Make Ahead

Quick pickled vegetables are welcomed any time of the year. Use fresh produce like cauliflower, carrots, radish, radish pods, or raw turmeric for this preparation.

This mango achaar is of our favorite ways to eat tart mangoes in the summer. This sweet-spicy preparation traditionally pairs with seasoned or stuffed rotis and parathas.

This all-purpose condiment is an ideal finisher for anything you might care to grill. Make it ahead and have it ready to spoon over grilled meats, fish, and vegetables.

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

Canning and preserving have long been an essential tactic of survival, and chowchow is a condiment born of both ingenuity and necessity. Here, green tomatoes not yet ripe enough to eat are transformed into a bright pickled expression of the first days of summer. It has been said that chowchow began as a collection of remnant produce that couldn’t be used in other dishes, so it became its own reclaimed relish. As you chop each vegetable, consider that origin: making the most from the least, creating abundance from scarcity. You can use four heatproof glass pint jars for this, though I prefer eight 8-ounce jars instead so I can share it around. Using pickling salt, such as Morton Canning & Pickling Salt, helps the liquid stay clear and keeps the cabbage from turning brown.

The ham and cheese-filled loaf is the savory quick bread you didn't know you needed. We love it with Gruyère, but sharp cheddar works just as well.

No cocoa means this red velvet cake is a vibrant magenta. To finish: a classic cream cheese frosting and a scattering of chopped pecans.

You can personalize these tea cakes if you like, substituting a pinch of cinnamon, allspice, or mace for the nutmeg or sour cream for the buttermilk.

The tender sweetness of summer-fresh strawberries paired with chunks of cherry-red rhubarb creates our favorite sweet-and-sour dessert.

This one-pot dish, called khichdi in some regions, is made from rice, yellow lentils called moong dal, which are split mung beans without skin, and black pepper and cumin seeds fried in ghee or butter. The lentils and rice cook together, making a creamy, rich dish resembling risotto. 

This versatile condiment brings a balanced mix of sweet, salty, acidic, and herbaceous flavors that complement virtually any pizza. If it’s not pizza night but you’ve got leftovers, drizzle this over roasted vegetables, cooked chicken, or a crispy-skinned piece of fish.

If you want to bake these cookies now and don’t have buckwheat flour on hand, whole wheat flour is an acceptable substitute. Your cookies won’t have the same depth of flavor, but they will still be delicious.

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

Sweet rice flour makes this super-adaptable cake gooey-bouncy on the inside and crispy-chewy on the outside. Even better, this particular recipe can go in any flavor direction you want: Add cocoa, matcha, or malt powder; throw in some cinnamon, cardamom, or turmeric.

We took millionaire bars—shortbread plus caramel plus chocolate—and gave them an upgrade (hence, billions) with sesame seeds and tahini. The shortbread is tender, the filling is gooey, and the chocolate ties it all together.

Take your time when streaming the butter into the egg and sugar mixture—you want to create an emulsion, as when making a vinaigrette. If you go too quickly, you’ll end up with a greasy batter.

There’s a history lesson in this spice blend: Yemen and India were stops on the ancient trade route, so this turmeric-based mix bears a resemblance to some Indian masalas.

Because you don’t have to chill the dough, this cookie cuts your kitchen time in half. And when it comes time to decorate, no need to panic if your first attempts don’t work out. Simply wipe off the failed glaze and let the cookie dry for about five minutes, then try again.

Hold these sesame-coated chocolate-and-nut cookies up to the light to appreciate the stained-glass effect of the dried fruit.

If butter pecan ice cream were a cookie, it would be this all-levels skillet shortbread.