Squash

Shake up your standard skewer with a smoky, tangy marinade created by Elissa Meadow, chef-owner of Solar Harvest in Beverly Hills, California. This recipe fills 40 percent of your daily potassium needs and supplies vitamins C and B6, as well.

Work more soy into your diet with this delicious vegetarian dish. Serve with: rice noodles or steamed rice.

This recipe comes from John Josselyn, an early traveler to New England. Stewed pumpkin was common, everyday fare—a "standing dish"—particularly in the fall and winter.

Chef-owner Shawn McClain of Custom House restaurant in Chicago created this recipe for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program. He recommends using a creamy, mild blue cheese like Fourme d'Ambert.

It's hard to believe there's no cream in this soup, it's so velvety. A swirl of minty pistou, added at the last minute, provides complexity.

One of the perks of fame: getting five-star food without leaving the sofa. Whenever Denise Richards craves a healthy, delicious meal, she calls private chef Dorte Lambert, founder of DL Creations. Don't be put off by the high fat count in this dish; it's mostly the heart-friendly unsaturated kind.

The beauty of this recipe is that each type of vegetable is cooked on its own skewer for even grilling. The tangy vinaigrette brings out the natural sweetness in the fresh summer vegetables.

You'll hardly recognize your zucchini after transforming it into both a crisp topping and a bed of vegetable "noodles."

It's delicate in flavor and texture. Marjoram fuses with zucchini and egg in this simple, meltingly tender flat omelet—one that Olney found "completely attractive" and insisted is best at room temperature, prepared 20 to 30 minutes before serving.

In this innovative use of zucchini, the vegetable adds body to the mussel-filled broth without being overpowering.

Stuffed vegetables are much loved by Egyptians, and some version of this versatile side dish (stuffed eggplants, peppers, zucchini, and tomatoes are the most popular) will be found at most big, family-style meals and on every restaurant menu. The idea is probably Persian in origin, and has universal appeal. One enormous benefit is that stuffed vegetables are also delicious served at room temperature or cold.

A butter baste makes the zucchini so amazingly full-flavored that you can even omit the cheese — although it's a delicious accent to the lemony zing.