Serrano Chile

Beets can stand up to a hard roast and plenty of spice. Their sweet earthiness and firm texture mean they’re ideal for making meatless chorizo. If beets aren’t your thing, any sweet root vegetable will work.

This sweet-and-sour glaze will work on other proteins like chicken, steaks, or ribs.

In this spicy salad, cubes of fried tofu act like tender-bellied croutons amid the leaves of baby kale, only with much more protein and spunk than the usual toasted bread.

Sure, you could use just one kind of potato for this pomegranate-topped side dish, but we love to combine a few. Try orange and purple sweet potatoes plus Yukon Golds. 

This dish is triply aggressive, with sweet, sour, and spicy tastes strung together in an intense interplay. To make it your own, experiment with the balance of those three elements—you might make it more sour, or very, very spicy, depending on your palate and preferences.

Finely grating the aromatics in this Vietnamese-leaning marinade unlocks their flavor without endless chopping.

Pico de gallo, but make it roasted.

This all-green salad gets a kick from serrano, ginger, and just a hint of fish sauce. Keep the melon ice-cold for maximum contrast.

You can use whatever cut of steak you’re in the mood for—or even a chicken cutlet or thin-cut pork chop here.

If you can find it, try making this green sauce with hoja santa, a robust aromatic Mexican herb—if not, any hardy green will work (we call for kale).

For the diner who can never decide, this classic dish marries salsa roja and salsa verde over a bed of chicken enchiladas. A crown of queso fresco, crème fraîche, and crisp raw onions bridge the gap.

Pickle brine lends a distinctive tang to the rice, giving the whole dish a nice, lively jolt. This recipe can work with any kind of pickling liquid, even the ordinary stuff from a jar of pickles or cornichons (we tested it with a few kinds). If brown rice isn’t your thing, use another grain: Try barley, farro, or freekeh.

This riff on the Greek classic swaps out potatoes for parsnips, which gives the dip a touch of sweetness that pairs well with the feta and chiles.

Meet your new favorite, cold-weather one-pan salmon dinner. It’s warm and creamy with coconut milk and just spicy enough with green curry paste, ginger, and garlic.

Topped off with a simple raw corn salsa, these patties are a crowd-pleasing and low-maintenance summer dinner.

This is the condiment version of those summer sandals you want to wear with everything. It goes with sandwiches, crunchy vegetables, and chips.

Grilling the chiles tames their heat a bit and adds a nice smoky flavor to this green sauce. You can fine-tune the heat by using fewer or more chiles, depending on the intensity of the ones you have and your personal taste. This sauce goes well 
with any grilled meat or fish.

Cucumbers are practically all water, so you gotta dress them like you mean it. This hot, sweet, and tart dressing will have them covered.

Serve panko-crusted white fish with a piquant relish of cucumbers, fennel, and chiles, kissed with both lime and cilantro.

Don’t let the veggies hang out in the vinegar for too long. You want them to stay crunchy!