Root Vegetable

Meet the latke's larger, Swiss cousin: the Rösti. This recipe makes two giant potato cakes; if you want to serve them at the same time, you’ll need to use two skillets (heavy ones produce the crispest results).

Simple and beautiful. If you can’t find small carrots, use medium ones, halved and cut into five-inch pieces.

This recipe doubles easily: Shape the extra hash browns into smaller cakes. Bake as directed, checking for doneness a bit sooner than indicated, and cool on the sheet. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm in the oven, then top with crème fraîche and smoked salmon or caviar for appetizers in the evening.

The clams and sausage make a warm and comforting one-pot meal. Toss with cooked linguine, or just serve with toasted pain rustique.

In this recipe, the potatoes are boiled, gently flattened in a kitchen towel, brushed with oil, and grilled. The result? Potatoes that are creamy on the inside and crispy on the outside.

Penne, a tubular, pointed pasta, looks great alongside the zucchini blossoms.

This fast-cooking frittata has a lighter texture than most.

For a healthier alternative to french fries, try this baked version.

This recipe originally accompanied Ratatouille .

Also great made with ground lamb.

The crunch of celery is a terrific counterpoint to the buttery quality of the Yukon Gold potatoes. Serving this salad alongside the <epi recipelink="" id="243164">salmon cakes</epi> or any grilled meat only adds to the celebration of textures.

This pretty salad gets its name from the long slices of zucchini, which resemble tagliatelle pasta. I like to mix in some fresh mint and lemon for a nice zip, cucumber and sweet onion for crunch, and pistachio oil for fabulous depth of flavor.

Transform your picnic into un pique-nique to remember with this elegant arrangement of tangy potato salad, peas gently mashed with marjoram, and salty ham softly set in parsleyed gelatin.

Food editor Shelley Wiseman thinks sweet potatoes are naturally sweet enough when caramelized in the oven, so she eschewed brown sugar and "savorized" them instead with garlic oil. Sage leaves—too potent and fuzzy to eat fresh but mellow when fried—serve as a lovely garnish for this autumnal side dish.

In this chutney-like compote, quince lends a ripe-pear creaminess, and pearl onions a lush sweetness, to tart cranberries.

Trim the tops and tails of the beets to 1 inch.

We gave the old liver-and-onions routine a contemporary twist with mild scallions and crisp pancetta. Sherry-butter sauce adds finesse and roundness of flavor.