Beet

What to drink: Pour brut or rosé Champagne throughout the meal, or pair the soup with a light red wine (try an Oregon Pinot Noir) and the Oven Roasted Dungeness Crab with a fragrant dry white, such as Viognier or New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

Baby beets simply roasted to bring out their sweetness need just the barest slip of butter and a sprinkling of fresh rosemary. Candy cane beets, if you can find them at a farmers' market, look especially festive, but so does a medley of red and yellow ones. If baby beets are unavailable, cut peeled roasted large beets into 1-inch cubes.

Mix and match: Pair these and the gingered carrot latkes with the celery relish and the apple salsa.

This risotto is a delicious way to add vibrant color — and a bit of Italy — to the normally muted Thanksgiving table.

Use the grating disk of a food processor to grate the beets more easily.

Tart, raw cranberries and horseradish add plenty of zip here. Begin preparing this at least a day before serving.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Begin making the coleslaw two days ahead and the whitefish one day ahead. Pour a Chardonnay or Pinot Noir with dinner.

These beets would be a great way to liven up simple roasted meats such as pork and chicken.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 30 min

Don't assemble these hors d'oeuvres until the last minute, or the chips will get soggy. Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 2 hr