Watercress

At Benu, chef Corey Lee fries almonds and peels grapes for his compelling salad. At home, use roasted marcona almonds and unpeeled green grapes.

Be sure to chop the filling for these vegetarian dumplings with a knife; they become too wet and pasty in a food processor. We liked the dumplings boiled in water, but they're also delicious cooked in a steamer.

Sophie Dahl likes eating peppery watercress in the spring and has figured out a way to highlight its bright flavor in this silky soup. A single tablespoon of cream gives the vivid green soup a touch of richness.

"I like big flavors through small bites," says Steve Sicinski. His salad combines plenty of vibrant-tasting ingredients, like pomegranate, watercress and orange, so a little goes a long way.

Sweet-tasting lump crab is sold precooked, so it's perfect for a fast meal. Melissa Rubel uses it here in a crunchy salad that gets a double dose of nutty flavor from walnuts and walnut oil.

Brian Bistrong's refreshing salad is a play on the one he learned from his mentor David Bouley. The shrimp bumps up the protein virtually without adding any fat, while the watercress is a great source of vitamin C.

Quick-pickled cucumber slices give this delicate, fresh-tasting soup a little zing.

At La Buca restaurant in Cesenatico on the Adriatic coast, Matt Molina and his crew tried slivers of raw orata, a meaty local white fish, embellished simply with agretti pesto. Since orata is harder to find in the U.S., this recipe calls for red snapper.