Blender

Blanching fresh basil leaves before blending is the key to this vibrant, ultra-herby pesto. Perfect for pasta, it also dresses up pizza, scrambled eggs, and more.

Earthy and rich without being heavy or filling, this creamy vegetable dip is just the thing to whet the appetite without ruining it before a big holiday meal.

This light and brothy stew is just the thing for crisp autumn nights.

How to pull off an elegant, effortless date night? Make the rich seafood broth the day before, then sear a couple pieces of fish and reheat the stew during the cocktail hour.

Dark chocolate and ripe plums make a sweet match in this decadent late summer dessert.

Fresh and bright, with the pure flavors of sweet corn and tart lime juice, this creamy, vegan soup is choice for a light meal on a late summer day.

Puffed and pulverized wild rice is the new breadcrumb, coating any meaty white fish you like in a nutty, crispy exterior.

Some say using a blender rather than a food processor results in a smoother puree. When combining pesto with pasta, Ligurians mix a small ladle of the cooking water into the pesto just before adding the noodles; this dilutes the concentrated sauce and helps it adhere to the pasta.

Who says blender cocktails can't contain farmers' market produce? Here's a drink that highlights our favorite late-summer fruit.

Secret ingredient: pickle juice. Its salty edge rounds out the Sherry

A gallon-size ziptop bag is the perfect vessel for storing the base while it chills.

We all know how much we like our coffee in the morning, well here's a healthy version that will wake-up your taste buds as well as delivering a gelatin protein boost. You will know you are onto a good thing.

Don't obsess over getting these exact ingredients in this precise combination. Any nut you like will work here for crunch, and you're looking for a mix of bright herbs and enough cooked grains to make it substantial.

Not all tomato recipes require the fruit to be ripe. In fact, you’ll want unripe green tomatoes for this one (rather than green-hued heirlooms, which tend to be too delicate to grill).

Typical Mexican enchiladas arrive rolled up and stuffed, but at my favorite enchilada street stand—the inspiration for this recipe—they're stacked in a messy, luxurious pile, with separate individual layers of corn tortillas, fresh cilantro and onion, green enchilada sauce, shredded cheese and chicken. The whole thing is topped with a blanket of crema and more cheese. It's almost like a deconstructed lasagna. The dish is enough to make you fall deeply in love with Mexico City—particularly when the corn tortillas are homemade, and the green sauce is prepared with a slow-simmering pot of fresh chicken stock.

Tacos al pastor—made from marinated pork that's been roasted on a vertical spit—are wildly popular in Mexico City, particularly at night. The best taqueros put on a show, slicing off bits of caramelized meat and catching it in one hand (or behind their back!), and then reaching above the meat to slice off a piece of warm, juicy pineapple. According to city folklore, these tacos were invented in the capital. The dish is a direct descendant of shawarma, brought by Lebanese immigrants who arrived in Mexico in the early twentieth century. The marinade in this recipe comes from Tacos Don Guero in the Cuauhtémoc neighborhood, whose taqueros were kind enough to explain their ingredients to me at six a.m. one weekday morning. Obviously very few people at home will have a vertical spit—part of what gives tacos al pastor its signature flavor—but a grill would work well, or a blazing-hot cast iron skillet or griddle greased with a little lard.

Over the last few years I have started to love zucchini, but I have to admit that by the end of the season, it's like, "Not another bloody zucchini!" That said, this is one of the joys of eating seasonally—anticipation and excitement at the start of the season, despair and overload at the end.

Serve this cooling mint-infused watermelon juice as cooling refreshment in the summer sun.