Whether you're vegan, vegetarian or just want to see more vegetables on your table, these recipes will give you plenty of options. Perhaps you're looking for a stunning showstopper dish as the centerpiece of your meal. Or maybe you're seeking a sassy salad you've never tried before. Whatever you decide, we've got tons of plant-based recipes for your Thanksgiving pleasure.
Modernizing a traditional recipe, Anna Voloshyna makes a stubbed cabbage using brined leaves from a jar. Photo credit: Anna Voloshyna
MAIN DISHES
Cabbage Rolls with Barley and Mushrooms
Hearty cabbage rolls, known as golubzi, are a Slavic staple. Anya Voloshyna's recipe, which comes from her book Budmo!: Recipes from a Ukrainian Kitchen, differs from the classic version. First of all, it's vegetarian. Second, she uses pickled cabbage leaves instead of fresh ones. Finally, she has swapped the usual tomato sauce for a rich, creamy one. Get the recipe
Poblano Chiles Stuffed with Quinoa & Corn
Rather than frying her stuffed poblanos like chiles rellenos, Anna Thomas bakes them in a baking dish of fresh tomato sauce and serves them with hot cornbread. The goat cheese that goes on top is optional. Skip it and the vegetarian recipe becomes a vegan one. You'll also find the recipe in her cookbook Vegan, Vegetarian, Omnivore: Dinner for Everyone at the Table. Get the recipe
Beet and Hazelnut Veggie Burgers
This was the first veggie burger flavor that Lukas Volger launched with his company, Made by Lukas. These burgers are vegan, gluten-free, and boast a terrific texture. The hazelnuts add a floral element. It's important to freshly toast them, he says. His book Veggie Burgers Every Which Way has recipes for every night of the week with vegan and gluten-free options. Get the recipe
Vegetarian Mushroom Wellington
Classic beef Wellington is a technical feat in which a tenderloin is topped with foie gras or mushroom duxelles, then wrapped in puff pastry and baked. This vegetarian version from Alexa Weibel is less exacting yet just as impressive. Seared portobello mushrooms are layered with apple cider-caramelized onions and sautéed mushrooms, which are seasoned with soy sauce for flavor and bolstered with walnuts for texture. Get the recipe
Jerk-Spiced Squash and Callaloo Wellington
Raised in South London by Jamaican parents, Craig and Shaun McAnuff have a large UK audience for their platform Original Flava. In their second book, Natural Flava, they have a wealth of vegan Caribbean recipes. This jerk-spiced squash and callaloo wellington, which is both delicious and visually stunning, makes also a great main dish for any Thanksgiving table. Get the recipe
Huitlacoche Crêpes
Margarita Carrillo Arronte has spent the last three decades cooking, studying and teaching traditional Mexican food. Born and raised in Mexico, she has owned multiple restaurants including Don Emiliano in Baja to La Colina in Tokyo. Her 2014 work, Mexico: The Cookbook was such a hit, she followed it up with The Mexican Vegetarian Cookbook, which is where this recipe comes from. Get the recipe
Dorie Greenspan's Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good
Baking goddess Dorie Greenspan has savory skills too! This recipe involves stuffing a two or three-pound pumpkin with stale bread, cheese, garlic and herbs. Dorie includes bacon in her recipe but you can just skip that. Get the recipe
Green Bell Peppers Stuffed with Spicy Potatoes, Chili and Dried Mango
When Maunika Gowardhan lived in India, her mother would make this recipe often. The bell peppers are stuffed with spiced, crushed potatoes that are flavored with dried mango powder, which lends a tangy, sour note. Look for the recipe in her new book, Tandoori Home Cooking: Over 70 Classic Indian Tandoori Recipes to Cook at Home. Get the recipe
Aida Mollenkamp's Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie
Aida Mollenkamp's shepherd's pie recipe calls for the usual suspects — mushrooms, celery, carrots, onions, parsnips — but if you've got leftover Thanksgiving veggies you want to use up — green beans, Brussels sprouts, squash etc. — this is a great way to use them up. Get the recipe
Butternut Squash Fontina Lasagne
Is there anything that doesn't taste good when layered with bechamel, parmesan and cheese? No need to answer. That's a rhetorical question. Get the recipe
