Fruit

An agua fresca made with fermented pineapple rind, tepache is wonderful not only because of its flavor but because you are using what would otherwise be scraps.

Don't throw away your watermelon rinds. Turn them into these sweetly sour preserves, which are a perfect accompaniment to roasted meats, cheese plates, and more.

This simple baked custard from the Darden Sisters relies on honey for sweetness and a bit of citrus extract and zest for a boost of flavor.

This dish would be just as welcome on the brunch table as on the dinner table, and I wouldn’t fault you for adding a little maple syrup.

Spicy honey helps the chops get nicely caramelized on the grill. A spoonful of peaches mixed with red onion, jalapeño, lime juice, and cilantro completes the dish.

Scorpion bowls are heavily boozed, sugared, and communally shared. These updated Apéritif Scorpion Bowls keep the fun and ditch the sting.

The defining characteristic of this chile sauce is the crispness, and in my version I’ve included old-fashioned rolled oats and coconut flakes for extra crunch. You will find me adding it to pasta, eggs, jook, pizza and, of course, roasted vegetables. 

Esqueixar means “to shred” and that’s what’s done to salt cod in this traditional Catalonian cold dish. Trout is used in this dish instead.

Pomegranate juice adds brilliant color and tangy flavor to these easy ice pops. Letting it freeze for a bit before stirring in the yogurt gives each pop a marbled look.

Even though this salad is all about summery from-the-farm watermelon and tomatoes, the corn nuts make the dish. Their salt and crunch accentuate the juicy sweetness of the fruit.

Layers of nutty pistachio ice cream and bright jam-flavored whipped cream make for a lovely pastel duo in this riff on a classic summer dessert.

A few tweaks to the standard icebox cake formula make this version stand out: jam (in this case, peach) folded into half of the whipped cream for a fruity element, Ritz crackers that go delightfully soft in the freezer but still make a case for belonging in dessert with their salty, buttery flavor, and a layer of butter pecan ice cream right through the middle.