Herbs & Spices

To make this tomato-on bread revelation right this very minute, use a prepared flatbread like naan or pocketless pita.

Not all tomato recipes require the fruit to be ripe. In fact, you’ll want unripe green tomatoes for this one (rather than green-hued heirlooms, which tend to be too delicate to grill).

Don't obsess over getting these exact ingredients in this precise combination. Any nut you like will work here for crunch, and you're looking for a mix of bright herbs and enough cooked grains to make it substantial.

This raw tomato sauce gets texture from zucchini and body from toasted nuts that are blended into the base. You can sub almonds for hazelnuts.

With a mega-flame and a gargantuan pot, you can cook an ocean's worth of seafood in a fraction of the time it would take on the stovetop—without stepping foot in a steamy kitchen.

This is a high-summer throw together of a sauté to make when there are lots of snap beans at the market. Mix colors and types for the full effect.

Mix up your summer sides with this bright grain salad tossed in an Asian-inspired vinaigrette.

Slightly underripe plums? Add a touch more honey.

Harness the potential of the propane burner to amp up this Texas comfort food classic.

Tacos al pastor—made from marinated pork that's been roasted on a vertical spit—are wildly popular in Mexico City, particularly at night. The best taqueros put on a show, slicing off bits of caramelized meat and catching it in one hand (or behind their back!), and then reaching above the meat to slice off a piece of warm, juicy pineapple. According to city folklore, these tacos were invented in the capital. The dish is a direct descendant of shawarma, brought by Lebanese immigrants who arrived in Mexico in the early twentieth century. The marinade in this recipe comes from Tacos Don Guero in the Cuauhtémoc neighborhood, whose taqueros were kind enough to explain their ingredients to me at six a.m. one weekday morning. Obviously very few people at home will have a vertical spit—part of what gives tacos al pastor its signature flavor—but a grill would work well, or a blazing-hot cast iron skillet or griddle greased with a little lard.

When you put an egg on eggplant, you get a veg main course.

Typical Mexican enchiladas arrive rolled up and stuffed, but at my favorite enchilada street stand—the inspiration for this recipe—they're stacked in a messy, luxurious pile, with separate individual layers of corn tortillas, fresh cilantro and onion, green enchilada sauce, shredded cheese and chicken. The whole thing is topped with a blanket of crema and more cheese. It's almost like a deconstructed lasagna. The dish is enough to make you fall deeply in love with Mexico City—particularly when the corn tortillas are homemade, and the green sauce is prepared with a slow-simmering pot of fresh chicken stock.

Bitter and bossy seeks warm and sweet: This robust dressing is capable of standing up to—and slightly softening—acerbic greens like dandelion or arugula. (Maybe it's the bacon...)

Golden raisins add a sweet burst of flavor to this elegant-but-easy 30-minute seafood pasta dinner.

Over the last few years I have started to love zucchini, but I have to admit that by the end of the season, it's like, "Not another bloody zucchini!" That said, this is one of the joys of eating seasonally—anticipation and excitement at the start of the season, despair and overload at the end.