Healthy Recipes for Foods for Hydration

Inspired by creamy watermelon sherbet, our light and refreshing dessert captures the essence of summer.

The contrasting flavors and textures of crisp, sweet watermelon and creamy, tangy goat cheese are magical partners. Top with sliced grilled chicken to make it a meal.

Fresh wedges of tomato, thinly sliced onion and sliced cucumber dressed simply with vinegar and oil makes the most simple salad possible--think of it as the Southern counterpart to the classic Italian tomato-and-mozzarella salad. It is best enjoyed at the height of summer, when tomatoes and cucumbers are fresh from the garden.

This incredibly refreshing icy dessert is made without using an ice cream maker.

Combine cucumber, avocado and mango with a salty-sweet dressing for a taste of the tropics.

Looks like tomato--surprise, it's watermelon.

This salad was inspired by one served during the peak of summer at Claire's Restaurant & Bar in Hardwick. Chef Steven Obranovich of Claire's likes the soft crumbly sheep's-milk feta for this recipe. He cautions that the subtle briny notes of feta can sometimes be overpowered by too much lemon or an olive oil that's too fruity. Saltiness varies from feta to feta too. Add the ingredients a little at a time and taste as you go.

Astoundingly good for minimal effort, this makes an indulgent weekend breakfast or anyday dessert. A judicious smear of mascarpone (half the fat of butter) is part of the luxury, but even lighter low-fat cream cheese will work as well. The real secret is warming the berries just enough to make the flavor bloom and transform their juices into a rosy syrup.

This cold cucumber-dill soup has a surprisingly seductive taste. The secret is that both the broth and the yogurt garnish are loaded with fresh (never dried) dill and chives. Serve as a starter or a light lunch entree. The recipe calls for “handfuls” of herbs; if you are relying on the grocery store instead of the garden or farmers' market, you'll need about one large bunch or one to two 2- to 3-ounce packets. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.

Here we pair a luscious strawberry-fig sauce with grilled duck for a simple yet elegant main dish. Serve with rice pilaf and grilled vegetables.

This salad combines cucumber and jicama with a sweet-sour, slightly spicy vinaigrette and makes a great start to any Mexican-inspired meal.

While slowly fermented cabbage and pungent garlic are the ingredients most people associate with kimchi, there are dozens and dozens of other versions of Korea's national dish, featuring all manner of vegetables, such as these quickly pickled cucumbers with just a trace of garlic.

This lively salad captures the essence of early summer with ripe strawberries, chives and baby spinach. To make it a meal, top it with grilled chicken breast.

This dish was inspired by Chinese Dan Dan noodles--ground pork and noodles in a spicy broth. We use ground turkey and omit the traditional Sichuan peppercorns for convenience, but add hot sesame oil. Use toasted sesame oil instead if you want mild noodles.

Sweet, savory and crunchy salsa accompanies grilled pork or chicken rather nicely. Try it with tortilla chips as a refreshing alternative to a tomato salsa.

A touch of lemon juice and Grand Marnier add zippy citrus notes to fresh strawberries. Serve with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Pureed berries give the tangy wine vinegar dressing a creamy texture that gently clings to the lettuce and fruit. This is a salad to enjoy when fresh berries are in the market.

A truly old-fashioned dessert, “pandowdy” is said to refer to the cutting up of the flaky crust, or “dowdy-ing,” toward the end of the baking time. Once the crust is cut, the bubbly fruit cooks up around the crust. This dessert is good with whichever berries are ripe at the moment. In early summer go for strawberries. Serve with ice cream or frozen yogurt.

Oak leaf and baby romaine lettuces are so tender they're best eaten straight from the garden or at least within a day or two of picking. Mild and delicate, they pair wonderfully with peppery radishes and chopped hard-boiled eggs in this easy salad.

The delicate flavors of cucumber and watermelon go hand in hand to create a sweet-and-savory chilled soup, perfect as a first course on a hot night.

This healthy dessert recipe is a quick and healthy way to satisfy your chocolate craving.

This refreshing summer soup is a great starter for dinner on the patio on a summer evening. Try any variety of melon in this recipe. Serve leftover soup with salad for lunch the next day.

Strawberry and rhubarb are a classic combination--try them in these easy-to-make fruit bars.

Fresh spring greens are set off by a dressing that takes its cue from the classic bouillabaisse flavoring, a nutty, creamy, garlicky mélange that's stirred into the soup just before it's served.

Sliced strawberries and reduced-fat cream cheese come together in a sandwich for this quick and healthy lunchbox treat.

Frisée and radicchio are both assertive, slightly bitter greens that add color and texture to any salad. Match them with mellower-flavored greens, such as red leaf lettuce, baby spinach or even Boston lettuce.

A rich source of iron and vitamins A and C, arugula is nonetheless in desperate need of balancing--here, with aged balsamic vinegar, walnuts and strawberries, another one of springtime's jewels.

An easy salad to serve with grilled chicken or steak for supper or on a bed of greens for a satisfying lunch. Substitute white beans or chickpeas for the black-eyed peas if you prefer.

These were a staff favorite during the development process. The whole blueberries in these pops have the look of watermelon seeds.

This sesame chicken and noodle salad couldn't be simpler to make. And the secret to this saucy sesame chicken and noodle salad is in its beautiful raw veggies--it's got great crunch. It's a simple, healthy, affordable dish to serve on a hot summer's night or to bring to a potluck: just toss the salad with the dressing when you're ready to serve. (Recipe adapted from Simply Ming One-Pot Meals by Ming Tsai and Arthur Boehm; Kyle Books, 2010.)

To celebrate spring's fresh strawberries, our Test Kitchen jazzed up old-fashioned tapioca pudding. Grinding the tapioca in a blender makes the texture creamier, maple syrup adds seasonal sweetness and whipping cream gives these airy parfaits a luxurious finish.

This refreshing smoothie is made with cucumber and kiwi and gets a kick from ginger-flavored kombucha and fresh cilantro.

Here's a way to make better-than-store-bought pickles in under an hour. The secret is pouring the hot vinegar mixture over slices of cold, crisp cucumber. These pickles have the perfect balance of sour and sweet--though closer to a “bread and butter” taste, they still satisfy the vinegar-loving pickle crowd. In our humble opinion, there's no reason to ever buy another jar of pickles.

This chilled strawberry dessert gets creaminess and a touch of tanginess from reduced-fat sour cream. Topped with some ruby-red diced strawberries, it makes a delightful ending to any meal.

Here's a salad where we've combined two stars of the spring garden, asparagus and peas. Since the asparagus goes into the mix raw, you'll want to look for the freshest, most tender spears you can find and slice them into very thin rounds.

Rhubarb cooked with a little honey and orange liqueur makes a bright, tangy “sauce” to toss with grapes, melon, mango and strawberries.

This refreshing drink is served by roadside vendors all over Mexico. Not too much fruit, not too much sugar, just a beautiful way to quench your thirst on a summer day.

This herbal iced tea blends sour, berry-flavored hibiscus tea with sweet pomegranate juice.