When spring arrives, Iranians set the Haft Seen and cook celebratory meals for welcoming the new season. In Farsi, Nowruz means "new day," and is marked by rituals like eating traditional foods and even spring cleaning.

When you're ready to plan your Nowruz menu, start with this classic Persian marinated olive dish. It's served alongside main courses or as an appetizer or snack, and is loaded with crunchy walnuts and pomegranate seeds, minced garlic and fresh herbs. But the real game changer is pomegranate molasses. This tangy, tart condiment (which is also great in salad dressings, marinades, drinks and many other preparations) rounds out and elevates all the other ingredients. Zeytoon Parvardeh is traditionally made with local herbs, such as choochagh, which grows wild in the fields of Gilan province in northern Iran. Mint and cilantro make a good substitute.

Persian saffron chicken is a classic dish often enjoyed with white rice, herbed rice or reshteh polo (Persian rice and noodles). The chicken is cooked on the stovetop with a mixture of saffron and onions until tender and fragrant. I love using whole chicken legs for this recipe because they are very flavorful and juicy, but you can always sub in chicken breasts if you prefer.

Saffron syrup cake is a special cake with so much flavor. A light sponge is soaked in a syrup infused with saffron, rosewater and cardamom, resulting in a delightfully fragrant confection. The slices are beautiful served as is, but topping them with coconut, pistachio and rose petals makes for a stunning presentation. Make sure both the cake and syrup are cooled completely before combining them.

For Iranians, the herb platter known as sabzi khordan is a delicious, refreshing companion to any meal, served as an appetizer or with the main course. The herbs can vary, depending on one’s preferences and availability, but in Iran, the most common choices are mint, basil and Persian cress. (You can substitute the latter with arugula.) This herb platter is also a common component of Armenian, Azerbaijani and Kurdish cuisines.

Reshteh polo is a classic Iranian rice dish that’s common for Nowruz. It’s traditionally made with reshteh polo, which translates to "noodles for rice.' Since this type of noodle is challenging to find outside of Iran, I’ve developed this recipe using vermicelli which, when toasted, closely resembles the Persian noodles. This dish is usually served with saffron chicken for the New Year.

A staple during Nowruz festivities, these delicate cookies are flavored with rosewater and cardamom and have a texture similar to shortbread. Made with rice flour, nan-e berenji are also gluten-free. Traditionally, one forms balls from the dough, then presses them with a Persian cookie stamp that leaves a curved ridged design on top of the cookie, but you can achieve a similar effect using a spoon. Be sure to let the dough fully rest in the fridge so the flour has time to hydrate and the flavors can meld.

Iranians love eating fish with rice to celebrate Nowruz. It’s an old tradition honored by Iranians living in other countries, too. A white fish is the classic choice; both branzino and Mediterranean sea bass (lavaraki) work well. The fish is flavored with saffron and lemon and stuffed with an onion, walnut, herb and pomegranate molasses filling. Sabzi polo (Persian herb rice) is the perfect accompaniment.

This classic Iranian dip is made from a refreshing combination of yogurt and cucumber, mast and khiar in Persian, respectively. Like its Mediterranean cousins Turkish cacik and Greek tzatziki, mast o khiar is served alongside other dishes or with bread and is known for its bright, tangy flavor. Some versions of Mast o Khiar grate the cucumbers, but this one just finely chops them. In my family, we also add raisins and walnuts to balance the flavor; you can leave them out if you like, but I think they make the dish extra special.

Sometimes spelled ghotab, these Persian cookie-like pastries are filled with walnuts and delightfully scented with rosewater and cardamom. They’re a beloved treat originally from Yazd, an Iranian city famous for its sweets. Qottab are popular year-round but considered a must for Nowruz, the Iranian New Year. You’ll see many variation of these delicious pastries: Some use almonds or a combination of almonds and walnuts, and some include cinnamon or omit rosewater. Although they’re typically deep-fried you can also bake them; both methods are included in this recipe so you can take your pick. Either way, since the dough is unsweetened and the filling is only lightly sweetened it’s best not to skip the final step while the cookies are still warm: coating them in confectioners’ sugar.

