Serrano Chile

Tart and fiery, this classic bright-green salsa shows off the flavor of tomatillos and the lovable grassy sharpness of fresh unripe chiles. Serve it with anything that would benefit from lively contrast, such as Chopped Fried-Fish Tacos .

Once a way to make use of stale tortillas (by toasting and/or frying them), tostadas are so good that it wasn't long before people simply started using fresh tortillas. After biting into these layers of flavor—crunchy, creamy, luscious—you'll see why.

Take fried fish, break it up, and douse it with lime juice, Worcestershire sauce, chiles, and cilantro, and you have an incredible jumble of textures and flavors. Because you hack the fish into bits, there's no need to find perfect-for-presentation fillets, so this is a great way to use those that aren't flawless, as long as they're fresh.

Szechuan peppercorn's unique flavor is tingly and refreshing rather than chile-hot. You can find them in gourmet shops or online. You can also substitute a pinch of red-pepper flakes if you'd prefer a bit of heat instead.

This dish is only as good as the crab it's made with; buy the freshest you can find.

Purslane has long been considered a weed, but it is increasingly showing up for sale in bunches at farmers markets. Meanwhile, Mexicans have known about its healthful properties for hundreds of years and they eat it both raw and cooked. In Mexico it's called verdolagas. Cooking mellows its tang and shrinks it, which means you can eat more of it! Paired with avocado and a tomato relish, this is a super-healthy vegetarian snack or main dish.

This sauce goes with pretty much any grilled meat; stir leftovers into yogurt to make a dip.

This mixture of spices makes cod- the whitest of fish-taste almost exotic.

Radishes make a crunchy salsa for these–or any other taco you're serving this summer.

This is a spicy yet balanced salsa for green sauce lovers.

Fresh celery lightens this guacamole and adds some serious crunch.

A spicy, tangy option for anyone who loves to put mayo on burgers.

This roasted vegetable duo represents an unconventional combination of vibrant colors, rich aromatics, and sensual tastes. The soups are served as equal partners in one bowl—try each one separately, but be sure to stir them together to get the full experience.

Freshly husked and oven-broiled, roasted tomatillos provide a smoky warmth you just won’t find in jarred salsa. To reduce the sodium here, use half the suggested amount of salt; the flavor will pick right back up with tortilla chips. While fresh tomatillos are an end-of-summer through fall item, you can use the canned variety to whip this up; and play around with the pepper selection to personalize your dip and control the heat.

The combination of plump fresh fish, juicy red bell peppers, sweet onion squares, and pungent cilantro makes for an eye-catching presentation. For additional color, thread yellow, orange, and green bell peppers onto the skewers, or you can tame the heat with thick peach slices. And feel free to swap wooden skewers for the metal variety; just be sure to give them the requisite pregrilling soak of about 30 minutes. Serve these lively kebabs with a simple green salad.

A great recipe is like a strong friendship—it gets better with age. Epicurious member Sooz Wolhuter of Laguna Beach, California, crafted this cabbage salad years ago, riffing on a coleslaw recipe. The blend of ribboned cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, and green onions mixed with spicy soy and chile garlic is perfect for large gatherings. If peanuts aren’t enough protein for you, add some seared Ahi tuna or grilled sliced chicken to bulk it up.

Raw Green Tomatillo Salsa While salsas made from red tomatoes are often on the table, especially in central Mexico, it is the green salsas made with tomates verdes, the smaller, papery husk–wrapped tomatillos of the same nightshade family, that predominate in most of the country. This simple salsa with its tart chile flavor is a surprising accent for any grilled meat.

Here is a recipe I adapted from the cooking of Kurt Gardner, a New York theater man of great culinary passions who has been contributing the dish to our home for years, usually in proportions large enough to feed boroughs. Rare is the month where there is not a frozen bag of this stuff in our freezer, ready to be deployed.