In Season: Flavorful, slightly bitter escarole thrives in cool weather. It grows from fall through winter, and can be found year-round in most supermarkets.

What to Look For: A head of escarole looks like curly lettuce, and can be as small as a softball or as large as a soccer ball. Choose firmly packed heads with unblemished leaves.

How to Store: Wrap escarole in paper towels and store in an unsealed plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to four days.

Sherry vinegar-shallot dressing complements the slight bitterness of escarole. This sophisticated salad takes just five minutes to prepare.

Sweet butternut squash and creamy ricotta join sauteed escarole in this wintry vegetarian pasta dish. Toss the spaghetti in a light brown-butter sauce.

Not your ordinary green salad, this preparation dresses wedges of escarole in a lemony vinaigrette studded with toasted pumpkin seeds. Cilantro leaves add fresh flavor.

Creamy white beans and escarole add body to this soup, while applewood-smoked bacon and fresh thyme add depth. This recipe calls for one pound of cannellini beans to be soaked overnight; however, you may substitute four 15-ounce cans of beans.

Sliced apple, toasted pecans, and escarole leaves make a pleasing combination of flavors and textures. The salad is tossed with white-wine vinegar and Dijon mustard dressing.

Escarole and kidney beans are simmered in chicken stock to create the base of this Italian-inspired soup. Meatballs made from ground pork and beef, currants, and lots of fresh oregano are a hearty addition.

Escarole sauteed in butter and garlic takes on a silky texture. Paired with nutty whole-wheat pasta and Gorgonzola cheese, you'll never miss the meat in this boldly flavored vegetarian main dish.

Escarole is sauteed in butter until tender and mildly sweet, then mixed with black-eyed peas, potatoes, and broiled turkey sausage to make a complete meal. To save time, you may use two 15-oz cans of black-eyed peas in place of dried.

Robust and mildly bitter escarole is an excellent match for spicy radishes and fragrant fennel bulb. This winter salad is tossed with champagne vinegar and olive oil, and garnished with fennel fronds.

Salmon fillets are topped with lemon slices and cooked on a bed of escarole, garlic, and red onion in a pot on the stove top. This quick one-dish meal is ready in just 35 minutes.

Currants, anchovy fillets, garlic, and red pepper flakes are a classic flavor combination in Sicilian cuisine, and provide an excellent complement to mildly bitter escarole. A splash of sherry and a spoonful of brown sugar soften the flavors, and slivered almonds provide a pleasing crunch.

This colorful winter salad features a mixture of blood orange segments, escarole, celery stalks and leaves, and chopped walnuts. The easy vinaigrette is made from blood orange juice, champagne vinegar, and olive oil.

Escarole provides perfect balance for the richness of cheese tortellini in this Italian soup. Using canned chicken broth and purchased tortellini, this quick and easy dinner is ready in just 15 minutes.

To make this easy and versatile side dish, escarole is sauteed with garlic and olive oil until tender. Serve with roast pork or broiled fish, or toss with hot cooked pasta.

French green lentils are braised with onion, garlic, carrot, and canned tomatoes. Escarole is stirred in at the very end and cooked just until tender. The soup is topped with homemade croutons just before serving.

Spicy Italian sausage is cooked with a wine-cream sauce seasoned with parsley, rosemary, and red-pepper flakes. Escarole is simmered in the sauce just until wilted, and then rigatoni pasta is mixed in.

In this winter side dish, diced Granny Smith apples are sauteed with shallot until soft. Chopped escarole leaves are tossed with the hot apple mixture and a splash of cider vinegar and allowed to wilt before serving.

Cookbook author Joan Nathan shares her mother's recipe for flavorful and comforting chicken soup. Chicken leg quarters are boiled for two hours, then celery, carrots, onion, parsnip, dill, and parsley are added. Chopped escarole is stirred into the soup just before serving and cooked for a few minutes until wilted.

This savory tart is filled with a mixture of escarole, garlic, anchovies, Kalamata olives, and golden raisins. The pastry dough for this tart is flecked with parsley, chives, and thyme.