Squash

My invites to tailgate parties usually come with a condition. I absolutely have to show up with this casserole in hand. Since I can whip it up in about twenty minutes flat using only a skillet and a baking dish, this is one condition I'm only too happy to comply with. Most of the time I make it with lean ground turkey. But you can also swap out the turkey and use lean ground beef. This cheesy baked casserole is packed with Mexican flavor, from the spice of the taco seasoning and tomato salsa right on down to the creamy black beans and sweet corn tortillas. It's seriously tasty, seriously easy, and seriously, it's good for you.

Peruvian Doughnuts These doughnuts were inspired by the ones at Bolivar, the restaurant in New York City where I got my first professional experience cooking Peruvian food. The picarones at Bolivar were made with sweet potato and served with an anise-scented syrup; at Chifa we use pumpkin purée and serve them with a fragrant infused honey that features star anise as well as bay leaf and cinnamon. Any leftover honey can be used anywhere you would use regular honey; store it in an airtight container at room temperature.

Fettuccine Alfredo, with its ribbons of pasta coasted in a luxurious cheese sauce, is the very definition of decadent comfort. This recipe is all that—redefined. Zucchini ribbons mingle harmoniously with the noodles, allowing a big serving, healthfully. The sauce is made creamy with thickened milk but kept full flavored with plenty of real, fresh grated cheese.

Combine rich egg noodles with the best of the summer harvest for a gorgeous dinner that requires a bit of chopping, but very little cooking.

This is a great technique if you want to serve a mixture of vegetables, like a stir-fry, with your grilled meat or fish. Start the vegetables 10 to 15 minutes before you grill your main course, so that they can get a head start. Move them to a cooler part of the grill to keep warm once they’re done. Grill baskets of all shapes and sizes are available in grocery stores or cooking shops.

"I totally ripped this off from my mom." —Allie Lewis Clapp, food editor

"I love the richness of the feta and the crunch of the sunflower seeds against the tender squash."—Dawn Perry, senior food editor

"A crunchy, cheesy topping gives squash big flavor and texture." —Chris Morocco, associate food editor

Between the bacon (around 200mg of sodium per slice) and the scallops (over 330mg per 3 ounces), the classic dish is too salty for me to enjoy. But when the bacon is replaced with smoky zucchini ribbons and the scallops are swapped out for halibut rounds, you have a whimsical reinterpretation that actually tastes equally thrilling. I used smoked paprika and cumin to mimic the smoky fl avor of bacon and I decided to glaze the halibut rounds in honey and sugar to mimic the natural sweetness of scallops. The curry is purely for color and to balance the sweetness of the fish, and the spinach pasta lends a rich backdrop for the yellow-tinted "scallops."

Squeeze out as much liquid from the zucchini as possible.

I first tried this dish when I was looking for an interesting vegan option to put on my menus. While my restaurants were certainly vegetarian/vegan friendly, the focus of the menu was anything but. I wanted to present some options that were more than the usual, but I kept coming back to hummus, because it is so delicious. So I tried a few different ways to make it, and this one was a winner. Any type of thick-skinned autumn squash will do in this recipe. My favorites are kabocha, butternut, Hubbard, and regular old pumpkin. I prefer to serve this with baguette slices, but it's also good with toasted pita bread triangles or carrot and celery sticks.

Adding veggies to the marinade while warm helps them absorb more flavor.

If you have a mandoline with a julienne attachment or julienne peeler, use it here. For the best texture, stop cooking before the squash goes limp.

Thai red curry paste typically has more than eight different ingredients, including hot red pepper and lemongrass, so buying it ready- made is certainly easier than making your own. Look for it in the ethnic foods section of your supermarket or at Asian grocers. You can add 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined, to the curry during the last few minutes of cooking, if you wish.

Parmigiano-Reggiano adds salty, nutty richness to this ratatouille, which rivals the best oven versions. To speed preparation, feel free to skip the first step of salting and rinsing the eggplant and zucchini (this process draws off any bitter juices). Instead, just remove any particularly seedy and brown parts of the eggplant, or use smaller Japanese eggplants (which also do not need to be peeled). For pizzazz, add chickpeas and pitted, chopped oil-cured black olives. To make this dish vegan, swap in olive oil for the butter and skip the cheese (adding olives will make up for cheese's saltiness). When reheating the polenta, add liquid (such as chicken stock or milk), then adjust the seasoning if necessary with more salt, pepper, and butter.

November weeknights are for simple pan-seared pork chops and roasted squash.

Quickly cooking shredded butternut squash with butter and sage turns it into an almost-instant sauce for a very autumnal pasta dinner.

We're skipping the classic cubes in favor of tangled butternut ribbons baked into a moist flat cake for a seriously showstopping first course. Pair the squash with a mix of spicy arugula and ever-so-slightly-bitter chicory enhanced with savory pancetta and toasted hazelnuts. A sweet-tart apple vinaigrette is the final touch atop the most refreshing fall salad we've tasted in a long time. Editor's Note: This recipe is part of our Gourmet Modern Menu for Thanksgiving for 2 or 20. Menu also includes: Citrus-Sage Roast Turkey with Gravy (whole turkey or breast ); Mashed Potato and Cauliflower Gratin; Cabernet-Cranberry Sauce with Figs; Challah, Sausage, and Dried Cherry Stuffing; and for dessert, Apple Crostata with Spiced Caramel Sauce .

This is perfect to serve with some quinoa or wild rice as a main to a non-meat eater, or as a side with some roast chicken for the carnivorous. It's also good served warm the following day with a little grilled tofu added.