22 Recipes Where Fresh and Vibrant Spring Vegetables Are the Star

Use a peppery, top-quality olive oil to bring out the best in this spring salad, created by Jeanne Kelly, author of Salad For Dinner. Buy really fresh asparagus and radishes, from a farmers’ market if possible—that too will make a difference.

With its tangle of bright carrot strips and bits of spicy chorizo, this beautiful tart makes an exciting appetizer or even a light main dish. An all-butter puff pastry, such as Dufour, gives especially flavorful and flaky results, but it’s delicious made with any kind of puff pastry.

Mashed favas and an exotic mix of spices give the familiar egg salad sandwich a makeover. North African–cookbook author Kitty Morse introduced us to the Tunisian spice blend called tabil, which is easy to make with ingredients that may already be in your pantry.

“At Little Saint, one of our main courses typically tends to fill the role of a creamy, hearty dish along the lines of polenta, risotto, or in this case, a riff on split pea dal,” says Bryan Oliver, chef de cuisine at the Healdsburg, California restaurant. “Here, green split peas are cooked down with onions, garlic, ginger, fragrant lime leaves, and almond milk, transforming these humble ingredients into a richly satisfying porridge which we top with blistered snap peas, pea tendrils, and the farm’s first shoots of lemon basil to evoke the essence of spring’s bounty.”

Sunset reader Christine Datian, of Las Vegas, sent us this indulgent and delicious pasta recipe. If you’d prefer a lighter version, you could use milk thickened with a little flour in place of the cream.

Israeli chef Alon Shaya, of Denver’s Safta, buys bunches of young carrots. “The skins are more tender,” he says. “I roast them skin-on for the added nutrients.” Rather than throw out the carrot tops, he blanches them quickly in salted water to pull out the bitterness and turns them into a pesto.

Lighter than a quiche, this seasonal galette can be baked ahead and reheated, making it especially handy for a midweek dinner party.

Crunchy, sweet snap peas benefit from a green-fixing blanch and a quick turn in a super-hot pan to play up their crisp character with a little toasty char. Rich walnut gremolata spiked with lemon and briny feta makes for a vibrant side dish.

This technique cooks salmon perfectly every time. The sauce is flavorful and rich, but not heavy–just right for a weeknight.

This playful nod to Indian dal (legume curry) is perfect at room temperature for a picnic or office lunch, but also great alongside roasted lamb chops for dinner. It tastes even better after a night in the fridge. Yellow split peas look especially pretty here.

These are best with a generous smear of ricotta.

Butter and radishes are a classic springtime combination. Josh Buckwald folds in copious amounts of chives and thyme to add freshness. Serve with flaky salt on the side to suit your taste at the table.

This salad, from San Francisco cookbook author and teacher Michelle McKenzie, benefits from a variety of greens: at least one sweet (pea shoots and flowers, fava greens), one peppery (watercress or peppercress), and one bitter (dandelion greens or amaranth). For the herbs, she likes a mix of mint, dill, parsley, or chervil; fennel fronds work too.

“A piadina is a kind of flatbread from Emilia-Romagna,” explains Napa Valley chef Michael Chiarello. “The idea is crisp warm dough with a highly flavored sauce and a cool salad.” To use a gas grill, set a pizza stone on the cooking grate over high heat for at least 20 minutes, then bake right on the stone. “Don’t wait for your guests to sit down for these. You gotta make ’em and eat ’em.”

Chef and cookbook author Joanne Weir created this soup at L’Auberge Madeleine for her teacher, Madeleine Kamman. “Diners were going to fall for this soup before it ever crossed their lips. Its vibrant orange color and sweet smell of fresh carrot mingling with heady notes of licorice would pave the way for their first satiny sip.”

Spaghetti and Shrimp Scampi has become a classic combo in the line-up of American pasta dishes. The addition of spring peas adds a touch of seasonality. Finishing with a generous amount of fresh chopped herbs at the end helps cut through the richness of the pan sauce.

Sweet asparagus and spring onions go so well with the woodsy flavor of morels. All you need is a bit of butter and some crème fraîche to finish the dish.

Umami­-rich artichokes are the mainstays of so many springy Italian dishes, but admittedly a pain to prep. Reframe it as a seasonal ritual: Paired with briny pecorino and sweet and bracing mint, this dish is spring on a plate.

Frozen peas make this pasta especially fast, but shelled fresh peas are wonderful too; cook in boiling water 2 to 3 minutes before making the filling.

Everything’s better with everything bagel seasoning, including Los Angeles restaurant Yangban Society’s grilled sugar snap peas. Crunchy, nutty fried shallots add earthy notes while lemon zest makes the whole dish sing. Note: Instead of grilling, you can also sauté the snap peas in a very hot cast-iron skillet on the stovetop.

There’s just enough creamy rice to hold together the generous tumble of favas and their greens, which taste similar to spinach.

This healthy salad is picnic-perfect, because the carrots stay crunchy and the quinoa and chickpeas keep their texture. (Regular quinoa works fine in this recipe, if you can’t find the red variety.) Picnic tip: This salad is delicious at room temperature, so if you’ll be eating it within 2 hours, there’s no need to pack it in the cooler.