Cucumber

This supersmoothie is packed with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. The spirulina is a great protein-booster, too.

Sweet potato as juice? You bet. This pumpkin-colored tuber is not only a surprising—and easily sourced—ingredient with an appealing flavor, it also helps you get your glow on. The carotenoids in orange-colored vegetables like carrot and sweet potato have such beneficial effect on skin, they have a scientifically validated "attraction factor"—meaning that warm glow you naturally acquire makes others rate you as more attractive.

Tex-Mex ingredients like Monterey Jack, cilantro, corn and lime combine with rice to create an awesome salad. Wrap it in lettuce for a cool, crunchy and fun meal.

This dish is the result of a kind of friendly competition I had with my friend Jeremy Marshall of Aquagrill restaurant in downtown Manhattan. We wanted to develop crusts for salmon: His is falafel, mine is hummus. The lemon oil will be best if you start it a day ahead, so there's time for the flavors to mature.

When we visited Kyoto, a few hours' ride from Tokyo on the famous Bullet train, we found a little restaurant in the heart of town that won us over with the names of dishes listed on the menu: Firecracker Tofu, Pickled Mixed Radish Salad, and the mysterious sounding Okonomiyaki. The chefs were clearly having fun at this place, and we were blown away by the depth of flavor they achieved with such simple preparations. We threw back some sake and tore through plate after plate of food. This salad is inspired by that meal, featuring quirky sea beans (a seaweed-like swamp/beach vegetable) and the haunting flavor of shiso (Japanese mint). You can find fresh sea beans at a gourmet market. If they're not available, substitute pencil-thin asparagus. Look for shiso in Asian markets, but substitute fresh cilantro if you can't find it.

Vegan Green beans, cashews, mint, carrot, cucumber, and lime shine through the pearly noodles in this pretty, uplifting dish. The noodles will seem undercooked at first, but they will soften as they absorb the marinade and the moisture from the other ingredients. If you cook them all the way, the finished dish will be mushy. • Rice noodles of various thickness can be purchased inexpensively in most Asian-themed grocery stores, some supermarkets, and online. Use medium-thin ones for this recipe. • You can freeze the unused coconut milk in an ice cube tray, then transfer the cubes to a heavy plastic zip-style bag for making this (or something else) in the future. Don't forget to label the bag. • This tastes best within a few hours of being assembled, so plan accordingly. • Make sure the cucumber is sweet.

This sammie-side combo fulfills all your midday-meal needs.

Processing your pickles in a hot-water bath rather than a boiling-water bath will give you a firmer texture. It follows that if you want pickles with real snap, don't process them at all. These dill-pickle spears—or sandwich chips, depending on how you slice them—can be processed, if you want, for long-term shelf storage, but first try making a batch to keep in the refrigerator. They will be crisp, and the flavor of raw cucumber comes through. It's the freshest-tasting pickle in this book, and perhaps my favorite. The recipe can be scaled up.

This soup is about as easy as opening a can, and it is especially good for lunch on a hot day or poured out of a thermos at a picnic; it is so refreshing and satisfying. And if you have cucumbers in your garden, here is a way besides salad or pickles to use your bounty. This recipe can easily be doubled.

The addition of avocado makes this cold soup creamier than your average gazpacho, and the greens make it, well, greener, and with jalapeño included, too, it's got a serious kick that makes it anything but traditional. It probably goes without saying, but if you serve this to Spaniards, either don't call it gazpacho or be prepared for some arguments at the table.

This luscious three bean salad recipe combines GOYA® Red Kidney Beans, GOYA® Chick Peas, and GOYA® Blackeye Peas with crunchy fresh veggies, and a bright, lemony vinaigrette. You can be sure that this protein-packed, heart-healthy salad is just as nutritious as it is delicious!

Cooked gently over a low heat, lamb shank becomes meltingly tender—perfect for an elegant, restorative broth.

This riff on gazpacho gets unexpected sweetness—and great color— from the addition of cherries and a peach.

Fresher and more vibrant than the jarred stuff, this easy-to-make relish is good on hot dogs, burgers, and grilled sausages.

Moroccans love fresh juices, and the combinations they make are eclectic and highly seasonal. This is one of my favorites. Although it is commonly prepared as a juice, it can also be a drinkable dessert, especially on warm summer days. I once had it as a "salad" served with a spoon in late fall in the eastern High Atlas. Oranges hadn't yet ripened, and instead the cook used small clementines from down the valley. Served before a communal platter of Berber Barley Couscous with Vegetables, the drink seemed closer to a light, sophisticated, vibrant green gazpacho than a rustic salad.

For this juicy, herbaceous salad, feel free to combine different varieties of cucumbers and tomatoes, which are at peak season around the same time.

There are all kinds of radishes available at the markets in the spring—use any shape or color that looks good to you.

The Brits live on easy-drinking Pimm's in warmer weather. For a bit more character, we add dry Sherry to the mix.