Romulo Yanes

Both bright from the fresh limes and buttery from the diced avocados, this sauce adds color and flavor to broiled fish, roast chicken, or huevos rancheros. For more heat, leave in the jalapeño seeds.

Here, a coarse sea salt like fleur de sel or sel gris plays a few important roles: It tempers and cuts the richness of the nuts and butter, it adds a concentrated crunch—and it makes the brittle look divine. Break this vibrant green pistachio brittle on top of ice cream or crumble it over rice pudding. Or, do what we do, and eat it straight off the baking sheet.

Evan and Sarah Rich of San Francisco's Rich Table shock the carrots in ice water after shaving to give them a wavy shape and slightly soften their crunch.

Some varieties of apples fall apart while cooking; here you want the apples to hold their shape. Pink Lady and Honeycrisp are good choices and are widely available. Serve with cheesy grits.

This herb-based North African marinade and relish is great with roasted vegetables, or as a rub for fish.

These one-ingredient lacy cheese crackers are more impressive than any cheese board.

Lentils and fresh and dried mushrooms give this vegetarian casserole its meaty character. You can prepare most of it in advance and bake it just before your guests arrive.

Can’t find Treviso, the long, thin variety of radicchio? Substitute endive or any other member of the bitter chicory family to play off the sweet citrus dressing.

Spinach and feta arrive in tiny puff-pastry packages.

This stuffed chicken breast is elegant enough for a dinner party.

Serve this cake at brunch, or for dessert with a scoop of ice cream.

Canned beans are your friend in this garlic shrimp recipe.

You can reheat this ooey-gooey queso fundido dip in a skillet, or keep it warm in a fondue pot. Save this recipe for your next taco night.