This tasty pasta dish left me wondering why on earth I had never tossed pasta with a cilantro pesto before—I may never ever go back to basil pesto. The vibrant Latin flavors of the lime and cilantro work beautifully transformed into a just-barely-creamy sauce for the pasta. And the sweet tender shrimp are just as comfortable and delicious nestled in this fusion pasta as they would be in either shrimp scampi or shrimp tacos. It may seem odd at first that the recipe calls for no salt (except the pasta water), but with the amount of flavor packed into the sauce, the little salty accent of the feta is all that's needed. I'll definitely be making this one again.

Lately, my mother and I have been making a lot of kothu paratha, a street food common in certain parts of South India. Although the dish has origins in Sri Lanka, kothu paratha has been wholeheartedly embraced here in India.

The highlight of this dish is the warming, aromatic broth. Definitely take the effort to make the broth with the prawn shells (don’t forget the heads!) -- I only boiled them for 30 minutes due to time constraints, but that was sufficient to impart great flavor with the beautiful soffritto base.

This dish highlights a standard procedure for preparing shrimp to enhance its bouncy texture and coax out its natural salinity and sweetness. First, the shrimp is washed thoroughly in salt and baking soda, to tighten its texture. Second, the shrimp is velveted in egg whites and starch to provide a coating that’s slippery and protective. Finally, the shrimp is poached at a relatively low temperature to gently cook the shrimp without overcooking and shocking its flesh.

Throughout the Caribbean, rum shops are everywhere, and many serve finger foods known as cutters or cuttas. This rum shop cuttas is inspired by the classic Guyanese egg ball with seasoned cassava and Creole stew shrimp. The cassava ball mixture can be prepared two days in advance and refrigerated. Let it come to room temperature for 30 minutes before coating and frying.

I finally got around to watching Julie and Julia and was inspired by the aspic scene and also by Merrill's Jell-o foray earlier this year. With those two notions in mind I was looking in my freezer and noticed I had saved enough shrimp shells to make what I call a quick stock, and yes I save shrimp shells. It is strong enough to taste the shrimp but not overpower good tasting tomatoes. Some sort of home made mayonnaise makes a great dipping sauce for this dish. With the back porch fan whirling away above us, the birds chirping, a nice glass of Chenin Blanc and the sun setting it makes for a nice end to a great day.

I love this sort of dish. A few simple ingredients perfectly executed, building layers of flavor. The shrimp are brined, making them crisp, yet tender and juicy. The corn is cooked in a quick shrimp stock, bringing out its sweetness. Paired with the tartness of the tomato, the zip of a light, lemony mayonnaise, and a spot of mildly pungent basil, this salad is a great summer starter. I prefer using a slightly bitter green, such as arugula or even sliced Belgian endive, to balance the sour, salty, and sweet. The key word here is “summer” salad. Make this in summer with wild American shrimp when the corn, tomatoes, and basil are ripe.

The no-knead Neapolitan pizza dough is incredibly easy to make. All you have to do is mix the ingredients together with a wooden spoon, then do a set of rises and folds. I chose to use a high-hydration dough which I find is easier to shape and leads to a more tender crust, but feel free to play around with it. My proportions were 100% flour to 80% water, and although you could decrease it to 75% or 65%, I urge you to trust the process and stick with the higher ratio.

This is a perfect one-dish meal for one for those of us who are trying to eat a bit lighter these days. (Too much ice cream, too many cookies, cheese, an awful lot of butter and creme fraiche...you know what I'm saying.) I used squash and spring onions from my weekly CSA ration--it can be modified however you like. You can easily multiply it, and it would be good with some brown rice or a little pasta. I made it pretty tart because I love lemon, but feel free to adjust the seasoning however you like. Butter at the end will enhance the sauce, but I kept it optional for those of us who are trying to lose the Food52 five pounds!