I grew up in LA with a slight touch of Mexican blood in my family, and a neighbor from Guadalajara named Lupe who taught me about Mexican cooking. It was her guacamole method that my mom picked up and passed to me through culinary osmosis. As with most dishes that are passed through generations, this one, I believed for years, was the best. Throughout the years, friends and family have supported me in my belief. Then, a few years ago a neighbor brought her "best" guacamole to a gathering and like two girls wearing the same prom dress, it got really awkward. Hers might have been better.

That's when I started thinking a little more openly about guacamole.
More

Do you enjoy eating spicy food in hot weather? I love the refreshing combination of cool cucumbers and hot chile peppers, as in the case of Korean oi muchim. This quick and easy salad makes a great potluck dish, or a fiery alternative to kosher dill or bread and butter pickles alongside sandwiches. And, of course, it's excellent alongside Korean BBQ (meat or tofu). More

Earlier this week folks chimed in about restaurant salad recreations. One of my favorite restaurant salads here in Los Angeles is the rojak at Singapore's Banana Leaf. Their vegetarian-friendly version of the fruit and vegetable salad served in Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia is spicy, tangy, sweet, and unbelievably refreshing. I won't stop ordering it at the restaurant, but I'm happy to have come up with a homemade version that doesn't require trekking across town. More

I don't often get so attached to one thing that it's all I eat, day in and day out, but it happened with a salad dressing a few months ago. A simple shake-up of miso paste, tahini, and lemon, it's nothing revolutionary, and certainly nothing I hadn't had before at the local healthy lunch joint, but for some reason it's really been hitting the spot.

More

I know I'm not usually the one to share bountiful salad recipes here on The Kitchn. It's not that I don't like salads. I do, I really do. But most of the salads I eat on a regular basis are not "exciting" enough to photograph and wax poetic about for the blogosphere. Something tells me this bright summer salad might make a pretty good exception. More

Mason jars have become ubiquituous across the blogosphere, transporting everything from soup to cupcakes to oatmeal in practical, sensible style. This practicality means they won't fall out of favor any time soon, we predict. Look at the latest in-jar meal we're crazy about: Layered salads, beautiful and bright. More

Remember this list of our favorite quarterly food journals? Now we have another one to add to the list: Chickpea Magazine, a new vegan online and print quarterly publication which launched last Fall. But don't think it's only applicable to vegans and vegetarians! In fact, there are plenty of lovely whole foods features and recipes that eaters of all persuasions will appreciate. More

If you've been following The Kitchn this week, you know we've been elbow-deep in all things grilled: grilled hamburgers, grilled salmon, grilled oysters. But lest we forget, meat and seafood are not the only foods that benefit from a little searing heat. Vegetables—all kinds!—are fantastic on the grill. From artichokes to zucchini, here are 24 grilled vegetable recipes that'll have you firing up the grill just for them: More

Being the primary cook in my household, I was shocked to realize recently that I had no idea how to make one of my favorite marinades. My partner always handles the grilling of galbi (Korean short ribs) plus tofu or tempeh for me, but it seemed silly not to know what went into the sauce for this deeply flavored, salty and sweet Korean-style barbecue. Fortunately, it's pretty simple and now that I know, I can share it with you, too. More

The future of meat substitutes is getting brighter: Beyond Meat, a startup that manufactures protein-packed vegan meat products that purportedly taste and feel like real meat (but with no cholesterol or saturated fat) has some high profile backers, including Obvious Corporation, a company owned by Twitter's co-founders. So what's all the buzz about? More