Take advantage of the season's freshest ingredients by making inventive, delicious side dishes for the dinner table, barbecue, or picnic basket.

Celebrate the transition from spring to summer, that very short time when the bounty of both seasons' produce is available, with this fresh, flavorful succotash recipe.

Mangoes are perfectly suited to grilling because their flesh is sturdy enough to stand up to a good charring.

Jicama is a wonderful vegetable: It is available year-round, delicious raw or cooked, low in calories, high in potassium, and keeps, uncut, in the refrigerator for up to three weeks.

Quick pickling requires almost no effort and is a simple way to enjoy the sour, briny flavor of the vegetables. They're especially delicious the day after they're made and will keep up to three days in the refrigerator.

Shaved from the freshest ears of silver sweet corn, tossed with a little sugar, and cooked just long enough for its natural sugars to concentrate, caramelizing is a great way to cook fresh kernels.

Plum tomato wedges join a baby arugula salad that features Mediterranean accents, including briny Kalamata olives and sweet green peppers. Choose tomatoes with deep-red coloring -- they have more lycopene than pale ones.

Make the slaw a bit early and let it sit at room temperature while you prepare the rest of your meal; the slaw tastes better the longer the flavors are allowed to develop.

Vegetables with a high water content cook beautifully on the grill; the dry heat evaporates the water and allows them to brown easily.

Good quality olive oil and just a pinch of salt will help bring out the natural flavors of this super-simple bruschetta.

The subtle sweetness of blueberries is an unexpected addition to a salad of peppery arugula.

A mixture of grains often served as a warm breakfast cereal, Kashi's 7 Whole Grain Pilaf also works beautifully as an easy, no-cook side dish. Look for it alongside rice and other whole grains in natural-foods stores.

Be sure to cook your orzo al dente; if overcooked, the tiny rice-shaped pasta becomes mushy.

When grilled, marinated bell peppers and onions caramelize into juicy, sweet vegetables.

Prepare this salad and store in the refrigerator, without the cilantro and pistachios, up to two days ahead.

The satisfying crunch of walnuts gives a helping of salad greens added dimension; the nuts have a natural affinity for arugula, spinach, endive, and watercress.

A garlicky fava bean salad brings together the abundant protein and fiber of beans with a slew of antioxidants from summer corn, cucumber, garlic, and parsley.

Our version of three-bean salad, a perennial picnic favorite, is made by tossing haricots verts, kidney beans, and cannellini with a tangy honey-mustard vinaigrette.

To ease mealtime preparation, cook the corn and beans early in the day, toss them with olive oil and smashed garlic, and keep them in the refrigerator. To remove corn kernels from the cob, hold the ear upright on its flat end on a cutting board; with a sharp knife, cut along the length of the cob to remove the kernels, turning the cob as you go.

Tomatoes take on an intense, almost sweet flavor when roasted, making this typically warm-weather side dish a year-round option.