Queso Fresco

Frijoles Meneados Frijoles meneados are an ideal addition to any meal featuring tacos, and they are especially good alongside a grilled steak. In Mexico's frontier region, flour tortillas would be used to scoop up the last remaining bean on the plate.

These little quesadillas are made with masa rather than packaged tortillas.

Accompany the shrimp with grilled zucchini and yellow squash.

Chipotle hot sauce and queso fresco can be found at Latin American markets and at many supermarkets.

Enfrijoladas Enchiladas, entomatadas, and enfrijoladas are all different preparations that take a corn tortilla and bathe it in a sauce of chiles, tomatoes, thick cream, or — as they prefer in Oaxaca — long-simmered black beans. While it is traditional to fold them into quarters or thirds, you can also fold them over once. Wait to season the beans with salt until they are just soft.

Elote Asado Out on a walk in practically any Mexican town, who can pass up the always-present fresh ears of chewy field corn, turning and crisping over the coals? Who isn't attracted to the smoky-smelling, pit-roasted ears (pibinales) when they're poured from gunnysacks in Yucatan? And who doesn't like the fried corn kernels with epazote and chiles in Toluca (esquites), or the ones served from big boiling cazuelas in the capital's Alameda Park, or the ones topped with cream, powdered chile and cheese in the northeastern states? Our sweet corn isn't the same to me, boiled and buttered and served as a summertime vegetable. It lacks a little backbone. So when I'm having it, I usually give it a taste of an open fire, a squeeze of lime and a sprinkling of hot powdered chile…or the lavish spread of butter, cream and cheese of this recipe. Serve it anytime you're grilling, and you'll please practically everyone.

Helen Yard of Flagstaff, Arizona, writes: "I fell in love with Latin food after spending some time in Central America and Mexico assisting with bird studies. Now I study birds along the Colorado River back here in the States. We've got a crew to cook for us in the field, but when I return home I never miss a chance to get busy in the kitchen. " Serve for breakfast with hot buttered tortillas. A poblano is a fresh dark green chile, often called a pasilla, and is available in the produce section of most supermarkets.

Memelas are similar to chalupas and sopes. Pinching up the edges and creating tiny bumps in the centers helps keep the filling in place, which becomes important when the memelas are large.

If the four-inch tortillas used at Café Iguana in Denver, Colorado, are hard to find, the standard five- to six-inch ones also work, or they can be trimmed to the smaller size.

Consider this dish—made with refried beans and crunchy vegetables—an affirmative answer to the question, “Can dip be dinner?”

Mexican esquites meets Chinese tiger salad. This crunchy, bright, sweet, juicy side is everything you want to eat in the summer heat.

Everything you could possibly want in a tostada (and then some): shredded chicken smothered with a smoky, spicy tomato salsa, bacony refried beans, and a smattering of cilantro and cheese.

Top these creamy, beany enfrijoladas with a fried egg, chorizo or roasted vegetables, and queso fresco!

There are countless variations of arepas all over Colombia and Venezuela, but whether they’re stuffed with cheese, chicken, or pork, the dough starts in the same way: with arepa flour.

This corn salsa, along with mayonnaise and tomatillos, helps make up the Elote Dog.