Root Vegetable

Light, crunchy, and downright pretty, this fresh spring slaw will brighten any spread.

This simple tangy-style potato salad is inspired by dill pickle-flavored potato chips.

Grilling radicchio and fennel tames their intense flavors, bringing out their natural sweetness.

A touch of horseradish gives this cured salmon recipe warmth and a bit of bite, while the beets give it earthy sweetness and vibrant color.

Broccoli rabe and pasta, crowned with golden shards of garlic and zapped with a touch of chile heat, is one of the fastest dinners to make, and definitely one of the most satisfying. Because broccoli rabe is loaded with vitamins, minerals, and cancer-fighting bionutrients, I like to double up on the greens. Those who find broccoli rabe a bit bitter—it is a cousin of mustard—will find that the bitterness is greatly tamed by boiling it in lots of salted water with the pasta. You can embellish this basic rendition with bacon or sausage, but it's pretty darn delicious just as it is.

Wrap slider-sized pork patties in tender lettuce leaves and serve with plenty of spicy sauce on the side for dipping.

This two-part cooking technique adds layers of texture – a creamy inside and a crisp outside.

This low-heat method is very gentle, lending the salmon a velvety texture.

With a texture somewhere between a latke and a pancake, these vegetarian fritters are also gluten-free. (Thanks, chickpea flour!)

Radishes make a crunchy salsa for these–or any other taco you're serving this summer.

Not in a carnivorous mood? Just opt for large peeled shrimp instead of beef and cut the cooking time by a couple of minutes.

Perfecting this recipe required a mother-daughter collaboration. My mom started it off by cutting the kernels off the cobs, simmering the corncobs in the stock, and then scraping the cobs to capture every ounce of delicious corn flavor. Her friend Darryle Pollack taught her the trick of including potatoes and blending part of the soup to thicken it. I added warming spices like paprika and cayenne pepper to complement the sweetness of the summer corn and topped it with charred red bell peppers. Together we created a perfect soup. —Marea

The key to crispy nachos is to limit the number of ingredients that go into the oven with the chips. These start with three essential ingredients: a dollop of homemade pinto bean dip, sliced jalapeños, and plenty of grated cheddar.

Savory, slow-cooked turkey and crispy skin are enhanced by a smoky pasilla purée and a sweet and tangy peach salsa in these Southern-inspired tacos.

Says Chef Yu: "I really love a slightly softer taco filling with lots of toppings for crunch. This is based off a chili verde recipe that my chef used to do for staff meal, with a Mexican/Southeast Asian tinge. The two cultures share so many of the same flavors, it's easy to blend them without making it feel out of place."