Eat By Color: Red Foods

Like many red fruits and vegetables, the juicy roasted cherry tomatoes topping the polenta contain lycopene, which protects against cancer and heart disease.

Elena Boroli, who co-owns the Locanda del Pilone farmhouse inn and restaurant in Piedmont, says bell peppers are the best symbol of Piedmontese cucina povera (peasant food). This simple recipe for involtini (little Italian rolls) is all about the deeply flavored, slow-roasted red bell peppers, which get wrapped around fresh ricotta cheese and plum tomatoes.

BLD Restaurant's pastry chef, Mariah Swan, bakes buttery brioche for this crisp French toast, which she tops with a warm berry compote. The compote comes together in less than 10 minutes but tastes surprisingly complex for something so quick.

Although coconut water is low in sugar, it imparts a lovely sweetness to this dairy-free smoothie.

In this recipe, adapted from Wine Bar Food by Tony Mantuano and his wife, Cathy, lush ricotta-filled crêpes bake in a rich marinara sauce.

Annabel Langbein loves oven-roasted peppers. Here she transforms them into a silky soup seasoned with cumin, crushed red pepper and cilantro, and finished with seared, sweet scallops.

Tangy feta cheese, a bright herbal pesto and a crisp bread crumb topping all elevate this tomato-bean stew. It’s sensational made with meaty Rancho Gordo giant limas from Peru, silky gigantes or large limas from the grocery store.

This bold salad, from Laurent Tourondel (an F&W Best New Chef 1998), combines tomatoes and bacon with Cajun spices and curry powder.

This silky fruit dessert is delicious on its own or topped with vanilla ice cream. Just be sure to only barely cook the rhubarb, so that it retains its crispness—and plenty of tangy flavor.