Saute

This dish coaxes its flavor out of the piri-piri sauce, which is popular in South Africa and Portuguese-speaking Africa.

Chitra Agrawal took flavor inspiration for this simple dish from her mother’s home state of Karnataka in South India, where thuppa means “ghee” and anna means “rice” in Kannada, the local language.

With the help of the large holes on a box grater, zucchini transforms into a pile of soft shreds. Cook it down with olive oil, onion, and garlic and it becomes a creamy, caramelized mush that’s great spread on toast (like in the recipe this one was inspired by, Jennie Cook’s Zucchini Butter), stirred into scrambled eggs, or turned into pasta sauce with the assistance of cream and lemon juice. You’ll be amazed by how many zucchini cook down into this one dish—a very good thing when you’re staring down a pile of this prolific summer star.

The key to stress-free stir-frying is all in the prep work. Be sure to chop, slice, and grate everything before even thinking about turning on the stove. Top this dish with fried eggs to put it over the top, but it’s also great without them.

A quick sear gives corn kernels caramelized edges and concentrated flavor. Here, they're cooked with crisp chickpeas, then tossed with za'atar and dressed with a mixture of ginger, jalapeños, miso, and tahini. 

This picadillo is inspired by a version found in San Luis Potosí in central Mexico with potatoes and poblanos.

Adding ginger and soy sauce to caramelized onions gives a bit of zingy punch and intrigue, creating a multidimensional meal that comes together in just one skillet. 

In this 30-minute dish, which is inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi's recipe in his 2011 book Plenty, black pepper is the star, not the sidekick: When bloomed in oil, the coarsely ground peppercorns become piquant and fragrant enough to flavor the entire sauce, no red pepper flakes, dried chiles, or hot sauce needed. Take care not to burn the peppercorns as you toast them or the flavor could swing from spicy to bitter.

This one-skillet recipe is fast and furious—ideal for those nights when you have 10 minutes to stand at the stove, tops. The cooking technique is in the tradition of Chinese stir-fry, in which proteins and vegetables are chopped small so that they cook quickly over high heat, then bound together with a cornstarch-thickened sauce.

Choose your mushrooms carefully: Crimini and white button will never get as crispy as oyster or maitakes.

If you’ve ever tried maitake mushrooms, then you already know this, but they have an unbelievably rich flavor and aroma of piney forest floor and fresh fallen leaves. This recipe celebrates everything we love about them.

This Kung Pao recipe stays very close to the original but includes seasonal peppers.

If we were to round up an all-star team of summer's greatest produce, it'd look a little something like ratatouille: Eggplant and zucchini. Peppers and tomatoes. The gang's all here!

Nam prik is a delicious chile-based dip found all over Thailand. Here's our healthyish take on it.

Lettuce wraps might be our all-time favorite weeknight summer dinner—minimal cooking, maximum flavor and freshness.

The tastiest rice is seasoned sushi rice.

Buttery, garlicky, irresistible shrimp scampi—but make it pasta.

The trick to this citrusy stir-fry is to get your pan roaring hot before adding the ingredients.

Store-bought tortellini are the kind of weeknight hack we can get behind—especially when they're tossed with plenty of garlicky brown butter and toasty walnuts.

The tangy, mouthwatering sauce here is inspired by agrodolce, an Italian sweet and sour sauce made by reducing vinegar, sugar, and spices.