A classic Iranian recipe, joojeh kababs are boneless chicken pieces marinated in a saffron-lemon mixture, then grilled to tender and juicy perfection, thanks to the yogurt in the marinade. It’s common for Iranians to enjoy them on the thirteenth day of Nowruz — also known as Sizdah Bedar — at picnics to end the Nowruz festivities, or on weekends, served with rice, grilled tomatoes and peppers.

Baghali polo is a fragrant Persian rice dish that features fava beans, dill and saffron. It’s traditionally served with lamb shanks (mahicheh), but it’s also popular alongside other meats and stews. The technique for cooking baghali polo is similar to that for rice with tahdig, where the rice forms the crispy topping. In this version of the dish, a layer of potato slices becomes the crispy tahdig. You can find frozen green fava beans in some supermarkets and stores specializing in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean ingredients; canned brown fava beans have a different texture and flavor, so they aren’t a good substitute in this recipe.

Nuts and dried fruit are traditional snacks in Iran, and ajil is essentially a Persian trail mix that’s especially popular during the new year festivities. Here are two of the many types of ajil: salty and sweet. The nuts can be shelled or unshelled, but are usually unsalted.

Lamb shanks, known as mahicheh in Farsi, have a special place in Persian cuisine. They’re usually served for weddings and other special occasions like Ramadan and Nowruz, typically alongside baghali polo, a dill and fava bean rice. The lamb shanks are cooked for a few hours with aromatics, then slowly braised in a tomato sauce to absorb all the flavors and until the meat is so tender that it falls off the bone.

Ground walnuts are one of only four ingredients in these quick and easy Persian walnut cookies, which are popular sweets for celebrating Nowruz. The cookies are deliciously chewy on the inside and a bit crispy around the edges. Since they keep well for over a week, they're perfect for making ahead of time.

This classic Persian herb and noodle soup is traditionally served on the 13th day of the new year, when Iranians usually go on a picnic with friends and family. However, it’s a satisfying, hearty choice whenever it’s cold outside. In addition to spinach, cilantro and parsley, the thick soup is packed with chickpeas, pinto beans and lentils. (It’s common to cook the legumes in advance.) Kashk — a cooked fermented yogurt — is the standard topping. It’s time-consuming to make, though, so plan accordingly. Alternatively, you can use store-bought kashk or sour cream with some salt stirred in.

This fragrant, herb-laced steamed rice dish is typically served with fish during the Persian new year, but it’s also great anytime with saffron chicken, kuku sabzi (Persian herb frittata) and lamb. Persian-style rice is known for its crispy bottom, or tahdig. It’s everyone’s favorite part. Adding a layer of lettuce to sabzi polo is commonplace in Iran. You can also steam a few heads of garlic with the rice. The perfectly soft and mellow cloves are wonderful squeezed onto the dish before or after it’s served. A nonstick pot helps make for an easy release and impressive tahdig.

Dhan dar patia is the holy trinity of Parsi food. It’s served on all auspicious days, celebrations or special occasions, and especially for Nowruz, the Parsi new year, celebrated in India usually in mid-August. Dhan means rice and dar is a buttery, velvety lentil stew finished with a crispy tadka (oil and bloomed spices) of sizzled cumin seeds, shallots and garlic. Patia (pronounced PAH-ti-ya, or sometimes PAH-ti-yoh) is a finger-licking good seafood stew. The sauce is a perfect balance of salty, sweet, sour and spicy flavors. One bite of umami-rich patia and you’ll be hooked. The Parsis are an eclectic community in India. They emigrated from Iran (then Persia) around the 7th century AD in order to maintain their Zoroastrian religion after Arab Muslims conquered Persia. According to Parsi literature, they settled in the state of Gujarat after being given refuge by the Hindu king Jadi Rana. Over time their Persia dishes merged with Gujarati food and became an important contribution to the diversity of Indian cuisine. Parsis are a food-loving group; they famously barely finish eating one meal before they begin talking about the next.