Leafy Greens

Warm goat cheese rounds are a lovely contrast to the cool salad. Halved cherries add a fresh, sweet flavor.

This classic meat sauce gets some oomph from peppery arugula. A real crowd-pleaser.

In this Asian take on summer pasta, noodles are tossed with a lovely orange-peanut dressing and tons of fresh vegetables.

You can find crisp, delicate pea shoots in the spring at farmers' markets, Asian markets, and some specialty foods stores.

In this new take on the Caesar, fried eggs top the salad, and fish sauce replaces the usual anchovy fillets.

Bulgogi—beef marinated in soy sauce,sesame oil, and other seasonings—is a popular Korean dish. Here, we've subbed in salmon for the sirloin.

This refreshing soup makes a great first course for a summer dinner party.

A satisfying first-course salad with beautifully balanced Asian flavors.

Baby arugula is sold prepackaged in markets. It has a clean, sharp flavor.

Editor's note: To read more about Raichlen and barbecue, go to our feature The Best Barbecue in the U.S.A. ** This is coleslaw at its simplest and best. No onions. No carrots. No peppers. No mayonnaise. Just cabbage and peppery barbecue sauce. **

Grilled fruit is a newcomer to the traditional Mediterranean table. This dish was inspired by a friend and chef, Nena Ismirnoglou, and then adapted by me for the menu at Pylos, a Greek restaurant in Manhattan's East Village.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text are from Mario Batali's book Italian Grilling. Reprinted with permission by Ecco. All rights reserved. This was one of the first dishes I put on the menu at my restaurant Pó... a long, long time ago. You can vary it by using different greens, such as spicy young watercress, or other cheeses, including sheep's-milk cheese, semi-soft or aged. The beauty of the dish lies in the seemingly incongruous marriage of anchovies and mushrooms: anchovies plus mushrooms equals steak.

Ruggiero couldn't figure out what made the salad dressing at New York's Natori so irresistible and was shocked when she finally got the secret ingredient out of the sushi chef: grated apple. Nor would you ever guess it from a bite of this dressing, since it's not at all sweet or fruity, just perfectly balanced and lip-smackingly delicious. Its slight pulp extends the unctuous richness of avocado and complements the clean assertiveness of watercress.

Here, quickly sautéed greens get some spice and a kick of heat (thanks to red-pepper flakes)—and they become an ideal partner for the Buffalo salmon<\a>.

Food editor Maggie Ruggiero became enamored of a sesame-dressed salad at Donguri, a Japanese home-cooking restaurant in New York City. This is her take on it. Because the sesame seeds are unhulled, they have a richness that flatters the freshness of spring vegetables—here, cool kohlrabi and sweet pea shoots.

Editor's note: The recipe below is adapted from Elizabeth Karmel's Web site, girlsatthegrill.com. This coleslaw originally accompanied Karmel's recipe for North Carolina Style Pulled Pork.