Roast

This combination of several different varieties of roasted onions, crunchy croutons, and melted cheese is great with the pork.

This is an incredibly simple recipe with an impressive payoff: Golden roasted chicken is dressed up with beautiful bunches of sweet grapes.

Roasting the pork at a low temperature in a spiced salt mixture amps up the flavor of the meat and makes it extra-tender. After cooking the pork, the rack of bones is cut off and used to hold the roast for easy carving.

Look for carrots and parsnips that are about two inches in diameter at their thickest point; you don't want them to be too big or too slender.

Aim to get your fully thawed turkey into the turkey brine 12 hours before cooking.

Cooking by color might not be the surest way to devise holiday-appropriate recipes, but who can resist the lure of black linguine on Halloween? Tossing it with pumpkin-hued vegetables lusty with garlic and hot pepper might seem like hobgoblin overkill, except that the flavors work well together. Really well. So much so that you'll be making this pasta combination again and again, long after the jack-o-lanterns have disappeared.

I call this herb and spice rub North African because, besides the classic oregano and rosemary, it contains Tunisian and Moroccan spices such as caraway, cumin, and turmeric. In addition, it is spiked with harissa, the ubiquitous hot pepper paste that is to Arab North Africa what chile oil is to Asia. Use the same spice mixture to rub poultry, beef, or pork two to three hours before grilling and leave at room temperature. Or you can mix 3 tablespoons of this rub with 3 tablespoons yogurt and baste chicken breasts or legs or skewered lamb and pork before grilling. Better yet, leave in the spicy yogurt marinade in the refrigerator overnight.

Lightly caramelized slices of roasted squash make a tasty and pretty salad, dressed up with toasted almonds, crumbled cheese, and glistening swirls of Reduced Balsamic Vinegar (recipe follows), one of my favorite condiments. Serve this as an antipasto, a first course, or a side dish. With roast meat or poultry, it can be a main course salad too. How about a Thanksgiving leftover salad of roast squash and my roast turkey (page 332) with balsamic reduction and Quince Chutney (page 368)? Any sweet-fleshed winter squash is suitable, but I find the scalloped edges of acorn squash slices look especially nice.

While visiting Lima, Peru, food editor and stylist Paul Grimes, who developed this recipe, ate a dish called "hot ceviche."Inspired by the playful concept, he tried something similar in the test kitchen.

A roast turkey glazed with a buttery cider syrup is burnished outside and juicy within. You'll have more than enough gravy to ladle over the stuffing, the smashed potatoes, and tomorrow's leftovers.

When it comes to the Thanksgiving centerpiece, most people aren't looking for a lot of bells and whistles—they simply crave a big, juicy bird with golden skin. This recipe delivers. Cream gives the gravy, which is equally straightforward to prepare, a velvety lushness that your guests won't soon forget.

Fermented black beans should be in everyone's pantry—they complement just about any protein and they can be turned into a sauce in no time at all. They are actually small black soy beans preserved in salt. You have to soak them to eliminate some of that salt, but then they are good to go. This sauce would go great not only with salmon, but on top of chicken, shrimp, tofu, or stir-fried vegetables. Serve with Butter-steamed Broccoli with Soy and Simple Boiled Rice.

Look no further for a go-to recipe when making vegetarian stews and gravies. The stock here gets its deep flavor and color from roasting the vegetables and then deglazing the pan with red wine.

This mild wild fish replete with omega-3 fatty acids combines the tastes of trout and salmon; it is available in the winter when wild salmon is still a month away. Slow-roasting a fish high in fat keeps it moist and flavorful.

This fall soup is like putting on the first sweater of the season: it just feels so good. Although the soup takes several steps—roasting the squash and pears (which can be done a day ahead of time), cooking them, and finally pureeing the soup—none involve much from you. It's an easily made soup that will keep well for days—a great possibility for a holiday meal.

Ratatouille is a vegetable stew from the south of France, traditionally made by slow cooking. By roasting the vegetables in a hot convection oven, the juices, flavors, and colors are quickly sealed in and the vegetables are succulent and remain distinguishable.

Fresh thyme adds a savory note to sweet roasted apples and caramelized onions.

Beets don't often make an appearance on the Thanksgiving table—but they should. They add an earthy sweetness to this mix of roasted vegetables that also includes butternut squash, russets, and yams.

This dish showcases both red- and tan-skinned sweet potatoes.