Spring

We mix finely ground oats and almonds into the biscuit dough for extra texture, flavor, and nutritional value.

No cream is necessary in this soup, just vegetables and broth puréed to velvety perfection.

A yellow cake gets filled with jam then cleverly surrounded by a rhubarb mousse by using a larger spring-form pan as a mold. A jewel-like rhubarb glaze creates a finishing touch. If you have small, early tri-star or wild strawberries to garnish the top, so much the better!

Passover falls at the cusp of spring, and fresh asparagus on the table is one of the best ways to usher in the new season. Combined with the snap of green beans and sautéed with the silky, mild bite of green onions, it becomes a welcome pop of color and texture to the plate.

The key to a delicious matzo ball soup is in the broth: lots of vegetables and aromatics, including slices of ginger root for a bit of heat, make a perfect vehicle for these matzo balls. Matzo balls can be a very personal thing: some like them light and fluffy, while others fall into the "hard as golf balls" camp. Filled with lots of fresh parsley and dill, these dumplings fall somewhere in between: not feather light, not too hard, but with just enough bite and presence to stand up to its flavorful broth.

Among the few recipes known to have been used by the Washington family is this one for cherry bounce, a brandy-based drink popular in the eighteenth century. It seems to have been such a favorite of General Washington's that he packed a "Canteen" of it, along with Madeira and port, for a trip west across the Allegheny Mountains in September 1784. This fruity, spiced cordial requires a bit of work and time, but the result is well worth the effort. After pitting, halving, and mashing the cherries, be prepared to set away the sweetened brandied juice for twenty-four hours and then again for about two weeks after infusing it with spices. Enjoy small glasses of cherry bounce at room temperature, and keep the remainder on hand in the refrigerator.

Ben Clemons, bartender at Bar 308 in Nashville, created this sage- and lime-infused cocktail for our story, Spring Cocktails Perfect for Brunch. Cocchi Aperitivo Americano is an Italian aperitif wine beloved for its citrus, herbal, and bitter flavor profile. It's becoming easier to find, but if you can't locate a bottle, Clemons recommends substituting Lillet Blanc.

Jasper Soffer, bartender at the Mulberry Project in New York City, created this simple-to-prepare seasonal cocktail for our story Spring Cocktails Perfect for Brunch. The rhubarb simple syrup, Soffer explains, is simultaneously sweet and tart, not unlike a rhubarb-apple crumble or a strawberry-rhubarb pie. If you want to make this drink outside rhubarb's short early-spring season, frozen fruit makes a great substitute.

The beauty of this salad is that it is vibrant proof that some terrific ingredients simply deserve each other, even if the partnership doesn't come to mind immediately. A cookbook-writing friend came to the restaurant one day, ordered this asparagus and avocado combo, tasted it, and kept muttering, "Genius, genius!" Not me. Nature did it.

In this recipe, a creamy parsnip purée stands in for a traditional béchamel.

Anytime you add sausage to a pasta dish, you exponentially increase the number of people who are going to love it; by adding vegetables, you turn it into a complete meal, a win-win situation all around.

Men sometimes complain that pasta salads aren’t a “real” meal because they’re so light. This one will make a believer out of anyone who has turned his nose up at pasta salad in the past. Meaty eggplant chunks, cannellini beans, plus lots of grilled seafood make this as filling and robust as it is attractive on the plate.

Vin Santo is known as the Wine of Saints, and some of the very best is produced in northern Italy. It’s drunk mostly as a dessert wine (it’s perfect for dipping biscotti), but I also like to use it in vinaigrettes because of its smooth, sweet flavor. It brightens up the asparagus and makes this simple salad more luxurious.

I make this salad most often in the winter and early spring months, when there aren’t a lot of vegetables in the market. The olives and cheese make it a bit more substantial than most green salads. Sherry vinegar is the special ingredient in the versatile dressing. It’s Spain’s version of balsamic vinegar and it’s less acidic than other vinegars with a mellow, sweet-and-sour taste that is just perfect with more delicate greens.

Panzanella is a staple of Tuscan cooking that is traditionally made with leftover stale bread; the dressing moistens the bread, which soaks in all the flavors and juices from the vegetables. I like panzanella but I love cornbread. When I found myself with lots of leftover cornbread one Thanksgiving, I was inspired to give it an Italian spin, and this salad was born. It’s best to use stale cornbread, but if you have only fresh cornbread, toast the cubes in the oven at 300°F for 8 to 10 minutes to dry them out; that way they won’t fall apart in the salad and become mushy.

Be careful not to overheat the crostini; the cheese and tomatoes should be just warmed through and softened but not melted or falling apart. It’s perfect if you have slightly underripe tomatoes.

Balsamic vinegar and brown sugar combine to make a tart, sweet dressing for all kinds of berries—a high variety ensures you’ll get a range of antioxidants. Serve the salad as is or topped with chopped toasted nuts.

Salmon seasoned with orange, lemon, and lime contrasts beautifully with a fresh-pea puree. Green peas—actually legumes, not vegetables—are high in protein and vitamin K, which boosts bone health.

High in iron, vitamins, and fiber, barley risotto is a nutritious (and quicker-cooking) alternative to a traditional risotto made with rice. This vegetarian dish also includes frozen peas, which are always available, easy to use, and contain nearly as many nutrients as fresh-picked. As a good source of chromium, peas also help control blood sugar levels.

Serve this no-cook soup straight from the blender when it is still frothy, or well chilled during warmer months. Bright, lemony sorrel makes a nice garnish. If you are unable to find pencil-thin asparagus, trim thicker stalks with a vegetable peeler or paring knife.