Salad

The inner stalks of celery and fennel, plus soft chunks of mozzarella, add up to a clean, cool salad that's quite striking (the name, which refers to a "woman in white," alludes to its pale hues).

"Skinning broad beans to reveal their bright green inner kernels is time-consuming, but it produces a sweeter, much more visually exciting bean," says Ferrigno. She taught us the great trick of cooking the beans in unsalted water and olive oil to retain that intense color (which looks gorgeous with the red onion). A handful of chopped mint leaves underscores the verdant flavor of this warm salad.

Salads like this one are found all over Puglia, almost always with carrot, celery, and parsley (we suspect the locals like the combination as much for its gorgeous color contrast with the octopus as for its freshness and crunch) and lightly dressed with olive oil and lemon.

The softly fried eggs are a wonderful counterbalance to the rich ingredients in this Spanish take on salade lyonnaise. Migas are Spanish croutons.

When cooking shrimp in boiling water, 2 minutes does the job. Overcooking toughens them.

Here, a garlic-packed vinaigrette is infused with caramelized sucs—pan drippings—from the roast pork, creating an uncanny fusion of nutty, meaty flavors.

Thin green beans add ribbons of color as well as bite to a celeriac rémoulade.

This salad shows how bitterness, punctuated with a zingy vinaigrette, can be supremely refreshing.

This is a great spring salad with two long, lovely green vegetables that have a real affinity for each other. It is delicious as an antipasto or a first course, or as a side dish to grilled meat and fish. You can serve this salad chilled, but I like it at room temperature. If you haven't poached scallions before, be sure to note how nicely it brings out the flavors in a mellow way.

This fresh salad could be served family-style with the rest of the meal or as a plated first course.

Simple to prepare but impressive when served, this is spring elegance at its best. The salad is shown with purple watercress, a beautiful, rare variety you might find at farmers' markets. Green watercress works great, too.

Orange slices add a juicy, sweet touch to this simple salad, which is made even easier by drizzling the lettuce with oil and vinegar (rather than making a proper vinaigrette).

Grill the lettuce? Trust us, you'll make this dish again and again.

The slaw should be chilled at least 4 hours before serving. Ginger can be sliced thinly and chopped in a mini-chopper.

The secret ingredient in this dish is a surprisingly modest one: grapefruit. Its tartness balances the unashamed, almost swaggering richness of scallops bathed in a butter sauce.