Potato Frittata with Avocado and Three-Chile Salsa
A pan of potatoes and eggs spiced up with Anaheim and poblano chiles? Yes, please! You can thank Selma Morrow, author of The William Sonoma Collection: Potato, for this one. Get the recipe
Spinach and Feta Pie
This recipe uses filo dough, sumac, and a blend of herbs including cinnamon, cardamom, and coriander. Use feta cheese from Greece or Lebanon because it's usually tangier than the feta from France or Bulgaria. Get the recipe
Vegan Weeknight Meaty Chili
Don't be fooled by the word "weenight" in this recipe. Our cousins at NPR's Morning Edition think this meatless chili, which relies on plant-based ground meat, kidney beans and fire-roasted tomatoes, is good enough to serve on special occasions. Get the recipe
For Chinese cooks, romaine lettuce is just another leafy green, which has a savory sweetness when cooked. Photo credit: Hannah Che
GREENS
Blanched Lettuce with Ginger Soy Sauce (Jiāngróng Shēngcài)
"Chinese cooks treat lettuces just like any other leafy green, and varieties like sturdy-hearted romaine lettuce and the long papery fronds of stem lettuce are often stir-fried, blanched, steamed, or wilted in soups, with delicious results," writes Hannah Che, author of The Vegan Chinese Kitchen. Here, a quick blanch intensifies romaine lettuce's sweetness and flavor, and the delicate soy sauce dressing bathes the crisp, juicy stems and dimpled leaves with sesame oil and clinging bits of ginger. Get the recipe
Citrus Collards with Raisins Redux
James Beard-winning chef, activist and author Bryant Terry has written four vegan cookbooks including Vegetable Kingdom: The Abundant World of Vegan Recipes and Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine. The man knows vegetables. In this recipe, orange juice provides tartness while raisins infuse traditional collard greens with sweetness. Get the recipe
Aloo Methi: Spinach Cooked with Potatoes and Fenugreek Leaves
This recipe for Aloo Methi comes from Farhana Sahibzada's new cookbook Flavorful Shortcuts to Indian/Pakistani Cooking. She says it works great as both a side dish and a main course. "The secret seasoning is a light sprinkle of dried fenugreek leaves (dried fenugreek leaves labeled as ‘Kasoori Methi' are available at all Indian/Pakistani spice stores) at the end," she writes. Get the recipe
Spinach Borani
Borani are a staple in Iran and other parts of the Middle East. It is a dish of tender cooked vegetables served in thick strained yogurt that's topped with crispy fried onions. There are countless variations of borani available at Persian restaurants, but the dish is easy enough to prepare at home. In Taste of Persia, Naomi Duguid makes hers by combining wilted spinach with sautéed onions and creamy yogurt, then finishes the dish off with onions, toasted walnuts or pistachios and a dash of saffron water. Get the recipe
Gomen Wot (Collard Greens Stew)
This wholesome Ethiopian stew is Luladey Moges's go-to when she's craving some greens in her diet. It's not too spicy and it's meat free. It's a versatile dish that you can have over rice as a simple lunch or use to accompany something hot and spicy if you're entertaining. You'll also spot it in Enebla: Recipes from an Ethiopian Kitchen. Get the recipe
Noah Galuten shares his brother's recipe for kitchari, a rice and lentil dish with ghee and turmeric. Photo credit: Kristin Teig
BEANS & LEGUMES
Shantam's Kitchari
Kitchari is a rice and lentil porridge that's popular in much of India. There is a lot of personal variation in the way that people make, eat, and even pronounce (or spell) it but kitchari is often made with some form of lentils, rice, and ginger, and spiced with turmeric, cumin seeds, and black mustard seeds that have been fried and toasted in ghee. This recipe comes from Noah Galuten and his Don't Panic Pantry Cookbook. He started eating kitchari after his brother introduced him to it. If you prefer, you can use brown rice instead of white, or whole mung beans instead of red lentils or split mung. Get the recipe
Evan Kleiman's Seared Green Beans
Evan calls these "Has Beans" because once they were firm and dense but now they're "has beans" and even more delicious. "You are working towards a bean that is charred on the outside and tender to the bite. It will be floppy instead of firm. If you sear them properly they will be tender to eat while retaining a sweet green flavor instead of the vegetal flavor you get from boiling string beans for too long," she explains. Get the recipe
