Vegetarian

The long wait is over — thank goodness! — and berries and stone fruit are returning to supermarket shelves (at absurdly low prices to boot). A textured Winter fruit salad has kept me going the past few months, but now I'm putting that recipe aside for this Spring- and Summer-forward fruit salad featuring all-new produce.

It's impossible to pinpoint what I love most about this combination of flavors. Sure, any old day you can combine a bunch of berries in a bowl, but here, mint, nutty Marcona almonds, and lemon zest and juice transform this into a fruit salad worthy of serving on a special occasion. The addition of sugar enhances the flavors in the fruit as well as releases more juices so the whole salad is marinated in a berry syrup.

Celebrate berry season with this fruit salad.

This simple ribboned carrot salad might not be the first thing to jump off the beautifully photographed pages of Louisa Shafia's much-lauded cookbook The New Persian Kitchen, but skimming past it would make for a small tragedy. Vinegary and bright, with a nutty, roasted note from the toasted sesame seeds and oil, it's not only visually stunning, but also delightfully balanced and far more nuanced than its simplicity would suggest.

Even better, it's quick (and easy) to prepare and can hold up to an overnight stay in the fridge, making it weeknight dinner- and brown-bag lunch-friendly, a rare and impressive feat. So what are you waiting for? Bust out the vegetable peeler, and get down to it.

Many pre-workout snacks involve too much prep time, but this quick fix will help you reserve all your energy for the gym. These peanut butter protein balls taste like chocolate chip cookie dough but offer the ideal blend of protein and carbs you need before a tough strength-training session. Roll these up ahead of time, and pop two an hour before your workout. If you need this simple snack in your life, keep reading for the recipe.

Often the most memorable gifts are those that are homemade. Rather than go to an expensive chocolate shop, attempt these homemade white chocolate truffles. Sure, you may be thinking white chocolate is plain Jane, but these truffles are anything but. Whether you are making them for your love, your friends, or your mother this Sunday, any recipient of these chocolates will be amazed by the craftsmanship and flavor of these white chocolate truffles.

First, you'll need to make a ganache, which is an emulsified mixture of heavy cream and white chocolate. When it cools, it will set into a cloudy, more malleable mixture.

The ganache is rolled into balls before it is dipped in the melted, tempered chocolate.

The white chocolate shell snaps to reveal creamy white chocolate ganache centers.

Make the recipe.

Pungent, salty, and bright, the caesar salad at Zuni Cafe — a much-lauded San Francisco restaurant — is an absolute must-order dish and my desert-island salad. Add the dressing to ribboned asparagus, and it's near unbeatable.

Unlike whole asparagus spears, ribboned asparagus is very delicate in texture, so make certain to dress the salad shortly before serving, as the acid will soften the ribbons. Feel free to add crispy croutons or extra whole anchovies to the salad, though I find it pretty much perfect as is.

Keep reading for the fast and easy recipe.

Loading up on a hefty dose of the white stuff isn't exactly the best way to start your morning. Baked goods like scones and quick breads tend to be high in sugar and fat, so if you're craving a homemade treat from the oven, then bake up a batch of these oatmeal breakfast bites. They're sweetened with banana and a touch of maple syrup, but each chewy bite has only 2.6 grams of sugar and 0.3 grams of saturated fat.

Keep reading for the simple recipe.

With Cinco de Mayo on the horizon, you'll need a lot of salsa to celebrate. Instead of reaching for bottles in the chips aisle, make this chipotle-tomatillo salsa, which will put any of the jarred stuff to shame. If you've never attempted homemade salsa, let me let you in on a little secret. I've never been able to make a decent homemade salsa before I met Michelle Bernstein, a Miami chef, restaurateur, and expert in Latino cuisine. We met at Lean Cuisine's Culinary Roundtable, where Michelle, a member of the conference, taught a group of us food writers how to prepare various salsas from different regions of South America. This is a riff on her traditional Mexican salsa.

Afraid of tomatillos? Don't be! They have a flavor like underripe tomatoes, and once you've tried them in this salsa, you'll want to experiment with them in other Mexican sauces, soups, and dishes.

The tomatillos, onions, and garlic take a trip to the broiler to become charred and softened. This adds a smoky, roasted flavor to the salsa.

If you're wondering how the salsa turns out red, it's due to the chipotle peppers in adobo. Pulse the charred vegetables, chipotles in adobo, and agave nectar (which neutralizes the spiciness, according to Michelle) together in a food processor until a smooth salsa forms. One bite and you'll be hooked on this salsa forever. It has the amazing ability to hit all the flavor profiles at once: sweet from the agave, sour from the tomatillos, spicy from the chipotle, and salty from the adobo sauce.

Keep reading to make the salsa for yourself.