Cilantro

This would also be good on broiled sea bass or red snapper fillets.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Here's a terrific salad with the bold tastes of cilantro and cumin. Cold beer is the ideal beverage go-with.

Sliced leftover cooked pork makes this quick pizza even quicker.

A narrow strip of land at the southwestern tip of India, the state of Kerala is interlaced with a network of lagoons, canals, lakes, and rivers. Peddlers sell fish from these waters and other food by boat along the canals. This curry is styled after the ones these boatmen cook for themselves. It incorporates many ingredients of the Kerala kitchen: black peppercorns, fiery red chiles, mustard seeds, and the ubiquitous coconut. In India they toss about 20 fresh curry leaves into the kettle along with the onion, garlic, gingerroot, chiles, and peppercorns. These aromatic leaves can be difficult to find in the U.S., but if you locate some, by all means use them.

Costillas de Cordero con Salsa de Nuez y Chipotle The lamb is first coated with a dry rub of chile seeds and spices, and then roasted.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 30 min

Chermoula Chermoula is a traditional North African marinade for fish, especially in Morocco where, surprisingly, it's often used with shad. It has become very popular recently with North American restaurant chefs as a quick and easy (and cheap!) way to add lots of flavor to bland fish. Many old-fashioned recipes don't call for cilantro and parsley at all, but the fresh flavor of the green herbs adds a great deal to the preparation. Instead of shad, which is hard to find even when it's in season, and very difficult to bone, I use salmon steaks or fillets. You could substitute many other kinds of fish, including swordfish, halibut, haddock, and even fresh-water fish, such as catfish and perch.

This recipe yields enough dressing for both the seafood salad and the rice .

Use any variety of young, small potatoes at the market — such as fingerlings, baby reds, or small Yukon Golds or yellow Finns.

Marinate the tri-tip for at least two hours.

Paired with tortilla chips, this guacamole makes an excellent starter. Also offer chilled Mexican beer throughout the meal.

Chimichurri is a thick herb sauce that in Argentina is typically served with steak.

Take these olives along on your next picnic.

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 45 min