Dairy Free

Grill your corn right away over the high heat of just-lit coals, then let it hang out in a cooler while you grill proteins and more delicate vegetables. The corn will finish cooking by steaming in the cooler and stay warm for hours.

A fermented-garlic-honey and vinegar glaze mellows out the bite of this mixed-peppercorn rubbed chicken. 

Sometimes the best meat in the butcher’s case isn’t beef. Pork shoulder is virtually guaranteed to be pleasantly fatty and flavorful.

The formula for this cooling summer soup couldn’t be simpler: blended cucumbers, tomatoes, and sweet red peppers, plus garlic, herbs, and fresh citrus.

These creamy black-eyed pea patties are flavored with mushroom, miso, tamari, and Scotch bonnet chiles. They’re finished off with a sweet-and-tangy barbecue sauce and a spoonful of chowchow.

Canning and preserving have long been an essential tactic of survival, and chowchow is a condiment born of both ingenuity and necessity. Here, green tomatoes not yet ripe enough to eat are transformed into a bright pickled expression of the first days of summer. It has been said that chowchow began as a collection of remnant produce that couldn’t be used in other dishes, so it became its own reclaimed relish. As you chop each vegetable, consider that origin: making the most from the least, creating abundance from scarcity. You can use four heatproof glass pint jars for this, though I prefer eight 8-ounce jars instead so I can share it around. Using pickling salt, such as Morton Canning & Pickling Salt, helps the liquid stay clear and keeps the cabbage from turning brown.

Potato salad gets a fresh burst of flavor from a dose of Jamaican jerk seasoning. The spicy rub is the foundation of the creamy dressing, where some of the heat is quelled by rich mayonnaise.

A little bit of prep work has a big payoff—a tasty, versatile lunch just waiting for its gochujang-lime dressing.

This Ethiopian dish of chickpeas in a berbere-spiced, flaxseed-thickened sauce makes for a quick, filling, and wonderfully flavorful meal.

Charring cauliflower on the grill turns the exterior crisp and golden, while the internal flesh becomes sweet and nutty. Cutting the head into wedges first maximizes the caramelized surface.

If you like your ribs extra saucy, remove them from the grill when they’re ready, baste them one last time with the barbecue sauce, then throw them back on the grill to make them nice and sticky.

Down South, we call this a sitting salad. It can sit on the summer picnic table without wilting, so it’s the perfect potluck dish.

Smothered pork chops may be an iconic soul food specialty, but this recipe proves you can smother anything. All it really means is coating slow-cooked meat with a blanket of saucy aromatics that end up as gravy too.

If your watermelon isn’t very sweet, force it to be savory by adding peppery radishes and a quick vinaigrette. With mint strewn all over, it's super-refreshing.

No cookout in the South is complete without baked beans. This is a simple recipe that combines sweet and smoky ingredients for a thick, rich, and perfect side dish.

This dish is the embodiment of a chowder-style Southern fish stew, packed with shrimp, scallops, potatoes, corn, and more.

When you have a big backyard full of people to feed, it’s tough to beat pulled pork that’s been smoked until it’s fork tender. 

I love the notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, sweet warming spices in these baby back ribs.

Marinate shrimp in a sweet-spicy mixture of apricot preserves, lime, habanero, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger—then throw them on the grill for dinner in 15 minutes.

These tender, fluffy cornbread muffins skip the butter and call for creamy whipped corn instead. A side of homemade jalapeño pepper jelly adds some spice.