Roast

Roasted fingerling potatoes would be great with this colorful dish. Ask the butcher to roll and tie the pork loin for you.

Food editor Maggie Ruggiero has taken lentils "from canned to Cannes" in this très simple—and très français—dish.

Here's an idea: Save a few of the toasted pumpkin seeds to use as a garnish. That little bit of extra crunch will complement the sweet, succulent squash beautifully.

Since roasting brings out the best in most vegetables, food editor Melissa Roberts decided to throw the potatoes into the oven along with the garlic and parsnips, their companions in this dish. The result is an earthy mash, with chunks of caramelized parsnip and savory-sweet garlic.

We come back to this basic stock recipe year after year because we love the depth and dark hue that come from roasting the meat and vegetables beforehand—they translate to a terrific gravy.

If you're eager for your turkey to have a luscious, crisp skin, you'll love this glaze, which takes it to a whole new level—maple syrup caramelizes on the surface, creating a superthin, almost glasslike, slightly sticky coating all over. And because the syrup is steeped with black peppercorns before glazing, it adds a nuanced floral quality along with a hint of heat.

The ingredients here evolved from the Miraglia family's favorite way to roast capon, but the simplicity of this dish will resonate with anyone looking for a beautiful and delicious all-American turkey.

If you've never had pale-fleshed Japanese sweet potatoes before, you'll be surprised by their subtler, drier flesh, which tastes unmistakably of chestnut. A bit of miso mixed into the scallion butter stealthily rounds out the interplay of sweet and umami that will have you eating all the way through to the last flaky remnants of skin.

Pushing a buttery spice paste underneath the turkey's skin allows the flavor to perfume the meat—and gives it extra juiciness. Here, we use the favorite Indian combination of garlic and ginger paste, along with the technique of toasting spices and then grinding them, for the freshest, most powerful result. Though the paste may smell pungent, its flavor, once the turkey has been cooked, is quite gentle.

This gorgeous bird emerges from the oven nearly black and very deeply flavored. However, don't look for crisp skin; the mole keeps both the flesh and skin tender and moist. Be sure to start the turkey at least one hour and up to eight hours ahead to allow for marinating time. The easiest way to do this is to spread on the mole before you go to bed and let the turkey marinate in the fridge overnight.

A touch of fragrant honey in this dish complements the potatoes' inherent sweetness. Don't be afraid to roast them to a dark golden brown—the chewy caramelized edges will add flavor.

Roasting brings out fennel's sweet side.

This is a fresh twist on green beans amandine. Marcona almonds, from Spain, are more tender than California almonds and are usually sold roasted and salted. Look for them at specialty foods stores and online at tienda.com.

If you've never had rutabagas, here's a great way to try them. Ginger-roasted pears add sweetness and a touch of spice—the perfect balance for this earthy root vegetable. Slice one extra pear and roast it (with the cubes) to use as garnish.

The small potatoes known as fingerlings have a sweet, buttery flavor. Small redskinned potatoes would work well, too.

Roasted carrots, parsnips, and rutabagas add great depth of flavor.

Both the turkey and the gravy get big-time flavor from earthy dried porcini mushrooms.

Salty Italian bacon flavors both the turkey and the gravy. Does it get any better?