For anyone who’s ever bemoaned the state of the chain restaurant chimichanga, behold, salvation.

Marcela Valladolid’s “Fresh Mexico” makes a clean break with the bready, cheesey, beany Mexican food to which Americans have become accustomed. It offers instead a modern cuisine bursting with fresh vegetables, gentle queso fresco and a half-dozen different chilies, both fresh and ground. Oysters, mangos, crab and even prunes make an appearance.

But don’t be fooled by the range of ingredients. Valladolid is judicious in her demands, and seems to keep her promise of “authentic flavors without the fuss.” Individual recipes require relatively few ingredients, shun complicated techniques and promise bold flavors conjured with elements like anchos and chipotles, lemon, lime, tomatillos, cilantro, rosemary and oregano.

Valladolid immediately demotes the burrito to mere appetizer status, offering a duck-stuffed version as delicate finger food. Mascarpone-stuffed squash blossoms with raspberry vinaigrette provide a complex alternative to cheese-drenched nachos. And that giant taco shell filled with iceberg lettuce? Valladolid’s idea of salad includes white beans and grilled octopus spiked with scallions and lime.

Valladolid grew up in Tijuana on the U.S.-Mexico border, so it’s not a stretch to think of her as an ambassador between the two cultures — and of her new book as a kind of passport.

Jalapeno roast chicken with         baby Broccoli

Start to finish: 2 hours (30 minutes active)

Servings: 4

1⁄2 cup packed fresh oregano leaves

1 shallot

4 cloves garlic

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 jalapeno chili, stemmed and seeded

Salt and ground black pepper

51⁄2-pound whole chicken

11⁄2 cups chicken broth, or more if needed

3⁄4 cup dry white wine

2 pounds broccolini

Position a rack in the center of the oven. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

In the food processor, combine the oregano, shallot, garlic, butter, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the jalapeno, 1 teaspoon salt and 1⁄2 teaspoon of pepper. Process to form a coarse paste.

Pat the chicken dry, then place it, breast-side up, on a rack in a large roasting pan. Using your fingers, loosen the skin from the breast, legs and thighs without detaching it. Spread half of the jalapeno paste under the skin.

Tie the chicken legs together with kitchen string. Spread the remaining jalapeno paste over the outside of the chicken. Pour the chicken broth and wine into the roasting pan.

Roast the chicken for 1 hour, basting with the pan juices every 20 minutes and adding more broth if it begins to dry out.

Remove the roasting pan from the oven. Arrange the broccolini snugly around the chicken on the rack. Drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over the broccolini, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Return the chicken to the oven, basting occasionally with the pan juices, until a meat thermometer inserted at the innermost part of the thigh (but not touching the bone) registers 160 F, or about 30 minutes.

(Recipe from Marcela Valladolid’s “Fresh Mexico,” Clarkson Potter, 2009)