Indeed, one of the most classic French hors d’oeuvres is a small cheese puff called un gougère.

Originally from Burgundy, gougères are made with pâté à choux, which is the same dough that is used to make profiteroles and éclairs. In those cases, the dough is slightly sweetened, whereas here it is savory. But in both instances, you get that airy, puff-like texture. Gougères are so popular in France that you can buy boxes of frozen ones to have on hand whenever company drops in. My recipe for gougères, Americanized with sharp Cabot cheddar, is almost as easy.

If none of these recipes tickle your fancy, I have many other French-inspired recipes on West of the Loop, from eggplant caviar to potato leek soup to quiche Lorraine to merguez with yogurt harissa sauce — that last one was definitely inspired by the French host family, Sephardic Jews who had fled Algeria after it became an independent country.

Vive la France! Happy Bastille Day!