Feta

Crunchy, zesty, and light: what else could one want in a warm-weather salad? Radishes are thinly sliced and mingle with shelled fresh peas, while feta cheese and honey provide a special salty sweetness. Pea sprouts can be found at natural-food stores and Asian markets.

Serve these little spinach pies with a main course as your vegetable side and dinner roll in one, or eat a couple for a vegetarian dinner—they're that good.

This recipe is part of the Epicurious Online Cooking School, in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. To watch it being made, and to learn how to make other Mediterranean classics, check out the video classes.

This simple sandwich's flavor is amped-up with a hit of fresh oregano.

Like the classic combination of melon and prosciutto? Then you'll love this main-course pasta salad.

With more flavor than spinach triangles and packed with vitamins, these quickly became such a hit in our house; we like this so much we double the recipe when we make it because no one can eat just one.

This is a salsa, but whenever I make it I just end up eating it by the spoonful like a salad. The combination of the tart, crisp pomegranate, creamy cheese, and crunchy pine nuts makes a wonderful topping for grilled fish or even a carne asada taco. Pine nuts can be expensive because of the labor-intensive work of extracting them from the pine cones, plus they have a high fat content, which makes them turn rancid quickly. So buy a small quantity and store them in the fridge for no longer than three months.

"Drunken" salsas have been around forever. They were originally prepared with pulque, an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of the once-sacred maguey (agave) plant. Pulque, which is not easy to find outside of Mexico, is not distilled and has a much stronger flavor than tequila, which I use in its place in this recipe. The alcohol is mostly burned off in the cooking process, leaving only its musky flavor. The sweetness from the freshly squeezed orange juice gives this salsa a wonderful balance.

This Mexican dish of tortilla chips smothered in chile sauce is just as good for dinner as it is for breakfast. If you don't want to make your own chips, substitute your favorite brand, but don't skimp on the garnishes; they add color and freshness.

Meyer lemons are sweeter than regular lemons and, unfortunately, are in season for only a short time each year. Since they are hard to find, I’ve fallen in love with Meyer lemon olive oil, which captures their flavor very well and adds both citrus tang and a hint of sweetness to all kinds of recipes. Because this is such a simple dish—the sauce is just onions, the oil, and fresh marjoram—do try to get your hands on some Meyer lemon olive oil; I use the one made by DaVero. If you can’t find it, though, you can use the citrus oil on page 226.

If yellow zucchini are unavailable, you can use all green zucchini to make this pie.

Filled with tangy feta and a handful of sweet tiny tomatoes, red bell peppers take on a Mediterranean twist. You can also try other varieties of small tomatoes such as grape, currant, or even yellow pear in the filling.

You can prepare the vegetables up to 2 hours before serving and keep them covered in the refrigerator. If desired, include some poblano or other chiles along with the peppers. You can substitute feta cheese for the ricotta salata.

This salad tastes best up to 1 hour after making it. To make ahead store the salad components separately (up to 3 hours), and toss before serving.

We used several varieties of beets, including Golden Globe and Chioggia, for a colorful salad, but you may use any variety you like.

French feta is creamier, milder, and less salty than the Greek version. Arrange this salad on a platter, and let your guests serve themselves.

We particularly like the flavor and firm texture of Bulgarian feta cheese, which is easy to slice, but other types can also be used.

The thick consistency of Greek yogurt is ideal for this spread. If your grocer doesn’t sell it, use another whole-milk yogurt, and drain it for 30 minutes in a fine sieve set over a bowl. You can make the spread one day ahead and refrigerate it (cover with plastic wrap); wait until just before serving to stir in the parsley and radishes.