Avocado

This uncooked soup isn't for the timid — raw garlic, ginger, and shallot impart strong flavors. Unless you can get freshly made vegetable juice from your local juice bar, you will need an electric juicer to make the tomato or carrot juice. Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 2 hr

This recipe is an accompaniment for Crispy Pork with Avocado Salsa and Tomato Salsa .

María A. Alvarado-Gómez of Erie, Pennsylvania, writes: "I came to the United States as an exchange student, after spending the first 18 years of my life in Mérida, Yucatán. On school vacations I would go home and cook with my mother and sisters so that I wouldn't lose my touch. My mother was a skilled cook, and I was lucky to have learned at her side. Her food was so popular in our neighborhood that she sold portions of our daily meals to other families. With nine well-fed kids, she said we were her best advertisement. "I still take great pride in the food of my homeland. Yucatecan cuisine is known for its Mayan influence, and the essential ingredients we use — limes, spices, avocados, tomatoes, peppers — make for wonderful flavors. Now that ground spices are readily available and vegetables can be quickly chopped in a food processor, preparing traditional Mexican dishes is easier than ever." This dish is the Yucatecan version of huevos rancheros.

Japanese bread crumbs, called panko , give these cakes a light, crisp coating. Panko is sold at Asian markets and can often be found in the seafood section of large supermarkets. But if it's unavailable, plain dry bread crumbs are an acceptable substitute.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time.

For an attractive presentation, mound the salad on shredded lettuce and garnish with tortilla chips. Warm corn muffins and thickly sliced beefsteak tomatoes round out this substantial menu, and sliced fresh peaches and brown sugar wafers make a nice light dessert.

Paired with tortilla chips, this guacamole makes an excellent starter. Also offer chilled Mexican beer throughout the meal.

An easy-to-make sauce to accompany grilled chicken or to toss with pasta. Sprinkle the pasta with some crumbled feta cheese before serving, if desired. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

In the West Indies, salads are rarely leafy; rather they are often based on avocado and onion. We added hearts of palm for an additional tropical touch. Can be prepared in less that 45 minutes.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Margaritas, crisp Mexican beer or sangria would be perfect with this dinner.

This recipe is based on a technique to marinate shrimp with lemons, learned from Barry Morgenstern, a friend who trained at the famous Cordon Bleu in Paris. The marinade quickly infuses deeply into the hot shrimp, imparting bright flavors deep into each morsel. Once all the ingredients are assembled this is an extremely easy recipe, in which all the work can be done in advance.

Cooking chicken as described in the recipe below results in really crisp, almost transparent skin (like that on Peking duck) and moist flesh.