Vegetable

Smoky mezcal, fresh pineapple juice, serrano chile, and cilantro—this is one of my favorite cocktails. The mezcal gives it some edge, and the pine­apple makes it easy drinking. 

Charring cauliflower on the grill turns the exterior crisp and golden, while the internal flesh becomes sweet and nutty. Cutting the head into wedges first maximizes the caramelized surface.

Cut king trumpet mushrooms into planks and grill them until crisp and deeply savory. Then, pile on grilled bread with an herby, cheesy dressing.

If you like your ribs extra saucy, remove them from the grill when they’re ready, baste them one last time with the barbecue sauce, then throw them back on the grill to make them nice and sticky.

This recipe pairs crispy fried plantains with homemade hot sauce and a cooling lime sour cream, but each is delicious all by itself.

Down South, we call this a sitting salad. It can sit on the summer picnic table without wilting, so it’s the perfect potluck dish.

Smothered pork chops may be an iconic soul food specialty, but this recipe proves you can smother anything. All it really means is coating slow-cooked meat with a blanket of saucy aromatics that end up as gravy too.

If your watermelon isn’t very sweet, force it to be savory by adding peppery radishes and a quick vinaigrette. With mint strewn all over, it's super-refreshing.

No cookout in the South is complete without baked beans. This is a simple recipe that combines sweet and smoky ingredients for a thick, rich, and perfect side dish.

This dish is the embodiment of a chowder-style Southern fish stew, packed with shrimp, scallops, potatoes, corn, and more.

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

These fried green tomatoes from Nicole A. Taylor are the star of her Juneteenth menu.

I love the notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, sweet warming spices in these baby back ribs.

Marinate shrimp in a sweet-spicy mixture of apricot preserves, lime, habanero, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger—then throw them on the grill for dinner in 15 minutes.

These tender, fluffy cornbread muffins skip the butter and call for creamy whipped corn instead. A side of homemade jalapeño pepper jelly adds some spice.

Since the crunchy apple and kohlrabi are so refreshing, it would make the perfect palate cleanser between heavier courses at dinner, but most often I eat it for a light lunch.