Mango

Fresh fruit caramelized and embedded in rich buttery cake makes a great dessert any time of year. Just about any seasonal fruit that you have on hand works very well in this recipe. Try peaches, apricots, and, of course, pineapple. The beauty of this one-pan cake is its simplicity: you don’t even need a cake pan. If the basil in your herb garden has, like mine, grown to the size of a bush, and you’ve had your fill of pesto, consider trying the basil ice cream recipe. Basil is a super fruity and floral herb, which to me is a natural for ice cream. When people take their first bite, the reaction is always the same: oh my God!

This gorgeous salad is the perfect balance of hot, sweet, salty, and sour that is the core of Thai cuisine. The cool mixture of mango, onion, and radish is topped with hot crunchy fried fish. This salad is downright addictive and will blow you away with its tastebud-awakening flavors and mix of textures. When cutting the fish, don’t worry if the pieces are not perfectly uniform. Take note: this salad doesn’t like to sit around, so serve it as soon as you can after you fry the fish. Leftover soy-lime vinaigrette will keep covered in the refrigerator for up to five days and is awesome tossed with chilled soba noodles or served as a dipping sauce for dumplings.

Ceviche is a much-loved dish in Miami, with a million delicious variations. In a nutshell, it’s seafood that is prepared by marinating in citrus juice, which makes the fish more opaque and firm, just as if it had been cooked with heat. I like to keep my recipe pretty straightforward and often use grouper, a favorite local fish. If you want to play around with other kinds of seafood, snapper, striped bass, scallops, and halibut are all the right texture. Whichever you choose, it’s important to start with the freshest, cleanest fish possible. The bright, refreshing combo of orange, lemon, and lime with creamy avocado and sweet mango makes for a great balance of texture, flavor, and visual appeal. If I had to describe it, I’d say it tastes like sashimi salsa! A little of the kimchi base adds another level of pow. You can sub a good hot sauce but trust me; it’s crazy good with the kimchi! As with all cold preparations, all of the ingredients should be cold to start. Also take the time to chill your serving bowls to ensure the dish is enjoyed at the proper temperature. For a cocktail party, serve the ceviche in tablespoons or wonton spoons as single bites.

Creamy, fruity, refreshing, and vegan. The combination of mango and coconut makes this a perfect dessert to follow a Caribbean or Indian meal.

We use unripe mango here as one would a vegetable. Be sure that the mango is still hard to the touch (you should not be able to put a dimple in it) so you can then julienne it. Adding a bit of lime enhances the mango’s freshness.

This is one of the first desserts I learned from François Payard. It’s complex in flavor yet simple in ingredients and technique. Put it in the freezer for a while until it’s so cold that it’s slushy, and serve it with assorted tropical fruits.

I enjoy going out for Indian food and pairing a cool, calming lhassi with a heavily spiced meal. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to develop one for my dessert menu. This one—which I worked out with my friend and onetime sous-chef Jason Casey—is creamy smooth and softly perfumed with rose water and cinnamon.

This exciting, inviting fruit salad is especially delicious served with grilled pork or chicken.

Does your morning routine need a wake-up call? This smoothie will energize you—and might even make you look forward to getting out of bed!

Turn a serving of your favorite fruit into a delectable dessert with an extra-easy sauce reminiscent of cheesecake.

Here’s a modern twist to a comforting favorite. It’s perfect not only for dessert but also as a starter for a summer brunch.

Though this shake isn’t as thick as some, it’s still incredibly rich and really satisfies that chocolate craving. In the evening, I love to add Triple Sec or orange liqueur to make it even more indulgent. The liqueur really adds even more depth and makes the shake something special. But either way, I’m sure you’ll find it delicious!

Let’s face it, baking cookies or making candy can take a lot of time—time we sometimes just don’t have. But we do still want to offer treats that are made with love. These truffles are a simple, fast, and fun answer that will keep you from slaving over a stove and will keep your family fit and happy. In fact, they’re the perfect homemade sweet treat to impress everyone whether they’re interested in eating healthfully or not. And, they’re even perfect for getting the kids in the kitchen with you.

Juice bar smoothies have justifiably gotten a bad rap because they’re often chock-full of added sugar and calories. This twist on traditional raspberry lemonade uses only 1 teaspoon of honey, and the rest of the sweetness comes from real fruit. Note that it’s important to use frozen fruit in smoothies because if you use too many ice cubes to try to get that thick consistency, you’ll end up with a watery, not-as-good-as-the-juice-bar’s smoothie in minutes.

This is a light and simple chicken dish that’s perfect for a summer barbecue. Although we eat more chicken than any other animal protein in the United States, the problem with most of it is that it is insipid and tired. A fruit-based salsa like this one offers some sweetness and acidity that really sparks up this ubiquitous bird. This recipe is simply too good not to include.

Serve with steamed asparagus, snap peas, or green beans.

Maurice and Anne-Juliette Belicha, together with their two young daughters, lead a Jewish life, bringing their kosher meat from Paris and only using bio (organic) products, in the Dordogne. While Maurice is producing kosher foie gras (see page 47), Anne-Juliette is trying to realize her dream of opening a kosher bed-and-breakfast in the Dordogne. She makes this delicious mango chutney, which marries well with both her husband’s foie gras and with chopped liver.

This is best made when good fresh mangoes are in season. When they are not, very good-quality canned pulp from India’s excellent Alphonso mangoes may be used instead. Most Indian grocers sell this.