Fireworks are a Fourth of July tradition, but what about explosive menus as well? Many of us prepare red-white-and-blue-themed foods for Independence Day parties year after year. Why not instead rocket yourself to a coveted notoriety for instead having some prized dishes mimic the essence of fireworks?

All distinctive dishes like the following call for are some snazzy change-ups from the usual. The expected gets replaced by some easy, inexpensive fiery works by you:

Pot Pie that Really Pops: Summer pot pies should be lighter than winter delights (meaning, among other ingredient changes, you may want to skip the bottom crust), but that doesn’t mean they can’t be more charged up. The surprise will be what’s inside. Fill individual ramekin (baking/serving) dishes with a cooked chicken breast and white bean chili flavored with chopped jalapenos (being careful, as experts advise, to wear latex gloves when chopping and not to touch your eyes during or afterward), rosemary, dill and ginger. Before serving, crumble store-bought or homemade cornbread on top as the crust, sprinkle with cinnamon and cilantro and heat until hot.

Salsa-Fused Burgers: In the center of burgers of your choice (like Angus beef, turkey, seafood or vegetable) make a hole that goes about three quarters through and stuff with a mixture of a small amount of salsa (so that it’s not watery), pepper jack or other spicy cheese and finely crushed tortilla chips. Place the meat you scooped out tightly atop the hole to close it and cook as usual.

Crafty Corn Cobs: After grilling corn-on-the-cob, spread with butter or margarine that you’ve combined with dashes of cayenne pepper, freshly ground black pepper, cumin and garlic powder. Serve some of this compound on the table, too, to accompany rolls or bread.

Mighty Mashed Potatoes: Cook chorizo (spicy Spanish sausage available in many supermarkets), crumble with fork and stir as an accent into cooked mashed potatoes, along with nonfat sour cream, salsa verde (green salsa widely available in jars in supermarkets) and finely minced garlic.

Kaboom Cheesecake: Carefully scoop out filling of store-bought or homemade cheesecake and place in large mixing bowl, reserving crust. To filling, mix in small amounts of fresh lime juice and vanilla extract, and dashes of chopped cilantro, cinnamon and espresso powder. Carefully scoop back into crust and smooth over. Chill for at least 90 minutes before serving. 

Fun fare like this also proves food preparation can be easy, nutritious, inexpensive, fun – and fast. They take just 10 seconds each to read and are almost that quick to prepare. The creative combinations are delicious proof that everyone has time for creating homemade specialties and, more importantly, the healthy family togetherness that goes along with it!

Another benefit: You effortlessly become a better cook, since there are no right or wrong amounts. These are virtually-can't-go-wrong combinations, so whatever you – or your kidlet helpers – choose to use can’t help but draw “wows” from family members and Fourth of July guests.

QUICK TIP OF THE WEEK: As well as the staining that might come from coffee and tea, the acids in sodas, diet sodas and juices have long been shown in studies to possibly damage the enamel of the teeth. One potential protector recommended by dentists is to use straws so that you bypass the front of the teeth. Reasonably priced glass straws are also available at some kitchen product retailers and online in case you want to use them in hot beverages. That’s because some people avoid exposing plastic, as in straws, to high temperatures and would prefer glass.

Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food and nutrition writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the National Council Against Health Fraud and author of seven food books, including the best-selling The Tofu Book: The New American Cuisine with 150 Recipes (Avery/Penguin Putnam) and Turn Your Supermarket into a Health Food Store: The Brand-Name Guide to Shopping for a Better Diet (Pharos/Scripps Howard). She writes two nationally syndicated food and nutrition columns for Creators Syndicate and had been a longtime newspaper food and health section managing editor, as well as managing editor of Gayot/Gault Millau dining review company. Lisa traveled the globe writing about top chefs for Pulitzer Prize-winning Copley News Service and has written about health and nutrition for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, Reader's Digest, Woman's World and Prevention Magazine Health Books. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com.