If you’re trolling through the July cooking magazines looking for recipes to try on July Fourth, you’ll notice that our neck of the woods gets prominent mention in two of them.

Although the July Gourmet is billed as the special produce issue, it includes a feature story — written by Kerri Conan of Bonner Springs — about VB Farms, an organic cattle ranch near the north-central Kansas town of Home. The northeast Kansas outlet for VB Farms’ beef products, which are marketed under the brand Bossie’s Best, is the Community Mercantile Co-op, 901 Iowa.

Meanwhile, Bon Appetit’s July barbecue issue contains a short feature on the best Kansas City barbecue joints. The article is written by Vince Staten, co-author of “Real Barbecue.” He offers a list of the six restaurants that a barbecue tourist should try. While he might give a bit of history on each restaurant or describe the cooking setup, I was a bit disappointed that he doesn’t compare the tastes of the various barbecues. Even so, Staten offers an interesting short catalog of K.C. barbecue.

Topping Staten’s list, of course, is the stalwart Arthur Bryant’s, 1727 Brooklyn Ave. The other five are: Danny Edwards’ Famous Kansas City Barbecue, formerly Lil’ Jake’s Eat It and Beat It Barbecue, 1227 Grand Blvd.; Oklahoma Joe’s, located in a convenience store at 3002 W. 47th Ave.; Winslow’s City Market Barbecue, 20 E. Fifth St.; Rosedale Barbecue, 600 Southwest Blvd.; and L.C.’s Barbecue, 5800 Blue Parkway.

The other thing that caught my eye was a series of recipes in Bon Appetit for side dishes using fresh ingredients. If you’re like me, planning the menu for a cookout really comes down to deciding what to serve with grilled meat.

The recipes offered by Anna Pump, author of “Country Weekend Entertaining” are simple and quick.

Both of the following recipes are variations on side dishes that have been turning up at potlucks for generations. What may be different is the use of fresh herbs.

To make the corn salad go further, try adding a half to one cup of canned or cooked and rinsed black beans. You’ll have to adjust the salt and vinegar to taste. Canned corn can be substituted as well.

Sweet-and-Sour Cucumbers with Fresh Dill

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2 cucumbers (1 1/2 pounds), unpeeled, very thinly sliced

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh dill

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Place cucumber slices in colander. Sprinkle with salt; toss to coat. Let stand 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, for dressing, stir vinegar, dill, sugar and pepper in large bowl until sugar is dissolved.

Drain cumbers well; pat dry. Add cucumbers to dressing and stir to blend. Refrigerate up to 2 hours. Serve cold.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Sweet Corn and Tomato Salad with Fresh Cilantro

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10 ears fresh corn, husked

2 pounds plum tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

3/4 cup finely chopped red onion

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Cook corn in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain; cool to room temperature. Cut corn kernels from cobs. Transfer corn to large bowl. Add remaining ingredients; toss to blend. Season salad to taste with salt and pepper. Makes 8 to 10 servings.