Yogurt

Use plátanos manzanos—a short, fat, and incredibly sweet plantain variety—if you can find them. When pan-fried, the outside caramelizes and forms a hard shell while the inside becomes soft and custardy (like crème brûlée!). Look for them in Latin and Caribbean supermarkets or in the tropical fruit section of large supermarkets.

Cube your salmon and roast it at high heat for a perfectly charred exterior and tender, flaky interior. The creamy marinade in this recipe brings flavor, while also keeping the salmon moist.

This super-flavorful dish spins the flavors of shish barak—lamb and pine nut dumplings from the Levant—in a pasta direction.

These crispy zucchini fritters take inspiration from the Bengali onion snack piyaju. Soaked and blended red lentils make up the batter, which is spiked with turmeric and chile powder.

The trick to keeping this salad crisp? Salt, drain, and squeeze excess liquid from the cucumbers before dressing them. Add a swoosh of yogurt and juicy oven-baked meatballs to make it a flavorful, filling meal.

These veggie patties are streamlined enough for a weeknight dinner, packed with protein, and deeply savory thanks to mushrooms and mellow white miso.

Tangy labneh gives this ice cream serious Froyo vibes. With the crushed granola, you could almost eat it for breakfast.

This grilling method gives similar crispy skins and creamy interiors to eggplant, which need just a handful of toppings to get full-on delicious.

Adding yogurt to the batter for these cake doughnuts made them light, tangy, and rich, and gave us a dough that was easy to work with.

Mix the batter with a fork until it just barely comes together. A lumpy batter now means a light and tender waffle later.

Pillowy flatbread is an optimal canvas for buttery avocados and a spicy salsa, but it can also be a vehicle for all kinds of dips and spreads. Just don’t call it avocado toast!

These fluffy buttermilk rolls are filled with a cinnamon-scented date purée to capture all that sticky bun glory without being overly sweet.

Who needs beef? When you combine chicken with shredded veggies and a tangy Greek yogurt sauce, you get a burger as thick and juicy as any other.

Broccoli rice is the base for bright toppings like fresh peas, avocados, and pickled ginger. Round out the bowl with a creamy, herby dressing and a soft-boiled egg.

This lovely, simple dish is great to have in your fridge at all times. It adds a wonderful, distinctive flavor to any dish it accompanies.

Mashing some chickpeas into the sizzling chorizo adds heft while keeping this meal light on the meat

This refreshing blended drink is inspired by ayran, doogh, and lassi. Yogurt makes it tangy and creamy; white pepper gives a touch of earthy heat.

This smoothie mimics the flavors of everyone’s favorite muffin.