Easter dinner recipes
Lara FerroniFor most of my life, Easter meant chocolate bunnies, jellybeans, and cute marshmallow chicks rolled in yellow sugar.

It wasn't until I became a mom myself that I started considering the day as more than a giant excuse to eat a basket of candy (or two). Now, I look at it as a way to bring the family together, preferably over a cheerful Easter dinner that takes advantage of the first spring vegetables that come into season, but isn't too involved or laborious -- nothing that would keep me from hunting Easter eggs with my toddler.

In this streamlined meal, I've kept things classically simple. Roasted ham, the traditional Easter entrée, gets a sweet and spicy rub that melts and glazes in the oven, coating the ham in deliciousness. An herb-flecked rice and pea salad can be made several hours ahead and only gets better as it sits. And the meal is rounded out with sweet sautéed carrots, the Easter bunny's favorite, and a lively mix of butter lettuce and radishes. Then for dessert, there's a show-stopping lemon confection whose parts can be entirely made in the days before, then assembled earlier that morning before the egg hunt begins. It's stunning, gooey and fluffy enough to stand on its own, though a few marshmallow peeps perched on top will delight the little ones-and their sweet-toothed parents, too.

See the whole Easter dinner menu below.

Related Articles

• See more Easter recipes, menus, and holidays ideas.
• Check out these dozen recipes for using up leftover Easter eggs.
• Watch Curtis Stone prepare a honey glazed ham for Easter.
• Get great ideas for Easter decorations and table settings over at Holidash.
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Lara Ferroni
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Warm Rice Salad with Peas and Mint
With plenty of green peas and fresh mint, this rice salad is bright tasting and extremely pretty. If you can get them, crisp sugar snap peas, trimmed and thinly sliced, make an even sweeter substitute for the green peas.
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Lara Ferroni
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Honey and Chile Glazed Carrots
Caramelized carrots, glazed with honey and spiked with a little chili, are a sweet and spicy change from the usual buttered rounds.
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Lara Ferroni
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Spring Herb Salad with Radish and Parsley
Herbs, tangy radishes, and soft butter lettuce make this salad seem like the essence of spring. It wilts pretty quickly after it's dressed, however, so make sure everyone is at the table before you toss.
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Lara Ferroni
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Brown Sugar and Spice Baked Ham
A gorgeous, glistening centerpiece to an Easter meal, glazed baked ham is perfect for a crowd. This makes a lot of ham, but leftovers will disappear in a flash, and you can even use the bone to add flavor to bean soups.
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Lara Ferroni
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Buttery Easter Layer Cake with Lemon Curd
In this festive cake, velvety cake layers sandwich a sweet-tart curd citrus filling and are topped with plenty of billowing buttercream frosting. If you don't have time to make the buttercream, you can frost the cake with sweetened whipped cream instead. It makes a lighter, more cloudlike frosting that's just as satisfying.