Vietnamese-Style Green Beans
In Vietnamese Home Cooking, Charles Phan, the chef behind The Slanted Door in Northern California, describes his first Thanksgiving in the United States. This recipe for green beans combines his Vietnamese heritage with a classic American Thanksgiving side dish. To make them vegan, replace the fish sauce with freshly squeezed lime juice. Get the recipe
Amy Thielen has been perfecting her braised cabbage recipe since working with Austrian cooks at Danube in New York City. Photo credit: Kristin Teig
BRASSICAS
Citrusy Braised Red Cabbage
Amy Thielen says, "I learned to make this dish from some crazy Austrian chefs who were not afraid to reduce two bottles of very good Blaufränkish to make braised red cabbage. They taught me that braised red cabbage balances on the top of three poles: sweetness from the caramelized onions and burnt sugar, acidity from the citrus juices, and dark, buttery earth from the reduced chicken stock, wine, and the cabbage itself." Make sure you let the cabbage cook for a long time, until it loses any spring it has left. She has more menus for Thanksgiving, Christmas and weeknight socializing in her latest book, Company: The Radically Casual Art of Cooking for Others. Get the recipe
Char Siu Roasted Cauliflower (Bông Cải Trắng Nướng Vị Xá Xíu)
Andrea Nguyen's recent cookbook, Ever-Green Vietnamese: Super-Fresh Recipes, Starring Plants from Land and Sea, has a wealth of veggie recipes. This one features a combo of hoisin, honey, soy sauce, sesame oil and garlic, which lends the cauliflower punch. Get the recipe
Carla Hall's Creamed Kale
The former co-host of The Chew began the research for her book Carla Hall's Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration by taking a road trip through the American South, connecting with Black cooks and families. The recipes she gathered inspired her to rethink her favorite soul food dishes. For this recipe, Carla took the traditional creamed spinach instructions and replaced the central ingredient with sturdier, more textured kale leaves. Get the recipe
Cauliflower "Couscous" with Spiced Butter
You want to cut cauliflower into the tiniest florets possible. It's not difficult but it is time-consuming. The cauliflower morsels won't be as small as couscous but they will cook quickly. Throw in nutmeg, cloves, and ginger to give the vegetable some zing. Get the recipe
Quartered Kohlrabi
Roasting kohlrabi is as simple as roasting a potato. Chef Michael Anthony likes to toss the browned chunks in the pan with a big pinch of smoked paprika and serve it immediately. Get the recipe
Maple-Sriracha Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cranberry Wild Rice
Randy Clemens, who has written two cookbooks dedicated to sriracha and organized LA's first annual Sriracha Festival, loves using the hot sauce in his Brussels sprouts dish. This recipe comes from his vegan cookbook The Veggie-Lovers Sriracha Cookbook. Get the recipe
Brussels Sprouts with Walnut Oil and Meyer Lemon
Amelia Saltsman likes using Weiser Farms' purple Brussels sprouts but this recipe works just as well with standard green Brussels sprouts. Get the recipe
Brussels sprouts with roasted jalapeño vinaigrette
This dish comes from Johnny Sánchez, chef and owner of New Orleans restaurant Aarón Sánchez. It features fried Brussels sprouts, butternut squash and pomegranate seeds. If you prefer, you can roast the sprouts instead of frying them. And if all that peeling, dicing and chopping sounds like too much work, buy the vegetables pre-chopped. Make your life easier. Get the recipe
Vegan Lemon Pepper Cauliflower Wingz
Chef Charity Morgan, who helped her linebacker husband adopt a plant-based diet and has cooked 100% vegan meals for the Tennessee Titans, uses cauliflower instead of foul in her wings. In her cookbook Unbelievably Vegan: 100+ Life-Changing, Plant-Based Recipes: A Cookbook, you'll also find vegan recipes for favorite game day snacks such as Hot Krabby Dip and Nachos Average Nachos. Get the recipe
Brussels Sprouts, Dates, Walnuts and Pomegranate Arils with a Toasted Coriander-Cumin Vinaigrette
