Make Ahead

In the state of Chiapas, these are made with chewy dried shrimp and called tostadas turulas. Use the most flavorful shrimp and best tomatoes you can find.

We use this rub on just about everything that we smoke at the restaurant, but you needn't follow the recipe exactly. Feel free to improvise on the ingredients and amounts, reducing the sugar for a less-sweet "bark" (crust), increasing the cayenne for a spicier one, and so on.

The classic combination of peaches and cream takes a trip south of the border in these cinnamon-spiked ice pops.

Serve this cooling mint-infused watermelon juice as cooling refreshment in the summer sun.

In Mexico, salpicón is a kind of shredded meat or fish salad, usually made with beef, and commonly served on tostadas. This version gets a fresh crunch from radishes and sweet acidic kick from a combination of lime and pineapple juices.

This black bean spread gets a hint of unexpected sweetness from the ground fennel seeds. Traditional Mexican dishes often use dried avocado leaf, which has a similar flavor. Try the spread as a base for tostadas or nachos, or serve with chips for dipping.

An addition of cornmeal gives these bars a sandy, crunchy, slightly savory crust that’s perfectly complemented by tart lime curd and sweet blueberry glaze.

Fresh berries—combined with a jar of preserves—give these bar cookies a jammy center with ruby-red, candy-like edges.

Once you try the combination of tangy and smoky flavors of pickled, grilled cabbage, you'll always want to make your slaw this way.

Skip the dried-out grocery store slaw packets. Instead, grate broccoli stems and toss with chopped florets and an Asian-inspired dressing for a great combo of textures and bold, beautiful flavor.

How do you make lemon bars even better? Turn them pink. Add bright color and tangy flavor with a splash of fresh raspberry purée.

When we added Earl Grey ice cream to our trucks' offerings in 2009, New Yorkers went mad for it. Not surprisingly—black tea, combined with bergamot oil, cuts through the summer heat about as well as anything. We use a high-quality loose tea from our favorite tea brand, Rishi, which uses pure Italian bergamot citrus oil (and not bergamot flavoring), to make the most intensely fragrant Earl Grey tea ice cream.

These vegan brownies took at least thirty rounds of serious test-kitchen madness (not kidding!). When we finally said, okay, okay, moist and crumbly and chocolatey and delicious, we gave in. I used flaxseed meal and warm water to create a binder that replaces the need for egg. These egg-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, guilt-free brownies are some of the best you will ever taste! They will crumble a bit more than regular brownies, so beware of crumbs!

At Selamat Pagi, our Balinese restaurant, lime, ginger, and lemongrass are mainstay ingredients, appearing in many dishes. We were thinking about making a sorbet that reflected some of these ingredients and wondered what would happen if we threw all of them together. Our initial taste transported us back to the lush green hills of Bali, after which we were all too disappointed to find ourselves standing in our test kitchen. Along with lemon sorbet, this might be our go-to refreshment when we desperately need to cool off.

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.

This sandwich gets better and better the longer it sits (okay, to a point); assemble it after breakfast and eat it when you've worked up an appetite.

A thousand might be an exaggeration, but this complex syrup can be used many ways. Add to spritzers, drizzle over fruit, mix into yogurt, or spoon onto grapefruit halves (to name just a few).

Make the rice before you leave, and pack the vinaigrette in a little jar on the side. You'll thank us, Scout's honor.