Starter

Shrimp tossed in garlic mayonnaise and griddled on thick bread—as good as a late-night snack, as a handheld appetizer, or a quick weeknight dinner. 

Eat these pecans by the fistful or sprinkle them liberally on salads or grilled veggies for deep flavor and crunch.

Pretend you’re on the coast—and not your house in the dead of winter—with this bright and spicy aguachile.

This ode to Gullah Geechee cuisine marries crabmeat with corn kernels for a crispy party starter.

A silky-smooth soup from Marcus Samuelsson’s cookbook, The Rise.

It’s almost silly how easy this dish of impossibly delicious, ooey-gooey cheesy chiles is to execute. 

Tangy cream cheese and sour cream play up the shrimp’s natural sweetness in this summer appetizer.

If the words crispy dumpling skirt don't send you running to your stove, we don't know what will. Instead of steaming these dumplings in water, we simmer them in a vinegary cornstarch and flour slurry that creates a lacy, crunchy golden crust as the water evaporates and the dumplings brown. The vinegar adds tang, but also creates the lightest and crispiest skirt, a pro move we borrowed from Dumpling Galaxy in Flushing, Queens. 

Guaranteed to make any raw vegetable taste good.

Hot-and-sour soup inspired this highly nontraditional springtime version. Miso gives just enough body so that you won't need cornstarch to thicken it, and you can use silken tofu or thinly sliced yuba instead of egg for that same silky effect.

Okay, we waited until now to mention that this creamy, earthy, silky rich soup is vegan. Puréeing some of the mushrooms along with cashews adds body that doesn’t compromise on flavor.

The most impressive appetizer to “casually” pull out of the oven when your friends come over (and it also happens to make a nice Thanksgiving snack for while the turkey rests—just sayin').

This creamy, spicy-sweet dip pairs with leftover rotisserie chicken, jammy eggs, cucumber spears, and roasted sweet potatoes for the perfect desk-friendly lunch.

Like your empanadas fried? This dough was specifically developed to withstand hot oil, and it works beautifully with any filling of your choosing.

Seasoned with Old Bay, a little garlic, and some charred lemons, these shell-on shrimp capture the nostalgic vibes of a classic East Coast fish shack—without any of the lines.

This versatile condiment takes a page from Paula Wolfert’s original version in her book, The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen, in which a surplus of greens gets cooked down to a deeply savory jammy consistency.

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

This salad is a riff on melon and prosciutto. We swapped the melon for jammy figs and sweet tomatoes.

Perfect as either a side salad or a cocktail hour snack platter, you’re going to want to keep serving this mix of complementary sweet and salty and crunchy and soft bites all summer long.

Don’t worry about removing all of the melon seeds in this take on the popular Mexican street snack—they’re edible and add a little crunch.