Editors' Favorite Vegetable Dishes

The usual Indian way of preparing okra is to cut it into rounds. But when Suvir Saran was seven, he insisted that the family cook slice the okra into wispy strips. The supercrunchy result was a hit and became a family legend.

"Trust me," says chef Nate Appleman about this unorthodox recipe. He quickly grills whole fava beans, tosses them with a crushed red pepper dressing and serves them hot. They can be eaten whole—the tender pods develop a lovely charred flavor on the grill—but it's also easy to eat them in the traditional way by popping the beans out of their pods and outer skins.

Chef Mark Meyer is a fan of much-maligned brussels sprouts. He sautés them with smoky bacon, then adds sour cream for richness.

In this exquisitely simple recipe, Gabriel Rucker brilliantly riffs on the classic combination of radish, butter and salt by tossing wedges of crunchy radish in a warm dressing made with brown butter (instead of oil) and Spanish Moscatel vinegar (which is golden and slightly bittersweet).

Grilling broccoli gives it a wonderful sweet-smoky flavor. Chef Hugo Matheson elevates this simple dish by drizzling the broccoli with an easy, earthy dressing of anchovies, lemon juice and rosemary.

This no-cook salad from Los Angeles chef Nancy Silverton, inspired by the antipasto in Italian-American restaurants, is a delicious toss of iceberg lettuce, mozzarella, salami and olives in an oregano-laced dressing.

Linton Hopkins has endless uses for these sweet and tangy pickles—he even deep-fries them to make pickle chips. Brining before pickling helps the cucumbers stay crunchy.