Dairy Free

I love the flavor of orange zest and spices in a café de olla, so I created a concentrated syrup that is ready on demand to flavor any cold brew. Coconuts are grown all along the Pacific coast of Mexico; use coconut milk to add richness and even more tropical flavor.

Sweet red or green grapes also have just the right amount of acidity. Sweet fennel and honey, Calabrian chile paste, and red wine vinegar make this a balanced meal.

If you’ve only ever had dry supermarket pita, this is a different animal entirely: puffed up like a pillow, savory on its own, and ready to scoop up anything you like.

In this recipe, beets are cooked in two separate batches: One batch is used to make “beet water,” a kind of rich beet stock, and the other batch is cooked and grated. This two-step process gives the borscht its distinct taste and depth of flavor.

Fish and chips, when done well, is a cornerstone of British culinary success. It can be wrapped in old newspaper and eaten at the beach with a wooden fork with the same fervor and joy as a finely dined fish and chips served on white china with an expensive bottle of Chablis next to it. That comforting combination of carb and fish protein can be seen in many other cultures too. (Fish tacos, anyone?) So why wouldn’t Ghana have its own version?

Turmeric, chiles, and chewy-nutty cooked grains balance the sweetness of fresh corn in this loose vegan riff on creamed corn.

This reimagined chicken salad is lighter and leafier than your standard picnic lunch. Tender poached chicken, crisp greens, cukes, and scallions get tossed with a sesame dressing that takes its cues form gomae, a Japanese spinach salad.

Sweet, sticky, charred, and crispy: Barbecued chicken is one of the surest signs of summer. This easy homemade barbecue sauce uses maple syrup for sweetness and Sriracha for heat.

Fresh salmon makes these ginger and scallion-laced burgers luscious and flavorful. Pile them high with peppery watercress, crunchy cucumber quick pickles, fragrant mint, and cilantro.

Pork tacos al pastor may get the fame, but this fish al pastor deserves plenty of glory. A potent chile marinade adds lots of flavor before the fillets hit the grill, and a pineapple salsa is the perfect finishing touch.

Bound together with honey and nut butter, these just-sweet-enough bars are sturdy enough to throw in a beach bag and substantial enough to power you through til sunset.

Tender lettuces get topped with juicy spiced chicken, ripe mangos, soft avocado, and cherry tomatoes. There's so much flavor and texture going on that there's barely a need for a dressing: just a hit of lime juice, salt, and EVOO, and dinner is done.

Escabèche translates to “marinade,” which is exactly what you’re making here: a bright, tangy marinade full of pickled vegetables that also makes an ideal sauce for juicy, thick-cut pork chops.

This fermented-soybean stew is the quintessential representation of Korean jang. The soft tofu, the dashi, and the sweetness of the vegetables work together to mellow the intensity of the doenjang so that your palate can discern the different facets of flavor.

These sweet, crunchy Korean fried chicken wings will stay crispy for hours. Covered and refrigerated, they will even stay audibly crispy until the next day.

This recipe is inspired by the grilled chicken served at Jeerapan, a 77-year-old restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand. Their version is baked in a tandoor-like oven, but I've adapted it for a grill or oven. The two-stage cooking method is essential: The initial roasting at moderate heat partially cooks the meat while dehydrating the skin, getting it ready to crisp up later on and allowing all the scattered bits of fresh aromatics and dried spices in the marinade to adhere. The final stage of cooking is hot and fast, using saffron-infused coconut oil as a basting liquid. The end result is a juicy, fragrant, and intensely flavorful bird, tinted canary gold—its skin smoky, charred, and crisp. The pineapple-chile dipping sauce lends its sweet tang and a mild kick of heat to round out the meal.

This coconut rice recipe appears in Leela Punyaratabandhu's cookbook, Bangkok, as part of a meal that includes green papaya salad, sweet shredded beef, and chicken red curry.

When tomatoes are at their best, we recommend making the salsa roja. During the rest of the year (even in winter), tomatillos still have plenty of flavor and can be your go-to salsa base.

Use refined coconut oil for a vegan pie crust that's flaky without a noticeable coconut flavor.

The truth is, there’s a time and a place for whole-wheat pasta. Its nutty, earthy flavor isn’t the best match with a light tomato sauce, but it works quite well with bolder ingredients like capers and anchovies, which can stand up to the pasta’s wholesomeness. Hearty vegetables pair well, too. Here, broccoli is cooked down and transformed into an extra-chunky, extra savory sauce. For even more texture, grated cheese is swapped for toasted bread crumbs. In Italy, they’re known as pan grattato, or “grated bread,” as peasants once used them as a cheese replacement on their pasta because they couldn’t afford the real deal. Nowadays both are easily within reach, but the crunch they add here makes it easy to leave the Parmesan behind.