Starter

These spiced-packed pickles are the perfect combination of tart and sweet, great for pre-dinner snacking or to top a sandwich. Yellow squash is delicious, but the brine also works well with cucumbers, zucchini, onions, or mushrooms.

Always use firm-fleshed white fish, without skin and bones, to prepare classic ceviche. Avoid oily or fatty varieties of fish.

Most people think of ambrosia salad as a cloud of chunky white fruit in a glass bowl with neatly arranged canned mandarins on top. But we've evolved from those dark ages, and it's high time this salad got a makeover. Ambrosia can be reeeaally delicious, if made with the best, freshest ingredients. If you are even thinking about using dried coconut flakes from a bag, don't bother with this. Sweet fresh coconut meat is what makes it a standout. I don't usually go for aperitifs, but a chilled glass of Lillet is perfect with this salad.

These flavorful grilled mushroom skewers get their pop from a marinade of red wine or Sherry vinegar, garlic, and chopped fresh thyme.

This pretty green soup is creamy, cool, and refreshing. Top each bowl with a flavorful mix of parsley, mint, olive oil, and lemon zest.

These spicy and crunchy chickpeas make a crowd-pleasing snack to serve with cocktails.

Choose a mild and creamy Gorgonzola for this dip.

Poaching the shrimp with their shells on locks in their flavor.

Skillet smoking is a chef's trick that's easy to do at home.

The rich Spanish flavors of smoked paprika and Marcona almonds are balanced by the bright freshness of parsley and celery in this update on a classic side dish.

Chop up a lemon—flesh, rind, and all—and stir it into an herby salsa to spoon over sweet charred scallops.

Inspired by chile salt-sprinkled mangos, this salad is so deftly seasoned, you won't even notice there's not a drop of oil in the whole dish.

Feel free to adapt this fruit salad as the seasons change; aim for a mix of juicy fruit (like melon), stone fruit, and berries.

A texture riot of a salad; it gets crunch and creaminess from toasted pecans and almond butter(!).

Who doesn't love a wedge? Ask your butcher to cut slab bacon into thick slices (about 1/4") to yield nice meaty pieces once they're crisped on the grill.

Lime is an integral part of great guacamole—or so we thought. Turns out, you get to taste and enjoy the pure flavor of avocado better in guacamole without the lime.