Herbs & Spices

Here's a quick way to feed a crowd. The salmon is also great made ahead and served chilled.

To complete the dessert buffet, bake a batch of Mexican wedding cakes (butter cookies rolled in powdered sugar).

his upscale take on pimiento cheese is smoky and sweet, thanks to paprika and piquillos.

Za’atar is a Middle Eastern spice mix that includes sesame seeds, sumac, dried thyme, and dried marjoram. It’s available at specialty foods stores and Middle Eastern markets and from adrianascaravan.com.

Inspired by Brazil’s national cocktail.

This easy appetizer is packed with flavor. And since this is a Latin-themed party, don’t forget to set out a bowl of chips with your favorite salsa.

The cake is layered with dark chocolate ganache and white chocolate cream, then topped with marshmallowy peppermint frosting.

The richness of the lamb is balanced by the sweet-tart lemon sauce. To make things easier, ask the butcher to trim the lamb for you.

This recipe originally accompanied Ratatouille .

Instead of the often-leaden, mayo-heavy supermarket slaw, why not try this wonderfully crisp version? The ginger and rice vinegar provide a fresh, clean flavor, and the serrano gives it just the right spark of heat.

You might run across purslane, with its glossy, plump leaves, at a farmers market—and you might even find it growing in the cracks of your sidewalk or in your yard. Luckily, this incredibly nutritious and juicy green is a weed, which means it pops up wild nearly everywhere. Lots of chopped parsley and a simple vinaigrette flatter its herbal, lemony crunch.

Pretty sundaes that have tons of mint flavor—in the fudge sauce, sugar topping, ice cream, and crumbled cookies.

This pretty salad gets its name from the long slices of zucchini, which resemble tagliatelle pasta. I like to mix in some fresh mint and lemon for a nice zip, cucumber and sweet onion for crunch, and pistachio oil for fabulous depth of flavor.

For such a rich fish, tuna is a good team player—it takes well to all kinds of seasoning. Here, I give it some tang by marinating it with lemon juice and zest, onions, capers, rosemary, and the most surprising ingredient: some of the juice from the caper jar. Have fun playing around with the herbs in the salad; just make sure not to toss them with the dressing until you're ready to serve—tender leaves wilt quickly.

The rich and tender biscuits would also be great with plums or blackberries. Rinse and wipe off any fuzz from peaches before using.

The white bean, sun-dried tomato, and Feta mixture can be prepared up to six hours in advance, but it's best to toast the bread at the last minute.

The trick to these poppers is squeezing as much liquid out of the grated zucchini as possible. This helps create a firm but light batter that can be easily rolled into balls and fried.