Condiment

Stir any remaining pesto into steamed vegetables or couscous.

Joan and David Oswalt of Pasadena, California, write: "David and I both love to cook, but our approaches couldn't be more different. He'll start from scratch and spend months perfecting a particular dish, while I prefer to take a basic recipe and just add my own touches." Serve the salsa with the Baked Ribs with Spicy Blackberry Sauce, or with sautéed shrimp or scallops.

This "salsa" is actually a sort of fruit salad, but it does contain the quintessential salsa ingredients, lime juice and jalapeño peppers. The jalapeños are certainly unexpected, but they have an interesting way of intensifying the sweetness of the pineapple.

A salsa this simple lives or dies by the quality of the ingredients—ripe avocado, luscious tomato, and a sweet, crunchy ear of corn. Most of my corn salsa recipes call for grilled corn. This one features the succulent crunch of raw corn to reinforce the sweetness of the fresh avocado.

We have a renewed appreciation for the beauty, taste, and health-giving properties of the pomegranate lately, and its molasses (made by cooking the juice down to a sweet-tart syrup) delivers just what we are looking for in an ingredient these days: bold, clear, complex flavor. Used in this go-with for the chops, it brings new meaning to "sweet-and-sour pork." Pomegranate molasses is available at some supermarkets and Middle Eastern markets and by mail from Adriana's Caravan (800-316-0820; adrianascaravan.com).

The bright flavors of fresh parsley and garlic make this vibrant sauce sauce a favorite accompaniment to Argentine beef. It packs a punch, so start with just a drizzle.

This lively salsa is typically served with Argentine asado—beef, pork, or lamb cooked over an open fire or grill. It's also wonderful with a seared skirt steak.

Jan Schroeder of Corvallis, Oregon, writes: "A great thing about my job is that I get to do a lot of cooking. I work for the berry industry and one of my duties is developing recipes. I often get ideas from local chefs, but it's also rewarding to see what I can come up with on my own." Ribbon-tied jars of this chutney would make a nice holiday gift.

Spoon this sprightly condiment over grilled fish, alongside roasted ham, or, for an appetizer, atop slices of smoked salmon on buttered pumpernickel.

Try it with: Roast turkey sandwiches with cucumber and cilantro, chicken salad with grapes, or as a dipping sauce for satay-style appetizers. (Indian curry paste can be found at some supermarkets, specialty foods stores, and Indian markets.)