Quick

Though good with any fresh vegetable, this sharp, creamy feta dip, smoothed with a little buttermilk, is exceptional with crisp spring radishes. Much as in the combination above, salt and fat mellow any heat from the raw radishes. Cheesemaker Mary Rigdon of Decimal Place Farm has been brining her goat's milk feta to order for us every week since Miller Union opened. If you have a local farmers' market that sells fresh cheeses, look there first for good-quality feta. I love the little pink, purple, or red garden variety radishes for this dip.

Though the healthful and now mainstream Middle Eastern dip we know as hummus typically includes chickpeas and sesame tahini, this adaptation contains neither. Rather, its similarly smooth texture comes from the natural starch and protein of the English pea. In the summer, I make a variation of this using blanched field peas of any variety, and I substitute thyme for the spring herbs and fresh garlic in place of the early green garlic of spring.

This works as a fancy little passed hors d'oeuvre toast or as a more substantial dinner toast. As an hors d'oeuvre, it'll pair especially well with rose but also any sparkling wine or crisp white. If you're eating it for dinner, saute some garlicky bok choy or watercress on the side, plus a little kimchi for bite. If you're tight on cash but still want to impress, this is a great one-you don't need to buy the most expensive crab; the miso makes up for it. That said, it's always best to buy the highest quality you can afford.

The mere mention of ramen noodles may bring you back to your college days...and just like then, it's time to experiment a little. This spicy ramen dish contains ginger, chiles, and garlic-aromatic spices that have two amazing properties: they help to increase blood flow throughout the body and help to protect your gut against harmful bacteria, as they work as natural antiseptics in your digestive tract.

A simple spring salad of shaved asparagus and fennel provides the fresh crunch needed to offset rich breaded pork cutlets.

Fregola, a tiny toasted pasta similar to pearled couscous, makes a flavorful base for this brothy spring dinner.

When dressing hardy raw greens, it's good to be aggressive. Fortunately, we've got spicy ginger and seedy flavor bombs on hand.

Lush confited garlic takes toasty, cheesy baguettes to another level.

This all-green salad is studded with creamy avocado, crunchy cucumbers, and asparagus, and punctuated by tons of fresh dill and basil. The varied shades of green look like spring in a bowl.

Start off a holiday meal in the freshest way possible: With crunchy radishes dipped in olive oil and then into flavorful herbed salt.

A pinch of cayenne and two kinds of mustard give this sweet and savory condiment a kick.

An extra smooth, delightfully tangy guacamole.

After rigorous scientific testing, we've determined that sandwiches sliced in half on a diagonal actually taste better.

The secret to this silky, lemony sauce is plenty of butter, and the courage to use it all.

We're into the ruffles-on-ruffles look you get from using reginetti noodles and Savoy cabbage, but any short pasta and green cabbage can be used in their place.