Dairy

The toasted crumbs on top have a cheesy crispness, and the pasta beneath is creamy and rich. Kids will appreciate the individual servings, but the recipe makes plenty, so why not pour the extra into a baking dish to feed the ravenous parents?

Food editor Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez often cooks for hordes of children, including her three-year-old son, Alex, and she knows that meatballs are always an easy sell. Inspired by the tiny meatball sandwiches served at New York City's Little Owl restaurant, she came up with these kid-size treats that can be eaten with one hand (leaving the other one free to wreak kid-size havoc).

This raw dish is all about the best ingredients you can find. A great goat cheese and a fruity, high-quality olive oil will result in flavor that's as stunning as the presentation.

Offering a good dose of calcium, zinc, and vitamins A and C, this Middle Eastern-inspired combination makes a healthy handheld breakfast or snack. Topped with honey, nuts, and yogurt as thick as ice cream, it might even pass for dessert.

The classic frittata offers an elegant solution for those times when you have only eggs and cheese in the fridge. Combined with some of spring's freshest flavors, it provides a healthy dose of fiber, omega-3s, and vitamins A and D.

You'll find burrata cheese at some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores, Italian markets, and cheese shops.

Mizuna (a Japanese salad green) is available spring through summer at specialty foods stores and Asian markets. If you can't find it, use mixed greens instead.

Raita is India's signature yogurt and vegetable condiment. This one would also be good on pita or naan.

For a fun presentation, serve the granita in hollowed-out lime halves. To prepare the limes, snip the membranes with scissors, then scrape clean with a grapefruit spoon.

**What to drink:**A glass of bubbly would be perfect with the olives. Try Domaine Chandon Brut Classic (California, $20).

Why you'll make it: Because its tart and spicy cream topping does butter one better. Stubborn strands of corn silk are most easily removed by rubbing with a damp paper towel, or even with a little oil.

Feel free to swap in store-bought pizza dough here—the most important part of the recipe is grilling the pies.

Why you'll make it: Because it's the simple version of the omelet, and works as well for breakfast as it does for lunch, a late dinner, even with drinks.

Why you'll make it: Because it's everything that's good at the market right now in one good-for-you salad.

Why you'll make it: Because it's the perfect summer pasta — few ingredients, easy prep, big flavors.