Mediterranean

Food editor Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez, who created this menu, takes the Mexican tradition of sprinkling corn on the cob with cotija cheese and dried chile and turns it on its head. By substituting crumbled feta and mint, she gives the summer standby a Mediterranean slant. Cutting the ears into smaller sections makes them easier to coat with the buttery cheese and herb mixture—and way more fun to eat.

This fun assortment of flavorful nibbles is ideal for summer entertaining. End the meal with frozen yogurt or a fruit salad of halved fresh cherries and pieces of watermelon.

Sandwiching meaty black sea bass fillets together with an aromatic filling of red onion and fresh oregano perfumes the fish as it roasts. It tastes—and looks—wonderful topped with a colorful salad of small tomatoes, olives, and more oregano. The peppery, lemony herb, native to the Mediterranean, is a natural with fish.

Boneless top round roast is a cut taken from the flavorful leg. Here, we sliced it across the grain into steaks that are grilled and served with a Mediterranean-inspired combination of artichoke hearts, olives, and fire-roasted tomatoes.

The bright flavor helps balance the richness of the other fillings.

It's March, which feels like the longest month, and for many of us, it's still cold and dreary outside. Time to start fantasizing about sitting at a café table somewhere hot and dazzlingly sunnyéa Greek island would do nicely. These hearty sandwiches will take you there.

When purchasing rack of lamb, ask your butcher to remove the chine bone as well as any excess surface fat and to "french" or clean, the rib bones. To create a really flavorful spice coating for the lamb, Hayden recommends using high-quality coffee and dark, strong Valrhona cocoa. For the salad, Fleming likes to use a spicy Tuscan olive oil to give the vinaigrette an extra kick of flavor.

Add a little color to the Festival of Lights with zucchini pancakes that shine green. Lighter than potato latkes, they're the Mediterranean cousins who've traveled north to visit family in eastern Europe.

To balance the red-wine vinegar and capers in this blend of smoky eggplant and red peppers, anchovies perfume the relish with a deep, savory note. Though this is a natural accompaniment to the zucchini latkes, it also makes a lively option for the potato ones.

Sweet-tart pomegranate adds intriguing depth to this braise. It can be made with boneless or bone-in meat. If using boneless, buy a half pound less lamb.

Pomegranate seeds add brightness to the look and flavor of this starter.

This mix is everything you want with a drink—a little bit salty, but with a nice variety of textures and flavors.

Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier, of Arrows restaurant in Ogunquit, Maine, use beef but keep calories low.

This tahini-based sauce serves as the foundation for mezes like hummus and baba ghanouj throughout much of the Mediterranean, but it's also a wonderful sauce in its own right, showing its versatility by adding a nutty, lemony hit to the kùfte or to vegetables or fish.

Grilled fruit is a newcomer to the traditional Mediterranean table. This dish was inspired by a friend and chef, Nena Ismirnoglou, and then adapted by me for the menu at Pylos, a Greek restaurant in Manhattan's East Village.

These wings are great to gnaw on while you're diligently grilling the main course and sipping a cold one, as my Basque friend Juan Riesco often demonstrated to me. The level of heat is up to you—the Tabasco is your fuel. Serving Suggestions:
These are excellent "tapas"-style appetizers. Serve them at a large cocktail party along with some other Mediterranean-inspired appetizers.

You don't need to get fancy with bouillabaisse. This version of the French fisherman's stew liberates you from having to buy up the entire fish counter—just choose any two or three of the fish and shellfish options listed below.

You'll find pomegranate seeds at markets and at specialty foods stores.

For a great vegetarian entrée, serve the vegetables on a bed of couscous.