5 Ingredients or Fewer

You can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator. When ready to serve, reheat, stirring frequently, until melted.

This creamy (yet vegan) dessert can follow a meal from just about any cuisine: Caribbean, Indian, Mediterranean, West African, Asian, North American.…

A can of dulce de leche is the key to this smooth, rich, caramel-flavored custard that you can make with only 10 minutes of prep time. It would take hours to make the milk caramel you can purchase ready-made in many supermarkets. The cans are usually shelved with other Latin American foods and called Dulce de Leche, Manjar, Fanguito, Arequíte, or Cajeta.

The richness of this dark, not-too-sweet sorbet belies the simplicity of its ingredients and ease of preparation. Serve it as a lovely dessert, or use it as a pick-me-up on a hot afternoon. The refreshing iciness and the chocolate-coffee flavor are especially good after Mexican food.

Creamy, fruity, refreshing, and vegan. The combination of mango and coconut makes this a perfect dessert to follow a Caribbean or Indian meal.

A protein-rich, almost instant, smooth, deep chocolate dessert. Nice garnished with red raspberries or strawberries.

The easiest crumble we know of—it uses frozen cherries and store-bought shortbread cookies that you can find on the natural foods shelf. (See photo)

Warm caramelized plums are delicious paired with cool and creamy mascarpone. You can also cook the plums under a broiler for about 10 minutes or on a tabletop grill for 5 minutes.

These glossy, burnished, not-too-sweet and not-too-spicy nuts are irresistible. With fresh or dried fruit, they make an elegant dessert. Or add to one of our Fruit & Cheese Plates. A great little something to snack on, too—we like to keep them around to nibble on when supper is a little late. They keep for up to a month.

We developed this little sauce, so easily made, to serve on Seared Scallops (page 169). But it’s so good that soon we were drizzling it on plain vegetables, fish, and grains, too.

This beautiful sunset-red sauce with flecks of green herbs turns pasta, vegetables, potatoes, or fish into a work of art. Leftover sauce keeps in the refrigerator for a week or two.

Cumin salt is a handy seasoning for all sorts of dishes. Crisp crudités are delicious dipped into it, or you can use it to season as you would plain salt. Sprinkle into scrambled eggs or on plain rice, potatoes, fish, corn on the cob, or sliced fresh vegetables, such as tomatoes and cucumbers.

Roasting mellows and sweetens the pungent flavor of raw garlic. Roasted garlic is useful for enhancing salad dressings, sauces, soups, and stews, and it can be used as a spread on bread all by itself.

Refreshing and pretty, this sauce makes a tangy and colorful garnish for curries, stews, and soups.

Spruce up your favorite homemade or store-bought salsa.

Once you’ve made this easy Duck Sauce, you’ll never go back to store-bought!

Who knew that putting together a robust little cocktail sauce was so easy? Plus it doesn’t have the corn syrup and flavor enhancers of commercially prepared sauce.