Chile

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. This quick Southwestern cheese dip benefits from a bit of brew in the mix — as it would from a cold Mexican beer enjoyed alongside.

Sliced avocado and purchased salsa are great additions to this Tex-Mex entrée. Let guests assemble their own tacos.

Plancha is simply another word for comal, or griddle.

Rajas is the word for a traditional Mexican mixture of sautéed peppers and onions. Green onions work well in this version.

Here, the classic cranberry sauce becomes a salsa. The traditional ingredients — cranberries and orange — are enhanced with decidedly untraditional ones, such as a poblano chili and cilantro.

Dr. James Henry Salisbury might have been the first of the protein-diet doctors, proclaiming in 1888 that humankind's maladies were caused by too much starchy food. His solution? Chopped lean meat, or hamburger steak. To hide the "liver-y" taste of hamburger, he recommended adding horseradish, mustard or Worcestershire sauce. By the 1900s, Salisbury steak was a staple menu item, often served with mushroom gravy or smothered in onions. This version, inspired by today’s southwestern cooking, has terrific flavor.

Al Forno restaurant put Providence on the culinary map, and grilled pizza-invented there by chef George Germon had a lot to do with it. Here's one to make at home.

This starter was inspired by the tamarind-flavored dishes of Alicia De Angeli, a food writer and consultant in Mexico City, and Mark Miller of Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe.

Michael McLaughlin, cookbook author, says, "Not all Thanksgiving traditions originated decades ago. This recent addition to my holiday menu lineup was inspired by my move to Santa Fe. With locally grown green chilies readily available and pine nuts growing on piñon trees right outside my back door, a southwestern-style stuffing incorporating both ingredients seemed a natural. The tequila-soaked raisins are a sweet surprise." Make the corn bread a day ahead.

Canned chipotle chilies — which give this dish a smoky depth — are available at Latin American markets and many supermarkets. Top the chili with chopped cilantro and green onions, and serve sides of corn bread and spinach salad. For dessert, try lemon sherbet with sugar cookies.

This tsimmes created by Chef Lenard Rubin of the Phoenician Club in Phoenix, Arizona, is so good that I sometimes serve it alone without stuffing it into the chilies.

Lee Schmidt of Wichita, Kansas, writes: "My wife and I just returned from our honeymoon in Mexico. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the elegant Mahakua Hacienda de San Antonio in Colima. Our last night there, we dined on the rooftop terrace and shared an amazing pineapple tartlet." Dice any leftover pineapple and use it, with its caramel syrup, as an ice cream topping.

Accompany this light main course with Buttery Rice Timbales.

This rich, subtly spicy gravy recalls the great Mexican sauce known as mole poblano. The puréed ancho chilies on which the gravy is based are often described as having a chocolatey quality; that is reinforced here with the addition of a small amount of unsweetened chocolate.

On a Green Chile Cheeseburger fresh roasted chiles are as uncommon — and as welcome — as really fine cheese. The topping can be as simple as a whole roasted pod draped across the burger. Or a few plain roasted pods can be chopped and spooned on top. To give the sandwich extra pizzazz, we prepare our version, inspired by Santa Fe's finest offerings, as follows: