Mint

A combination of kale, chard, spinach, dill, and fennel fronds gives this soup a fresh flavor. Fiber-rich barley adds a hearty note.

If you don't have time to drain regular yogurt, buy thick, Greek-style yogurt, available at many supermarkets and at specialty foods stores.

The Middle East on a flatbread: Turkish meatballs, a tahini-spiked yogurt sauce, and muhammara, a Syrian red pepper spread.

One cute cocktail contains only 7 grams of sugar—including the candy cane. Sip and stay sleek!

Paper-thin slices of fennel, juicy grapefruit segments, and fresh parsley and mint make a beautiful winter salad. Using a V-slicer to cut the fennel helps the easy side dish come together even more quickly.

Here, the sunny warmth of mint escapes the sweet-jelly cliché to find new expression in the thick Argentinean herb sauce called chimichurri. Its bright acidity cuts the lush richness of lamb shoulder chops.

Butterflied lamb cooks faster and more evenly, and is easier to trim of fat and silverskin, than a whole leg of lamb. A butterflied leg has more surface area than a whole leg, so there's more flavor from the marinade and the grill. The lamb can be marinated up to 2 days in advance.

This is the standard salad-relish you find in every tavern and restaurant in Istanbul. It accompanies grilled meat and especially kebabs. Turkish food is often eaten with a spoon, and so is this salad—all its ingredients are finely chopped. Instead of a simple lemon vinaigrette, which is the most common dressing, I like to add a little balsamic vinegar and lemon zest. Add as much jalapeño as you like, but bear in mind that this Turkish salsa is meant to be refreshing and not overpoweringly hot.

We've been making tabbouleh for years, but when Fran's Iranian friend Parvine Latimore made it for a special party, we both changed our recipes. Parvine used extra lemon juice and more fresh herbs than we were used to. The result was incredible—a delicious taste of lemon with every bite of grain and a burst of freshness from the blend of fresh herbs with every mouthful.

A huge hit for us: spicy, sour, sweet, and herbaceous. This is among the greatest noodle dishes ever.

Yogurt drinks are popular throughout India—some are flavored with sugar or fruit, while others, like this one, are more savory. "I give sample tastes of this all the time at the restaurant," says Susan Feniger, "and people are shocked by how refreshing it is."

Talk about flower power. As every gardener knows, late summer brings a bumper crop of zucchini and, better yet, of zucchini blossoms—known in Italy as fiori di zucca. Here, the tender yellow-orange blooms are filled with ricotta, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and mint, then batter-fried. Served alongside an easy tomato sauce (dip as you like), they make an irresistible first course or, with the addition of a green salad, a satisfying main.

Mint gives sprightliness to robust mackerel and mushrooms in a quick escabeche that manages to be both substantial and refreshing.

Watermelon and yogurt may sound like unlikely bedfellows, but this refreshing dish deliciously disproves that assumption. Flaky shards of sea salt, added just before serving, highlight both the melon's sweetness and the sauce's savory tang.

Nothing says "garden fresh" like a handful of aromatic herbs, and while you may be tempted to take bulgur down the well-traveled tabbouleh road, a little deviation can be an excellent thing. In this case, cilantro steps up to the plate, replacing parsley (typical of tabbouleh) and adding distinct flavor to an already intoxicating amount of mint. Toasting almonds in olive oil and then adding both to the mix enhances the nuttiness of the whole grain.

Here's a recipe for green soup. It's the easiest thing ever.

Food editor Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez, who created this menu, takes the Mexican tradition of sprinkling corn on the cob with cotija cheese and dried chile and turns it on its head. By substituting crumbled feta and mint, she gives the summer standby a Mediterranean slant. Cutting the ears into smaller sections makes them easier to coat with the buttery cheese and herb mixture—and way more fun to eat.