From Pace Salsa & Picante

Another winning recipe from the Pace® Contest--add crusty bread and salad for a luscious dinner for friends or family.

Caribbean Shrimp

From Better Homes and Gardens

Ground pepper and spices give this rub a Caribbean kick. Use it on chicken before grilling.

Jamaican Jerk Rub

From Fine Cooking Magazine

For more surface and crust, butterfly the tenderloin. If you do, mix a double batch of rub so you're sure to have enough. If you don't have a mortar and are using ground spices, crush everything in a small mixing bowl with a wooden spoon.

Caribbean-Style Grilled Pork Tenderloin

From Midwest Living

Before grilling, apply this sweet-and-spicy seasoning on pork ribs, dark meat portions of chicken and turkey, or boneless duck breast. Grill over indirect heat.

Caribbean-Style Jerk Rub

From Ladies' Home Journal

The olive, raisin, and shallot relish makes an amazing grilled sandwich out of ordinary ham and cheese. Spread any leftover relish on crostini for an appetizer.

Cuban Croque Senor

From Fine Cooking Magazine

This is really a rice and beans dish, but in Jamaica, beans are called peas. Mark Henry, the banquet chef at the Pooks Hill Marriott in Bethesda, Maryland, serves this aromatic dish to accompany his Jamaican Jerk Chicken.

Jamaican Rice & Peas

From Better Homes and Gardens

Shrimp and fish fillets cooked in a spicy coconut sauce make for a complete meal. Add some rolls if you like.

Caribbean Seafood Stew

From Food & Wine

At Panamonte Inn & Spa, chef Charlie Collins teaches students how to make perfectly flaky empanada dough. For fillings, he uses local ingredients like beef jerk (dried, preseasoned meat) and culantro (a long-leafed herb with a pungent flavor); ground beef and cilantro are fine substitutes. Chef Tip: For a flakier empanada, use leaf lard instead of butter.

Mini Panamanian Beef Empanadas

From EatingWell

By cooking your own dried beans, you save money, reduce sodium and get better flavor along with, surprisingly, more vitamins and minerals. If you can't use the whole batch, freeze surplus cooked beans for later use in soups, salads and dips. The range of time for cooking beans is wide and varies with the age and the type of beans selected.

Slow-Cooked Beans

From Betty Crocker

From Betty's Soul Food Collection... Want a delicious nibble? No problem, Mon! Dip into this sweet and salty snack with popcorn, cinnamony cereal, peanuts and a sprinkle of coconut for good measure.

Caribbean Crunch

From Family Circle

Fried plantains are a popular side dish in both Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. To reduce calories, oven-fry them and serve with a dipping sauce made with reduced-fat sour cream.

Tostones

From Fine Cooking Magazine

Tostones, or pan-fried green plantains, are practically the Cuban national dish. Soaking the tostones in salt water before the final fry makes them crunchier outside and moister inside, but you can skip this step.

Tostones

From Fine Cooking Magazine

This recipe is based on the fiery Jamaican seasoning known as jerk, made of Scotch bonnet chiles, ground spices, garlic, and herbs. Serve with a cabbage slaw and buttered white rice.

Spicy Jerk Pork Chops

From Vegetarian Times

This fragrant rice pilaf goes especially well with Indian, Asian, and Caribbean entrees. It's so good and so simple, though, you'll probably find yourself making it often to accompany week- night meals.

Caribbean Coconut Rice

From Betty Crocker

Homemade ham and bean soup with a taste of Jamaica can be on your dinner table in 30 minutes.

Jamaican Ham and Bean Soup

From Better Homes and Gardens

Pickapeppa sauce and a fruit salsa give this meat and potatoes dinner recipe a Caribbean kick.

Caribbean Pork with Sweet Potatoes

From Betty Crocker

Sweet potatoes add fresh flavor to a chunky soup brimming with turkey and vegetables.

Caribbean Turkey Stew

From Betty Crocker

A crunchy and tasty coating of garlic, onion, oregano, cumin, cilantro and cereal creates memorable baked chops with a garlic and citrus sauce.

Pork Chops Cubano with Garlic-Citrus Sauce

From Better Homes and Gardens

Until recently, plantains and yucca were produce items found only in Latino markets and American border towns. With the exploding interest in foods of Central and South America, these wonderful starches are in many supermarkets. Pork and vegetables star in this dinner, which is made in a pressure cooker or the stovetop.

Jamaican Pork Stew

From Fine Cooking Magazine

Here's a twist on traditional American barbecued chicken. The seasoning is a rub similar to Jamaica's jerk, and the "sauce" is a rum and pineapple glaze.

Island-Spiced, Pineapple-Glazed Grilled Chicken Breasts

From Better Homes and Gardens

This Jamaica-inspired stir-fry recipe features two of the easygoing island's favorite ingredients: pork and sweet potatoes.

Jamaican Pork and Sweet Potato Stir-Fry

From Food & Wine

No Cuban meal is complete without a cafe cubano (Cuban coffee). A well-made cafe cubano has a thick layer of sweet crema (cream) floating over strong espresso. To get the crema right, whisk about 1 tablespoon of the espresso with sugar until it turns foamy, then pour the pot of espresso over it. Lourdes Castro says you can't overbeat a crema, so stir it energetically.

Cafe Cubano

From Food & Wine

Jean-Georges Vongerichten loves this tart from his friend Maya Gurley of Maya's Restaurant in St. Bart's. The soft custard filling and the caramelized shredded coconut topping have the creamy-crunchy texture of a coconut macaroon.

Toasted-Coconut Custard Tart

From Better Homes and Gardens

Fresh mint and pepper jelly provide the right balance of "cool" and "hot" in this salsa. It's the perfect accent to the jerk-seasoned pork.

Jamaican Jerk Pork Loin

From Better Homes and Gardens

A marinade flavored with orange and lime juices adds a Cuban touch to roasted pork.

Pork Roast Cubano