Salsa

The lime juice and oil will keep the avocado from turning brown, but it’s a good idea to make this pico de gallo recipe right before you serve it.

When you're working with chiles, you should be wearing rubber gloves. Sound funny? Well, it won't after you accidentally touch your eyes.

This corn salsa, along with mayonnaise and tomatillos, helps make up the Elote Dog.

Oh, the inherent stress in choosing the perfect avocado. The “ready to eat” ones can go from ripe to rotten quickly, so buy uniformly firm Hass avocados instead. Let them sit at room temperature until they have a slight give, usually a day or two (plan ahead!). This goes great with quesadillas, grilled snapper, and pork.

Charring the tomatoes and vegetables plays up their sweetness and adds smoky, bitter notes. This goes great with quesadillas, grilled snapper, and pork.

A cooling and crunchy green version of the typical tomato-based salsa.

If we had to give this salsa a heat index rating, it would get three out of five chiles.

This no-cook salsa pairs sweet and juicy watermelon with smoky chiles. Looks like gravy, tastes like summer.

This sauce gives a bright finish to any flame-kissed fillet or crustacean.

Blanching the garlic neutralizes some of its bite, and the spinach lends an earthy base note. This goes great with our beer-braised brisket.

The smoky flavor of the fire-roasted tomatoes fits in here, but regular tomatoes would be good, too. This goes great with our beer-braised brisket.

A briny, spicy salsa brightens up simple fish dishes, such as Broiled Salmon Steaks (click for recipe)

Remove the tomatillo’s papery husk and rinse off any sticky coating before using.

For the best char, preheat your pan for at least five minutes. (And you might want to open a window—it’s going to be smoky.)

Briefly cooking the tomatoes is key—the finished sauce should still be very fresh-tasting.

Sick of salsa verde? Meet salsa roja.

Add all, some, or none of the jalapeño’s seeds and ribs in order to control the salsa’s heat.

A very hot cast-iron pan will get the tomatillos charred quickly without overcooking them. Make a big batch for a great dipping salsa.

This smoky, fiery concoction is inspired by Bar Amá’s “Bus Driver” salsa.

Using mature arugula leaves instead of the baby variety will make for a more peppery salsa. For a nice variation, try it with fresh basil and/or parsley.

Chef Alex Stupak has a knack for making unusual flavor combinations taste great, as in this smoky, nutty salsa. The sweet, rich cashews give it the body of a dairy-based dip. It works on any grilled meat, too.

This salsa verde is notable for two unusual additions—toasted pine nuts, which add buttery texture to every bite, and lime juice and zest, which are a fragrant alternative to the more commonly used lemon juice or vinegar. Blanched almonds can be used in place of the pine nuts; chop them into small pieces after toasting.