Mint

We can't think of a better large-format meat. A leg of lamb is fatty and flavorful, and its size makes it hard to overcook.

This salad is crunchy, herby, cooling, and refreshing. To add some heat between bites, serve fresh green chiles for nibbling alongside.

This recipe uses the fat that renders when chicken thighs are seared on the stove to soften thick rounds of leeks and spring peas for a built-in side dish.

It’s a wrap griddled in sausage fat until the outside is crispy and warm. Need we say more?

This is not your average roasted vegetable recipe. With unexpected additions like sherry vinegar, paprika, and mint–and the nutty addition of spiced pecans–this dish is a holiday must-have if you want to impress your food-fanatic friends.

When all the flavors meld, the dried mint blooms and transforms this dish into a refreshing slaw that pairs well with fatty cuts of meat.

The shrimp cooks in minutes, so while it’s marinating, set out a platter of lettuce cups, mint sprigs, chopped peanuts, sliced cucumbers, and the reserved sauce.

This bright-green combination of lemon and mint is found on tables throughout the Middle East.

This refreshing beverage makes the most of peak-of-the-season strawberries. Look for the best you can find. You can skip the rose water, but its delicate flavor goes really well with berries and will add something special.

Refreshing! And potentially debilitating, so be careful. Pitmaster Furman uses Lawn Dart ginger-lemon liqueur, but Absolut Citron will work.

Part of what makes this salad so great is the dynamic textures; the cracker-like baked lavash croutons and the crunchy cucumbers and radishes contrast with the creamy feta and soft herbs.

If you don’t have za'atar on hand, dried mint is equally delicious infused into hot oil.

Loving meatballs has never been this rewarding. They're gilded with lots of strong spices and set in a cooling swoosh of yogurt and anointed with the sweet brightness of a mint pesto. Sound fancy? Not really. We use ground lamb, which is naturally fatty and can be baked without sacrificing juiciness or a charred crust.

This is an antidote to every side salad that ever was. Instead of meh greens, it's got shavings of fennel that bend and twist but keep their refreshing crunch. It's got a lean dressing and nuggets of deeply toasted croutons, meaty walnuts, and shards of Parmesan. It has acidity and zing—lemon juice, the zest, vinegar, mint, and red pepper flakes—just in case you were worried about palate fatigue. This is what salad looks like in 2018.

Larb will not only fill your belly, it will teach you how to balance sweet, sour, salty, spicy, funky, and umami flavors. Larb hails from Laos and gets its addictiveness from the way it stitches together ground meat and crunchy, juicy textures. When you get the balance right, this dish sings, each bite creating a craving for more.

Millet, a wonderfully healthy, naturally gluten-free grain, stands in for the more common bulgur wheat in the North African–inspired parsley salad in this simple baked chicken dish.

This gorgeous tumble of carrot ribbons and mixed herbs provides a crunchy, fresh counterpoint to any rich meat main.

This fresh slaw is refreshing, tart, crunchy, and wonderful served alongside grilled chicken.

These sweet and very tangy neon pickles pair best with grilled meats, stews, and braises.

You can get away with making this foolproof salad with a sharp knife, but a mandoline is the ideal tool.