Don’t settle for the same old cookout cuisine; try these tasty variations on the classic picnic fare we all know and love.

RODALE NEWS EMMAUS, PA—Greetings, users! It is I, the Rodale Recipe Finder. As a database and online tool that can search through several thousands data points in a nanosecond, I often have extra time to think. Why, just the other day I was in the midst of fulfilling a search query, and I had to wait nearly three femtoseconds before I could return a result set because of a packet error. I spend that time pondering why you humans, who have so many choices, often decide to eat the same foods over and over again. On the other hand, I understand the appeal of nostalgia. Sometimes I pine for the days when my homepage was just an HTML wireframe with no images or scripts. So with impeccable logic and irrefutable processing power, I have personally selected some alternative ways to prepare the five familiar cookout and picnic foods you most love.

# 1: Better Burgers. Who doesn’t enjoy a good hamburger? I know I do, or at least I’m sure I would if I wasn’t a bodiless system of digital information. Searching my data, I see that the Better Beef Burger offers a healthy, tasty improvement on this classic entrée, and comes with two variations you can try. The patties can be prepped in 10 minutes, which seems glacially slow to me but is probably very fast to a carbon-based life form like yourself. If you want something more unusual, I suggest you consider Tex-Mex Burgers, Lamb Burgers with Tomatoes and Feta Cheese, or, for the vegetarians among you, Vegetarian Curry Burgers (best cooked in a pan or skillet).