Simplicity, please.

After a tough winter, many of us are yearning for some easy living: no socks, no coats, leisurely walks in the sun. Along with this kind of stuff comes quick, delicious meals eaten outside: something grilled, along with a cold salad and an icy drink.

A great sandwich is a perfect example of simple eating at its best. Today’s New York Times has a piece about the joy of sandwiches that has our mouth watering (and it is nowhere close to lunchtime yet). Writer Julia Moskin explains the sandwich “thing” in New York beautifully: “A great New York sandwich is large; it contains multitudes,” she writes. And, “To make it here, a sandwich has to work overtime, being portable, filling, interesting and tasty.” Moskin goes in-depth on five unforgettable sandwiches in her city, and it will certainly give you some good ideas for building your own as picnic season is upon us.

Another simple meal — and it is a kind of a sandwich — begins with the humble hot dog. Today’s L.A. Times food section has a great piece on this “hot dog town.” As is typical in a Times food story, it features all sorts of cute words and expressions like “doggeries” and the “wienie scene.” Writer Charles Perry admits that “Los Angeles is burgerville, but we love our hot dogs too. A lot. This is the No. 2 dog-eating town in the country, right after New York.” Is that a fact? Feel free to chime in with a comment on that one.

The sidebar to the hot dog piece is the one that will get your belly growling, if you are a gourmet or “premium” dog lover. It features 11 “new-wave” hot dog shops, where you can get yourself something other than a boiled-to-death dog on a dry roll. Described are garlicky dogs in snappy casings topped with fried onions, celery salt, “neon-green relish,” mushrooms, “sport peppers” and all kinds of other condiments.

Another lovely thing to eat as the weather comes around: simple, high-quality shrimp. A cold bowl of them seasoned with Old Bay, or served alongside a huge bowl of horseradish-heavy cocktail sauce, is wonderful spring patio food.

But now that we have read today’s Washington Post article on one writer’s favorite shrimp variety, we need to know: Where can we get us some Royal Reds? Washingtonians can go to the fish market at the BlackSalt restaurant in the Palisades neighborhood of D.C., or they can hit their keyboards (see the sidebar on where to buy). A fisherman friend of the writer tells him why they’re worth finding: “They’re the sweetest shrimp I’ve ever had, and their texture is more like lobster. They cook in half the time.”

What to drink with picnic-table foods? Stay tuned, we’ll be back with some thirst-quenching ideas.