Pea

This terrine is a beautiful — and unusual — way to showcase fresh summer vegetables. While there's nothing like truly fresh peas, if what's available seems particularly starchy, use frozen instead.

This healthful vegetarian dish would be perfect for a picnic. To speed prep time, use trimmed sugar snap peas with the strings removed (find them in the produce section of many supermarkets).

In Malaysian cuisine, at least one pickled dish (acar) is offered with every meal — it provides a bold flavor contrast to the other dishes. Our recipe isn't traditional, but it serves the same purpose.

Merluza en Salsa Verde Steaks work best for this recipe, but you can substitute fillets with skin. Slowly cooking the fish over low heat while swirling the pot releases the gelatin in the skin and bones, which emulsifies the sauce.

Be sure to use fresh spring peas for this classic side dish. Save the frozen ones for something else.

Ricotta and Asparagus Ravioli with Green Pea Sauce In spring, the Roman markets are vivid with the bright green of the baby peas and young asparagus that grow in the volcanic soils of Lazio and neighboring Campania. Here's a fresh idea for combining both vegetables in a dinner-party-worthy dish.

Pea tendrils taste like a cross between peas and spinach and are used in Chinese cooking, where they are called dau miu. Find them at farmers' markets and Asian markets. Spinach or watercress can be substituted for pea tendrils in this lovely green dish.

The salmon is equally good served hot or cold. What to drink: Chardonnay or white Burgundy, such as Saint-Véran.

This recipe is a variation on mushy peas, a beloved British street food. Ours have a much brighter color and flavor, making them sophisticated enough for entertaining.

The unofficial national dish of Spain, paella makes a fantastic main course for entertaining. Once you've prepped the components a couple of hours ahead, the finished product comes together in about 30 minutes. Just add a green salad dressed with Sherry vinaigrette. What to drink: Chilled Spanish rosé (called rosado); Rick Rodgers likes Las Rocas de San Alejandro Rosado.

We made our potpie in an oval baking dish, but you could also use a square or rectangular one.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but may require additional sitting time. Even though it might seem odd to use frozen peas during fresh pea season, they are infinitely easier to deal with than fresh peas in the pod — particularly when making a quick dish such as this soup whizzed up in a blender.

Roasting the vegetables and adding red wine are the secrets to the satisfying flavor of this pot pie. Other root vegetables such as turnips or parsnips would work well here, too.