Squash

This recipe is a template, open to endless riffs depending on what vegetables you have on hand. No matter what seasonal produce you use, remember to keep an eye out for a mix of colors.

All of these dishes would benefit from a scoop of rice on the side, but Pelaccio's twist on northeastern Malaysia's rice salad is meant to be served over the grains. (He prefers jasmine.) The smoky grilled vegetables are enlivened by a generous final flourish of fresh herbs.

The keys to this dish? Use as many types of squash as you can, and heat the oil in the skillet until it's almost smoking.

You can use any white flaky fish in this versatile—and quick—dish.

Create endless riffs on this salad by using the bright herb dressing with your favorite grains and vegetables.

Toasted seeds and nuts add bite to this nutrition-packed salad. We use dried sprouted legumes, which are even more healthful than ordinary beans and more convenient than sprouting your own. (Cooked lentils and mung beans work well, too.) A vibrant chive vinaigrette brings it all together.

Soft, creamy risotto topped with warm roasted vegetables makes a complete meal in a bowl. If you don't like the idea of standing at the stove and stirring risotto to a perfect consistency, this is the method for you. Thirty minutes in the oven and this risotto comes out cooked to perfection while you and your beloved wind down from your day. If you've made Roasted Winter Vegetables earlier in the week, you can reheat leftovers as a topping here. If not, roast a favorite combination {mine is winter squash, yellow onion, and tomato} in the oven with your risotto.

{sweet and toothsome} Roasting is a no-fuss way to put a lot of vegetables on the table. Roasting brings out the natural sweetness in fall root veggies and winter squash. Roast them in big batches to top Baked Risotto , and throw them into fall and winter salads.

{sauceless} When we found out our dear friends Katie and Parker got engaged, we packed up our pizza dough and big bag of greens from our garden and headed to their place for an impromptu celebration that's become a tradition in both our homes. Though the best pizza dough takes a little preparation {it gets more supple as it sits overnight}, a pizza topped with little more than fresh farmers' market finds can be thrown together on the fly like a grand game of Twister, with everyone's arms cutting, slicing, patting, and rolling in a tangle that is soon to become a very good dinner. Sip: Snappy and crisp Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand

With the little one's football team

I see no reason why salads should be limited to greens. This one has a ton of different textures and flavors and is as visually rewarding as it is delicious. Vermont is famous for its fall color, so when I thought of this dish, I wanted all the components to come together on a platter in the same way that autumn leaves fall together in a collage of color on the forest floor. There are bits of roasted squash, blanched squash, pickled squash, and even toasted squash seeds. While I don't like dishes that are so fussy and manipulated they look less like food and more like art, I can't deny that we eat first with our eyes.

Alain Ducasse— In the squash family, you have plenty of choice between pumpkin, butternut squash, and several other varieties. It all depends what you can find in the market. But if you do spot a Muscade de Provence, pounce on it, as it is particularly tasty.
Paule Neyrat— All hard squashes are rich in antioxidant carotenoids: The more orange the flesh, the more they contain. They are best enjoyed in winter, when they are in season.

This quintessential Kerala vegetable curry marries many of the best ingredients of the region: coconut, curry leaves, green chiles, and a host of tropical vegetables. All the vegetables are cut into batons and poached in a spiced yogurt-coconut sauce. This recipe is part of our menu for Sadhya, a South Indian feast.

This recipe has several steps, but give it a try; I think you’ll find that none of the steps is difficult, and you can prepare the recipe in stages if you like. Make the filling one day, fill and cook the tortelloni the next, or make and fill the pasta to freeze, and cook anytime you want! The autumn flavors of squash, nuts, and cranberries make this the perfect side dish for a big holiday meal, or a vegetarian alternative for the non-meat eaters at the table.

The colors in this pasta—the orange of the squash and shrimp against the black eggplant skins—always remind me of Halloween, which is why I often serve it for that holiday. Actually, it’s a perfect dish for any celebratory fall meal.

Here’s a great way to get all your veggies in, with tons of flavor. I used to make this often when I was a caterer as an alternative entrée for non-meat eaters because it’s an elegant dish with lots of colors and textures. It’s also quite convenient, because it can be prepared ahead of time, so if you have vegetarian guests at your next gathering, you can assemble this early and then just pop it in the oven while you’re making the rest of the dinner. But don’t think this is strictly for vegetarians; it’s a real crowd-pleaser all around.

Men sometimes complain that pasta salads aren’t a “real” meal because they’re so light. This one will make a believer out of anyone who has turned his nose up at pasta salad in the past. Meaty eggplant chunks, cannellini beans, plus lots of grilled seafood make this as filling and robust as it is attractive on the plate.

You can make this kind of soup anytime, using any kind of pasta you like. Small shapes and short noodles are the obvious choices, but my parents often added spaghetti or fettuccine, broken into small pieces so we could still eat it with a spoon. The fettuccine looks a little more elegant, but if all you have on hand is spaghetti, that’s fine; the soup will have a more rustic, homey look.

In Naples, fried zucchini is a street food, and it was always my favorite component of Frito Misto (a dish of mixed fried foods) when I was a child. I’ve made it lighter by coating it in the Japanese bread crumbs called panko instead of regular bread crumbs, a method you could use equally well with sweet potato slices, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers—really any vegetable you like.

A scapece means pickled, and the longer the vegetables marinate in the red wine vinegar, the better they taste. My family used to make them in the winter when the veggies weren’t at their peak. These are super versatile; serve them alongside pasta, bread, fish, or meat or as the centerpiece of an antipasto platter.