Avocado

Massaging kale (shown opposite) with olive oil and salt is a useful technique popular in raw cuisine. The greens get “cooked” by the salt and the squeezing action, becoming tender and more digestible. Nori seaweed, the kind used to wrap sushi, adds a rich, savory note to the salad. Find nori at natural food stores or Asian markets. In summer, add shaved radishes, fresh corn kernels, and mint leaves.

Call this my Japanese-inspired take on cobb salad, except that it’s all vegetarian. It’s a perfect dish for summertime eating. I love sweet and crispy hearts of palm, which are native to Latin America. Try to buy them fresh, if possible, but canned works fine, too. The umeboshi-yuzu vinaigrette lends the vegetables an irresistible tangy and citrusy flavor. Ramen noodles served chilled are springy, chewy, and absolutely delicious.

Simply grilled meat is a universal crowd-pleaser. Mexicans spend long weekend afternoons slowly grilling meat, which they serve with radish wedges, avocado slices, and various table sauces. This recipe puts it all together for you. So the next time you find yourself grilling, include this smooth salsa made with avocado and tomatillos, which is so velvety no one will believe you when you tell them it is made without cream.

If you have ever eaten from a taco truck, you will know why carne asada (grilled beef ) tacos are the ultimate Mexican street food. Charred crispy beef is wrapped in a warm and chewy corn tortilla and drizzled with your choice of fresh tomato or tomatillo sauce. It is easy to make and even easier to serve because you can have your guests make their own.

This recipe serves you summer on a dish. You will see how the tomato and roasted corn salsa pop right off the plate. While the salsa pairs beautifully with the tuna, feel free to pair it with your favorite fish or even chicken. Fast, fresh, and easy—this will soon become your quick dinner fix.

This is a great main-course salad that brings together many of the fresh flavors of the Mexican kitchen. Similar in nature to a Cobb salad, it has a few fresh components that can be doubled or substituted, making it a great vehicle for using up extra produce.

I love steak salads. It must be something about the contrast in texture and temperature that I find appealing. The best steak salads give you meat that is juicy and flavorful with a charred exterior crust on the steak that goes great against the fresh, crisp lettuce. The glaze is the key to this salad because the sugars in it caramelize and create that crunchy exterior.

If there is a recipe that truly captures the scent and essence of Mexican cooking, this is it. There are so many reasons to love this soup. Besides being easy to make and healthful to eat, it offers deep, rich flavors brightened by fresh ingredients. This is a great soup to serve for company, because it is not only delicious, but the contrasting colors of the deep amber soup base and the bright green and white from the toppings make for a stunning presentation. It is also a conversation piece, because everyone can get involved in the assembly of their soup bowl.

While ceviche has become increasingly popular in the United States, it has been a staple in the Mexican kitchen for decades. Traditionally fresh fish is “cooked” by the acid of lime juice and flavored with red onion, jalapeño, and cilantro. Ceviche makes a fresh and light start to any meal. This is a good basic ceviche recipe, but feel free to make it your own by adding other aromatic ingredients, such as fresh ginger or tomato.

If you make these for your friends, make sure you eat some right away, because they will evaporate if you walk away. Megan and I like our salsa saucy, more like a picante sauce, so we add some tomato sauce. But, if you like chunky salsa, you can skip the sauce and just use the diced tomatoes.

The key to making good maki rolls is to never refrigerate the rice. When rice has been refrigerated it becomes hard, and it completely changes the texture of the rolls. You can buy tied-together sheets of tiny bamboo strips, called “sushi mats,” for a few dollars. They make it easier to keep the rolls tight, but if you don’t have one, plastic wrap also works pretty well.

I had a sheltered life growing up in staid New England and never tasted an avocado until I was a teenager and took my first trip to California. There I was served a salad loaded with chunks of avocado, squishy, pale, and icky green. I tried to spear the offending slices to get them off my plate, but they resisted my persistent jabs and kept eluding my grasp. Now I realize that those luscious tidbits were trying to tell me something, and I regret the loss of so many avocados that I could have loved. If you’re hesitant to try avocado ice cream, let my foolhardy prejudice be a lesson to you. The best avocados are the pebbly-skinned Hass variety. When ripe and ready, the flesh should give just a little when pressed. And be sure to try the Avocado Licuado con Leche in the Perfect Pairing at the end of the recipe. It is unbelievably delicious.

Avocado sure knows how to tango with mango. As a taste and texture combo, it’s one of the most refreshing two-steps I’ve come across. Mangoes are sweet, but not overly so. Avocados are creamy, but with some heft. Together, they make for a fantastic salsa that’s especially great for people dealing with a metallic taste in the mouth due to treatment. With the added perkiness of the red bell pepper, cilantro, and lime, this salsa whirls around the dance floor of your palate.

Putting avocado and cream in the same title is almost redundant; avocados by their very nature have one of the creamiest textures in the fruit kingdom, as any guacamole lover can attest. Avocado has fantastic proportions of healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals, especially potassium. In fact, avocados contain more potassium than bananas, making them ideal for combating the potassium loss that can occur because of dehydration. Whether on a cracker or over a dish, this creamy dollop guarantees you both fantastic taste and superb nutrition.

This is my riff on green goddess dressing. I’ve omitted the buttermilk, but you won’t miss it a bit, as the luscious avocado blends with the brown rice vinegar to create a mellow dressing that’s ideal tossed with crunchy salads—a mix of tastes and textures that’s like giving your palate an invigorating massage.

Wasabi is rich in chemicals that some studies show cause cancer cells to starve. The combination of wasabi and ginger might be a bit much for those with swallowing difficulties, but for everyone else this dip’s creamy coolness makes it perfect for slathering on rice crackers or dipping veggies into, especially jicama.

Some soy lovers might be surprised that their beloved bean goes by another name—edamame—which is the fresh, green, undried form, with all of its nutrients intact. Here, I’ve taken the edamame out of their furry little pods, and mixed them in with radishes, which have a fresh flavor and just a tad of heat. My friend calls radishes the sorbet of the vegetable set because of the way they brighten the palate and leave it feeling clean and happy.

A staple of Latin cuisine, this black bean soup rocks because it’s a nutritional powerhouse. Black beans are rich in protein and dietary fiber, and recent studies link black bean consumption to reduced rates of pancreatic, breast, and prostate cancers. Cooking the beans with kombu, an easy to find dried Japanese seaweed that breaks down the bean’s sugars, eases gas and bloating while softening the bean’s exterior. As for taste, I guarantee your taste buds will say “more, please!”

Avocado lovers will go ga-ga over the taste and those with swallowing difficulties or mouth sores will delight in the texture. Those of you into cool or room-temperature soups will embrace the clean, fresh feel of this blend. Avocados are one of those great superfoods, full of good fats and vitamins. They’re fun to work with, and all of the great shades of green in this soup are like preparing a beautiful watercolor that you can eat.

A quick and easy no-cook soup, this is remarkably refreshing on a hot summer day. It’s best eaten on the same day as it is made, since avocado discolors and does not keep well under refrigeration once peeled. This soup makes a great opener for a Southwestern-style meal of burritos, enchiladas, or the like.