Lime

This orange, peach, cranberry, and lime drink makes the ultimate “fruit cocktail.”

You can also make these in a pitcher and serve them as the evening’s party drink. They have the perfect balance of tart and sweet. Great in the summer.

These spring rolls are so fresh tasting that they’re addictive. The beet turns the noodles a pretty pink—way cool. Wear gloves when you cut up the beet so your hands don’t turn purple—not a festive look.

Grilled calamari is a big hit at cocktail parties. It sounds exotic and the platter always comes back empty. The spice mix gives this particular recipe a serious Caribbean influence, and right before the skewers go out I squeeze the grilled lime over the top. Have your fishmonger clean the squid for you. Yo u will need wooden skewers, and don’t forget to soak them in water for 20 minutes before you use them.

This is best served warm, a scoop of ice cream melting over each serving. You can get the pineapple ready for roasting and pop it into the oven about 15 minutes before you plan to serve dessert.

We'll happily make room on our condiment shelf for yuzu kosho, a blend of citrus zest, garlic, chile, and salt. It adds aromatic acidity (and some heat) to rice dishes, noodle soups, fish, and chicken. We substitute lemon, lime, and grapefruit zest for the hard-to-find yuzu, a Japanese citrus.

This is the definition of minimalist Thai cooking. The steam not only gently cooks the fish until just tender but also creates an instant, complex sauce from a handful of basic ingredients. Scoring the fish's flesh allows more of the flavor to season the fish and facilitates faster steaming. The fish is cooked on a plate that fits inside the steamer, to catch the juices.

Herbaceous, nutty, and bright, this rendition of the Prohibition-era classic doubles the gin for a more robust cocktail.

Unlock the cure for the common roast turkey with New York City chef Heather Carlucci-Rodriguez's ingenious techniques: First, toast and grind whole spices to coax out their essential oils. Next, marinate the turkey with the spices and yogurt in an oven roasting bag overnight. Then roast the turkey in the bag to lock in flavors and keep the meat ultra juicy. You'll have plenty of richly spiced gravy to pass around the table.

The fresh herbs in this dish- part of the gluten-free menu at Boston's Myers + Chang-add flavor but not fat.

Watermelon is a heart-health heavyweight. It has about twice as much ticker-protecting lycopene as tomatoes do.

A spicy salad of pork belly and watermelon pickle at New York City's Fatty Crab restaurant inspired bartender Philip Ward of Mayahuel to invent a liquid riff on the dish. If you're a Margarita fan, you'll love this drink, which is made with mezcal, tequila's smoky cousin. Don't mess around with the cheap stuff; look for bottles in the Del Maguey line of mezcals, including Vida de San Luis del Rio.

"I created this pitcher drink for people to sip on their front porch, or for city folks to drink at our sidewalk café," says Damon Boelte, bar director at Prime Meats in Brooklyn. If you've never had a beer cocktail or, better yet, a cocktail made with drinking vinegars, let this be your introduction to two growing trends in the bar world. Look for Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy, a.k.a. applejack ($23), made by America's oldest family-owned distillery, at better liquor stores.

Red O bartender Steve Calabro was inspired by chef Rick Bayless's fresh, ingredient-driven style to create this bright summer drink. After testing an early version, Bayless grated lime zest into the Margarita, Calabro added a red orchid to the glass, and they pronounced it finished.

Enough to marinate 2 pounds of chicken (skin-on thighs, legs, or wings) or pork (chops, loin, or boneless shoulder)

Enough to marinate 2 pounds of pork (tenderloin, shoulder, or bone-in chops) or fish (firm, white-fleshed fish such as sea bass; shrimp or scallops)