Spring

In this 30-minute dish, which is inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi's recipe in his 2011 book Plenty, black pepper is the star, not the sidekick: When bloomed in oil, the coarsely ground peppercorns become piquant and fragrant enough to flavor the entire sauce, no red pepper flakes, dried chiles, or hot sauce needed. Take care not to burn the peppercorns as you toast them or the flavor could swing from spicy to bitter.

This herbaceous, crunchy, green riff on the iconic bread and tomato salad features all of our favorite spring vegetables, plus a tangy buttermilk dressing.

People have been brining chicken in buttermilk since forever, often as the first step in a dredged and fried chicken situation. But we have chef and cookbook author Samin Nosrat to credit for the idea of roasting poultry straight out of a buttermilk bath, which not only imparts delicious tangy flavor, but also helps the skin achieve a walnut-colored hue when roasted at high heat.

Swapping traditional ingredients like guanciale and pancetta for vegetable-based umami bombs (hello, garlic and smoked paprika) isn’t the only thing to consider when making a vegetarian carbonara. Many hard cheeses (including Parmigiano-Reggiano) use animal rennet, so if you want to seek an alternative, ask your cheesemonger.

If you’ve ever been intimidated by the thought of making fresh pasta at home, look no further. Ricotta gnocchi is simple to make, and it’s faster and more foolproof than its potato counterparts. The only tricky part is adding enough flour so that your dough is easy to work with, but not so much that it becomes stodgy or tough. If you don't want to make the buttery herb and pea sauce, use whatever you'd prefer, be it marinara, pesto, or sage and brown butter. 

Think of your favorite granola packed full of nuts and surrounding a layer of sweet-tart rhubarb jam and you’ve got these bars. 

Hot-and-sour soup inspired this highly nontraditional springtime version. Miso gives just enough body so that you won't need cornstarch to thicken it, and you can use silken tofu or thinly sliced yuba instead of egg for that same silky effect.

It’s okay to use frozen peas! We’ll never tell. We love ‘em.

This recipe is all about the technique. Once you learn it, you’ll be doing it over and over again.

Think of this as carbonara minus the eggs but still with massive amounts of flavor from guanciale, black pepper, and Pecorino.

Attention, lovers of squishy and chewy foods! This moody-glam dessert packs tons of bold sesame flavor into one super simple one-bowl cake.

This fast miso-curry paste and handfuls of charred green beans and peas transform skinless, boneless chicken breasts into a highly craveable dinner.

A simple slaw that pairs well with meaty summer mains.

To make this endlessly riffable salad, pair whatever produce you’ve got with 7-minute eggs, a mustardy dressing, and your favorite protein.

To get the most flavor out of this open-faced breakfast sandwich, look for spring onions with round bulbs and very tender dark green stalks.

Skirt steak is our favorite choice when grilling for a crowd for two reasons: it feeds many and cooks in a jiffy.

A lemony, herby bean salad with lots of crunch from sliced snap peas is good. But when it's piled on top of garlic-rubbed, ricotta-spread toast, it's even better.

This stew recipe is all about those lovingly cooked and seasoned dried beans and the glorious (vegan!) broth they create.

Properly-poached chicken breast is truly a thing of beauty—juicy, tender, and a blank canvas for big flavors.

Don’t worry about removing all of the melon seeds in this take on the popular Mexican street snack—they’re edible and add a little crunch.