Chile

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires addtional sitting time. Serve this salad as a fiery first course for an Asian-style entrée such as a stir-fry, or use it as a side dish for grilled chicken or fish.

Tandoori chicken gets its name from the clay oven (heated by wood or coal) it is traditionally cooked in—a tandoor—which bakes meat, fish, poultry, and bread at temperatures upward of 500°F. In our version, the chicken is broiled and the signature yogurt and spice marinade contains only ingredients that are readily available on supermarket shelves.

The soy-based sauce for these kebabs draws its various intensely flavored ingredients-cilantro, garlic, ginger and chilies-from the equatorial hot zone, where weather and food alike are fiery.

Serve the dressing on shrimp salad, chicken salad or mixed greens; add diced jicama and fresh cilantro leaves to the salad for even more flavor.

With some warm corn bread, this chili is a meal in itself. You wouldn't know there was chocolate in the recipe, but it adds a subtle depth of flavor to the dish.

This recipe originally accompanied Roast Pork with Port Jus and Chipotle-Glazed Apples .

Great with tortilla chips as a dip. Or try it as a vegetarian filling for burritos adding grated Monterey Jack cheese, too.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This dish is a characteristic Moroccan Jewish preparation. North Africans, Jews and non-Jews alike, are particularly skilled at cooking fish because the long coastline yields so much. Dried chickpeas, a staple starch in the Mediterranean, traveled with the Jews when they emigrated.

The best way to eat sugar snap peas is right off the vine. This recipe ranks a close second, though. I pickle any sugar snap peas that the kids don't eat right away, and continue to enjoy them for weeks after the pea vines have wilted away.

Serve with: Warmed tortillas and steamed, buttered summer squash. Dessert: Key lime pie from the bakery.

For this recipe, it's worth the effort to look for purslane at your local farmers market or specialty produce store. The salad green's fleshy texture and subtle citrus notes work well with the gentle flavors of Meyer lemon and makrut lime leaves.

"I run my own salon, and I’m an instructor at a cooking school," writes Sandy Ercolano of Ridgewood, New Jersey. "It seems that I’m always in the kitchen. At home I cook meals and come up with recipes for my classes. My son Andrew appears to have inherited my culinary interest. He likes to lend a hand with the cooking, especially with desserts. Unfortunately, he’s not as interested in helping with the cleanup."

At Las Ventanas this soup and a corn soup are ladled side by side into the serving bowl.

Juicy cantaloupe makes a refreshing salsa for grilled chicken or fish. For a milder salsa, discard all the chile seeds.

This southwestern version of fried chicken needs only two sides: purchased Mexican-style rice pilaf and a sauté of bell peppers and carrots. Flan with sliced kiwi would be a nice finish. Look for ancho chili powder in the spice section of your supermarket.

Masa labeled "masa preparada para tamales" often contains baking powder and salt, so don't add either if it does. Soak the husks three hours ahead or overnight.