Megan Gill-Kopp won our September 2005 Cook the Cover contest by creating a Mexican twist to Gourmet’s Chocolate Mink recipe.”

Though this rice mainly functions to sop up meaty red sauce, a quick sauté with garlic and onion means it can hold its own.

Juicy pineapple meets creamy avocado, crisp jicama, and red onion in a refreshing salad that goes especially well with the cilantro-chipotle tilapia.

Pungent cotija cheese, a garnish for Tortilla Soup with Chiles and Tomatoes, becomes the main event in this delectable sandwich.

Mexican butchers sell thin, salted, super-long strips of beef for tasajo, you can improvise with top sirloin sliced and salt-cured for a couple of days.

The surging popularity of sandwich wraps and quick Mexican snacks like quesadillas has turned the flour tortilla, a staple once largely confined to northern Mexico, into something found in supermarkets...