Turnip

These small turnips are perfect with duck or roast chicken.

The root vegetables in this dish have a secret umami booster: miso paste. This recipe also offers a delicious way to use those oft-discarded beet and turnip greens. If you can’t find beets or turnips with greens, simply reduce the amount of each vegetable to 1/2 pound.

The turnips will taste great after just one week in the pickling liquid, but for that full-on saturated pink hue, let them sit for two full weeks.

This low-heat method is very gentle, lending the salmon a velvety texture.

There's a dish in China called "Happy Family," which consists of various ingredients. Growing up, my mother's version of "Happy Family" was stir-fried colorful, seasonal fresh vegetables. She would encourage my brothers and me to eat more of it so we would be in harmony. Fresh vegetables are quickly stir-fried to retain their snap and color for a vibrant presentation. Any leftovers can be served with warm pasta.

This light but richly flavored broth is good with any fatty, skin-on fish fillet, such as Arctic char or sea bass.

The key to gratins is having all the ingredients—whether they're basic potatoes or the mixed root vegetables below—sliced the same thickness so they cook at the same rate. Make friends with a mandoline: It quickly yields precise, even slices.

Diminutive and sweet hakurei turnips are in season and perfect for this dish; find them at farmers' markets.

Benefits: Anti-Inflammation + Metabolism + Cleansing As the name would suggest, this soup is perfect to eat in the spring, just when your body is most naturally poised for cleansing. This soup, traditionally eaten in China as a springtime ritual, has natural detoxifying properties, mainly deriving from the watercress. Watercress has natural diuretic properties that help you release excess fluids, which often contain toxins and waste products. Of course, feel free to eat this soup for cleansing any time of year!

Baby turnips and the season's first onions are some of the BA Test Kitchen's favorite spring ingredients.

The lamb roasts on a bed of thyme to infuse the meat.

The classic technique of covering simmering vegetables with a parchment-paper round (known as a cartouche) yields perfectly moist, evenly cooked pieces.

Transform plain chicken breasts into a new feast with this succulent take on the pot pie. Make the filling the night before, then get to work on the aromatic herb crust, stuffed with thyme and butter. The pie demands a fair amount of preparation, but efforts will be rewarded with high praise. Halve the measurements for a weeknight dinner for the kids, or make the whole recipe to serve a crowd of eager guests. And feel free to throw in whatever produce you have on hand.

Cookbook author and cooking teacher James Peterson created this recipe exclusively for Epicurious. The repeated caramelization of the vegetables is the secret to the gravy's surprisingly rich flavor. For more of Peterson's gravy-making advice, including how to thicken with a roux and avoid lumps, see our Gravy Primer.

Lentils and fresh and dried mushrooms give this vegetarian casserole its meaty character. You can prepare most of it in advance and bake it just before your guests arrive.

Alain Ducasse— The lobster must of course be alive, its claws firmly closed with elastic bands. After plunging it in boiling water, keep the lid on the cooking pot to avoid splashes.
Paule Neyrat— The flesh of the lobster is particularly low in fat but rich in protein. The vegetables are low in calories but full of vitamins and dressed with a yogurt sauce. This is a luxury dish but one that's really low in fat.

A cross-continental blend of flavors, this dish features a lively sauce that combines European paprika and sake or mirin (rice wine) from Japan. Turnips, popular in both European and Asian cuisines, add fiber, potassium, calcium, and vitamin C. Serve the shrimp over wholewheat pasta or brown rice.

These two members of the cabbage family deliver an interesting twist to standard coleslaw. Both kohlrabi and turnips offer fiber, iron, and vitamin C, and the thick kohlrabi leaves boast a high dose of cancer-fighting phytochemicals.

This recipe relies on the natural gelatin in homemade stock to coat and glaze the vegetables after most of the liquid has reduced. Brown stock thickens to a nice glaze and imparts a rich flavor; butter contributes silkiness. Instead of turnips, you can glaze carrots, rutabagas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, or onions. If you don’t have brown stock (or prefer a vegetarian version), use apple cider instead (the sugars in the cider should cause it to reduce to a syrupy glaze).