Cilantro

Chef Cassie Piuma of Sarma, in Somerville, MA, makes big batches of this bright North African sauce to minimize at-home chopping, then uses it all week.

Celery is the perfect vehicle for a salty, assertive dressing like this one. Chiles and peanuts make this dish that much more addictive. —Alison Roman, senior associate food editor

Hot weather and spicy foods just go together, but this speedy stovetop dish won’t heat up your kitchen.

With lamb rib chops, we insist you leave the fat on the bone.

This sauce goes with pretty much any grilled meat; stir leftovers into yogurt to make a dip.

Radishes make a crunchy salsa for this steak taco recipe—or for any other tacos you’re serving this summer.

A very hot cast-iron pan will get the tomatillos charred quickly without overcooking them. Make a big batch for a great dipping salsa.

Using your food processor’s shredding blade makes this simple bistro salad a very doable weeknight option.

We like to serve this main with couscous, rice, or grilled bread to sop up all of the shrimp’s intensely flavored cooking liquid.

This cut of pork can be very lean, so take care not to overcook it or it will be dry. Ideally, it should still be a little pink in the center.

Grilling whole fish is not as tricky as it sounds. We tie ours with kitchen twine, which makes them easy to handle.

Feel free to play with different herbs in the chimichurri recipe—that’s what Michael and Patrick Sheerin (brothers and co-chefs at Trenchermen, Chicago) have always done: “When we were younger, our mom would buy lots of herbs, but she’d never use them,” says Michael. “So we’d just blend them with garlic, oil, and vinegar.”

This cooling and refreshing salad—with cilantro standing in for the lettuce—is great alongside spicy foods, like our Sambal Chicken Skewers (click for recipe).

Sprinkle the cutting board with chopped herbs dressed with oil and citrus zest before setting the meat on top to rest. The cooked protein will absorb the herbs' aroma.

For this juicy, herbaceous salad, feel free to combine different varieties of cucumbers and tomatoes, which are at peak season around the same time.

This healthy spinach recipe is a light version of dip (thanks, yogurt!).

You can also try this recipe with chives, dill, oregano, or parsley.

Mild, crunchy green papaya is not the same as underripe papaya. Look for it at Asian or Mexican groceries.

This lime-and-cilantro-infused cocktail will appeal to both Gimlet and Martini drinkers. We like to use Tanqueray for its strong juniper and spice profile.