Dairy Free

Protein and B vitamins in chicken promote healthy hair. Stay gorgeous, girl.

Chef Kris Wessel of Florida Cookery in Miami Beach, Florida, shared this recipe as part of a Palm Tree Christmas menu he created exclusively for Epicurious. This dish was the traditional Christmas starter for Wessel's family during holidays spent at his Grandmother Esther's house in Miami Beach. "Some people put out foie gras pâté at Christmas as a starter, but in Miami, people will break out the stone crabs," he says.

Scallops only taste rich: A 4-ounce serving has just 78 calories, and the shellfish can cost less than a good cut of beef. Plus, they’re super easy to cook. See&151;and enjoy&151;for yourself!

This flavorful ham is glazed with orange juice, bourbon, brown sugar, and apple jelly that's spiced with cloves, allspice, and ginger.

Chickpeas make this hearty dish even more gratifying. A half cup of the high-fiber legumes daily can cut your consumption of fatty foods.

Chef Kris Wessel of Florida Cookery in Miami Beach, Florida, shared this recipe as part of a Palm Tree Christmas menu he created exclusively for Epicurious. Conch is typically sold cooked and frozen, so to make this salad, simply defrost the frozen conch and cut it into bite-size pieces. Look for conch that's white or off-white and not brown or yellow if you're buying it from your fishmonger, Wessel says. The lime juice and vinegar in the salad will further cook the conch slightly, like a ceviche.

Chef Kris Wessel of Florida Cookery in Miami Beach, Florida, shared this recipe as part of a Palm Tree Christmas menu he created exclusively for Epicurious.

Jellied candies like these are eaten all over Europe as post-dessert petits fours.

Soaked in cherry eau-de-vie, these boozy bites are made for Black Forest Cake but taste equally great in a cocktail.

This is the stew that made such an impression on the final episode of the first season of Top Chef Masters. Each of us had been asked to create a meal that would be an autobiography told through the dishes we would present to the judges. I immediately thought of baeckeoffe ("baker's oven"). The name refers back to the time when bakers used wood-fired ovens. After the bread was done, this dish would be baked long and slow in the falling temperatures of the cooling oven. Since everyone in town would see the baker every day for the family's daily loaf, each would often bring a casserole to be baked in the oven. It was traditional, particularly on Mondays, when the women went to the river to do their laundry. They would have marinated their meats and vegetables overnight, dropped their casseroles off in the morning on their way, and then picked them up—plus a loaf of bread—on their way home. Even though my father was not the bread baker and had a modern, gasfired oven, people still took their casseroles to him. They liked to drop in because he always had some joke or story to tell. Before the village baker also invested in a modern oven and was still using wood, when my father turned over a fresh loaf of bread to give it the traditional blessing, he would sometimes see pieces of charcoal embedded in the crust. That would send my dad wild, muttering that "he [the baker] did not thoroughly clean his oven!" I make this dish often, both at home and at the restaurant. But these days we tend to increase the vegetables and use less meat, and sometimes we use only vegetables and leave out the meat entirely. While there is never a mushroom in the classic recipe, you can add them or make a vegetarian version with mushrooms and a rich vegetable stock. I've also made this stew as the centerpiece for Christmas dinner, adding plenty of sliced black truffles. The classic dish uses a mix of meats including a pig's foot, which gives a rich, gelatinous texture to the stew. You may be able to special-order a pig's foot. Ask the butcher to slice it crosswise into three pieces. But even at the restaurant I sometimes have trouble ordering them, and your stew will still be delicious without one. You can also use just one or two kinds of meat instead of all three.

Our Granny Smith Apple Cider Vinaigrette is enlivened with fresh apple and a squeeze of lime juice.

This is one of my favorite recipes in this book, mainly because of the fun evening I had developing it while visiting my dear friend Kevyn in New York City. I prepared it in his kitchen while he and our mutual friend Jennifer looked on, sipping wine. We enjoyed the meal with a bottle of Côtes du Rhône wine and then, with dessert, drank port left over from the recipe. This is one of the most elegant dishes in the book, and while it's by no means difficult to prepare, it's an indulgent recipe that is ideal for a special occasion or a dinner party.—JH

This broth, the backbone of many of our soup recipes and an ingredient in many others, was developed with brain health in mind. It includes onions, fennel, parsley, oregano, and rosemary, all of which contain antioxidants, as well as parsnips, which are a good source of folic acid. The recipe uses water as liquid, but you can start with chicken stock or fish stock to make an especially flavorful broth that would be great for sipping on its own.

You can use rich stock, made from the turkey carcass, for risotto or soup of the long weekend, or freeze it for the new year.—M-F.H.

We especially like the combination of parsnips, kohlrabi, and celery root in this bacony mash. Prepare the dish a day ahead to allow the flavors to meld (and save time on Thanksgiving Day).

Hearty greens like escarole or kale shine in this fall or winter salad, thanks to tangy kumquats and a vibrant, apple-laced dressing. You can prepare the greens and kumquats in advance, making this an ideal choice for holiday gatherings.

Forget the rule about cooking vegetables just until they're crisp-tender. The oven-roasting method used here results in lusciously soft beans with intensified flavor. Be sure to use fresh beans; older ones can be dry and tough.

Taking your time with kale draws out its sweetness. This dish is also delicious served with pork.