Shiitake Mushroom

A simple but sophisticated starter: Puff pastry squares are topped with a bright spring mixture of asparagus spears, fresh shiitakes, and crème fraîche.

Set in spring, when the earth is renewing and reassembling herself, Passover is celebrated as a sort of second New Year, reflecting the rebirth of the Jews as a free people after the Exodus from Egypt. Children start the season with new clothes, and houses are thoroughly cleaned and freshened up to make way for the new foods and special sets of dishes reserved just for Passover use. And just as they delay until Rosh Hashanah their first tastes of the sweet new autumn fruits, so many Jews wait until Passover to savor the tender new vegetables of spring. In this delicious soup, woodsy shiitake mushrooms and early asparagus combine with delicate roasted fennel-flavored matzo balls in a free-wheeling ode to spring.

Replacing full-fat coconut milk with a light version reduces fat, not flavor.

For this interactive dinner, use a camping or induction burner at the table, or just get cozy around a warm stove. As the broth cooks the chicken and vegetables, it becomes a flavorful homemade soup.

The brown rice in this side dish is full of fiber. (Cooked white has none.)

This simple, delicious dish hails from China's Shanghai region. It's a great way to use up leftover rice—if your rice is already cooked, you'll need 3 cups of it.

To make this appetizer easy to nibble, serve the cheese and mushrooms with toothpicks.

Asian ingredients—from soy sauce to sriracha—flavor the pork burgers. Wrapping it all up in Bibb lettuce leaves adds a fresh touch.

Bulgogi—beef marinated in soy sauce,sesame oil, and other seasonings—is a popular Korean dish. Here, we've subbed in salmon for the sirloin.

Pretty protein-rich bites by Jarett Brodie, chef at FR.OG in New York City.

For a vegetarian version, use 24 ounces extra-firm tofu instead of chicken, and increase the soy sauce to 2/3 cup and the vinegar to 1/2 cup. Serve with brown rice or soba noodles.

Miso soup and quick-roasted mushrooms give Pacific cod a meaty umami boost.

Lightly poached eggs add luxurious body and sophistication to this weeknight soup.

Beware—once you've had a few bites of this rice, you'll surely be back for seconds and thirds. Loaded with bits of treasure—smoked oysters, meaty mushrooms, Chinese sausage that tastes almost candied—the rice itself has an amazing chew that exemplifies the Chinese genius for varying textures in a meal. Though the lotus-leaf wrapping is optional, the rice gains a beguiling aroma, suggestive of tea, if you do use it—and the drama of unwrapping the stuffing at the table, like a lovely present, shouldn't be underestimated.