Spring

This fresh salad could be served family-style with the rest of the meal or as a plated first course.

A mandoline or V-slicer makes quick work of slicing the radishes.

It's not Easter dinner without the eggs. In this recipe, they are boiled just until the yolks are set, then sliced and topped with a fresh herb sauce.

Be sure to buy a colorful assortment of baby vegetables. Serve as a side for roasted meat or fish, as an antipasto with salumi and breadsticks, or as an appetizer with crusty bread and goat cheese.

This filling meatless meal satisfies nearly a quarter of your daily fiber needs.

Moonlight-and-magnolia myths aside, this is one of the world's great libations.

"Green peas were considered a great delicacy," says Edna Lewis in The Taste of Country Cooking. "If our peas ripened first, they were shared with the neighbors and vice versa." Since garden-fresh peas have become practically impossible to find, we rely on frozen peas for this classic combination. Serve it, as Miss Lewis would, with skillet-cooked chicken and biscuits on an evening in late spring.

Lamb shoulder chops are everything a cook wants: They're inexpensive and quick-cooking, yet they deliver more robust flavor than pricier rib chops.

Offering a good dose of calcium, zinc, and vitamins A and C, this Middle Eastern-inspired combination makes a healthy handheld breakfast or snack. Topped with honey, nuts, and yogurt as thick as ice cream, it might even pass for dessert.

A Meyer lemon is a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange. If you can't find any, substitute regular lemons. This pie's decadent cream filling is made from protein-rich tofu.

The classic frittata offers an elegant solution for those times when you have only eggs and cheese in the fridge. Combined with some of spring's freshest flavors, it provides a healthy dose of fiber, omega-3s, and vitamins A and D.

Mizuna (a Japanese salad green) is available spring through summer at specialty foods stores and Asian markets. If you can't find it, use mixed greens instead.

Spinach and strawberry salad had its moment in the '80s, but this version will surprise you with its refinement. The salad is not sweet, just aromatic — and coming across fresh berries every now and then provides bursts of fruitiness. The pecans are simply toasted, but once they're coated with vinaigrette, you'd swear they were candied. Raspberries would work well here, too.

For easy eating on a picnic, chicken thighs and drumsticks are great because they can be firmly grasped without the use of utensils. This moist and flavorful recipe is delicious either warm or cold. Be sure to start the chicken marinating at least 30 minutes ahead.

To turn this starter into a main course, top it with skewers of grilled shrimp.

This recipe was created by chef Dan Barber of Blue Hill restaurant in New York City and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, New York. It's part of a special menu he created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program. For this Summer dessert, Chef Barber suggests experimenting with any seasonal berry.

This recipe was created by chef Dan Barber of Blue Hill restaurant in New York City and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, New York. It's part of a special menu he created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program.

Elizabeth likes to serve these with bacon. For the ultimate breakfast, she cooks the bacon first, pours off a bit of the grease, and cooks the pancakes in the same skillet.