Bean and Legume

For the best flavor, use an artisanal root beer made with cane sugar (not corn syrup). We like Faygo and Fitz's, but many more options are available online at sodapopstop.com.

Fresh and colorful, this vegetarian entrée is an ideal bring-along for a potluck supper. Quinoa, a delicate grain with a texture similar to that of couscous, cooks up in just 15 minutes. A complete protein, it's also nutritious. Look for it at supermarkets and natural foods stores. Smoked paprika can be found in the spice section of the supermarket.

Sauce verte is French for "green sauce." In this recipe, the sauce gets its vibrant color from basil, green onion, parsley, and capers. Any leftover sauce can be stirred into couscous or rice, or served with grilled chicken or fish.

Israeli couscous is small, round, toasted pasta with grains about the size of peppercorns. Serve this dish chilled or at room temperature.

Fresh Japanese-style noodles, such as udon, are sold in the refrigerated deli section of some grocery stores and specialty markets. If unavailable, substitute bucatini or spaghetti.

Sweet crabmeat and sweet peas make a great match in this springlike risotto.

What a fantastic barbecue side: It's juicy, crunchy, and bright enough to provide delicious relief even from your richest dishes, and substantial enough to stand in for starchy sides like potatoes. I add a ton of marjoram and dill, but chives and basil taste amazing, too.

This is a lovely dish to serve with grilled pita bread, either alongside a couple of other mezze, while you have a drink before supper, or as an appetizer in its own right, or as a light lunch with a good salad on the side. In the summer, please use fresh peas; at all other times of year the wondrous frozen pea will do. You can make this dish in advance, put it in the fridge, and bring it back to room temperature when you want it.

For Donatella, fava beans were an acquired taste. "When I was a child, I hated them," she says. She’s come around to the hearty, healthy bean and has always been a fan of dandelion greens, an ingredient that many Italians believe calms the stomach. Timing note: The favas need to soak overnight.

Traditionally, the broth, meats, and vegetables are all served separately, but feel free to serve everything in the same bowl. The beans need to soak overnight, so start this recipe one day ahead.

The mildly spicy piment d'Espelette Mayonnaise is France's very own chili powder. It's available at specialty foods stores and from zingermans.com.

Pancetta (Italian bacon) is available in the deli section of many markets.

The beauty and subtlety of wild garlic makes this dish very appealing, and fresh curry leaves add a fragrance that is quite seductive. During the summer months, we shell fresh coco beans and cook them directly in the curry until soft. In winter, we soak dried cannellini beans overnight and precook them in water for an hour or so over gentle heat, with one or two herbs added for flavor. I like to serve this curry just as it is, but you could add chunks of white fish to it.

Fantastic in emergencies and reason enough to stock canned beans in your pantry. Serve as a dip for bread-sticks, pita or other bread, or raw vegetables.

Chickpeas are among the best legumes, and this is among the best recipes you can prepare with them, an eons-old Middle Eastern classic. Generally, I’m not a big fan of canned beans, but for whatever reason canned chickpeas are not bad at all, and I always keep some on hand so I can make a batch of this at the last minute, to use as a dip or a spread. You can make hummus without tahini; it will be a little looser and less complex tasting but still good.

This streamlined version of the classic Spanish dish comes together in about an hour—and doesn't require a special paella pan. Sugar snap peas add fresh flavor and nice crunch.

Sugar snap peas and pea tendrils (the young leaves and shoots of the snow pea plant) give this dish a double hit of spring flavor.

Crème fraîche or sour cream gives the scrambled eggs a rich, creamy texture. Toasted breadcrumbs and a grating of cheese are delicious finishing touches.