"My first Thanksgiving was with a couple friends from Mumbai and a whole set of new American and international friends," says Mumbai Modern author Amisha Dodhia Gurbani. "We all made dishes and it was like an international potluck. One of the dishes was a Brussels sprouts dish that I did not like. But that was the first time I was introduced to Brussels sprouts. I realized over the years what a big part this cruciferous vegetable played for the biggest tradition and holiday in the United States. I grew to really enjoy this humble vegetable, especially knowing its umpteen health benefits." Get the recipe
A roasted squash dish adorned with currants and pine nuts celebrates the season and rings in fall. Chef Jody Williams says it can be served warm or at room temperature and is even better the next day. Photo credit: Gentl & Hyers
SQUASH & PUMPKIN
Via Carota's Squash Marinated with Onions and Currants (Zucca in Agrodolce)
Any number of squash varieties are well suited for this uniquely Venetian marinade, according to Jody Williams and Rita Sodi of Via Carota. Butternut is sweet and silky in texture while red kuri has dense flesh and a subtle chestnut flavor with an edible skin. Arrange in a single layer so the marinade and spices flavor every slice. Get the recipe
Calabasas Squash, Tomatoes and Queso Fresco
Calabasas, California was once home to the Chumash. Navajo chef Freddie Bitsoie, author of New Native Kitchen: Celebrating Modern Recipes of the American Indian, says this dish reflects the kinds of crops they grew and the kind we still grow in Southern California. Get the recipe
Blessed Pumpkin Mash (Zucca Barucca Disfatta)
Jews have been living in Italy for more than 2,000 years. It's a fascinating story and culinary relationship that Silvia Nacamulli explores in her book, Jewish Flavors of Italy. Pumpkin has played a big part in Italian Jewish cooking since it was brought to Italy from the New World by successive waves of migrant Jews. There's a funny bumpy looking variety called Zucca Barucca (ideal for this recipe). This version is sweetened with sugar and cinnamon. Get the recipe
M Cafe's Zucchini "Noodles"with Basil-Almond Pesto
Lee Gross, a consulting chef for M Cafe, shared this recipe with us in 2010. Get the recipe
Gjelina's Grilled Kabocha Squash with Mint-Pomegranate Pesto
You can thank chef Travis Lett for this recipe, which you'll also find in Gjelina: Cooking from Venice, California. Japanese kabocha squash is a winter favorite. Grilled, roasted or steamed, its sweet, nutty flavor is intensified when seasoned with a bit of flaky sea salt and olive oil. If you can't find it, red kuri squash has an identical flavor but a more delicate skin, making it an excellent substitute. Get the recipe
Sweet-Sour Squash (Zucca Agrodolce)
This classic Sicilian recipe is one of Evan Kleiman's favorites. It's part of the Italian pantheon of sweet-sour antipasti dishes. The squash is sauteed then marinated in lightly sweetened red wine vinegar with a touch of garlic and mint. It tastes great and looks pretty. Get the recipe
Squash Vines aka Grattaculi (or Butt Scratchers)
Squash vines are the ultimate veg for the frugal, Evan Kleiman says. In Italy, they are called grattaculi which translates to "butt scratchers." The vines are very fibrous and prickly, hence the name. The trick to making the vines edible is to use a sharp paring knife to peel off the roughest of the prickles, much like you would for asparagus. Make a little nick to create an edge then peel back and discard the long strings, which will come off. That said, the finished product is still basically prickly fiber. It is truly a way to make something from nothing. Get the recipe
Sweet Corn and Chive-Stuffed Squash Blossoms
The sweet corn and squash blossoms make this more of a summer recipe but in Southern California, you can get squash blossoms most of the year. We won't tell if you use canned corn. Get the recipe
A cast iron pan or brick may be used to make a steak out of lion’s mane mushrooms. Photo credit: Andrea Gentl
MORE VEGGIES
Salt and Pepper Brick Mushrooms
In this vegetarian riff on the classic brick chicken, Andrea Gentl cooks mushrooms with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and capers. She has used oyster, maitake, and lion's mane. Each variety has a different moisture content and will release varying amounts of moisture as the mushrooms cook. If you don't keep bricks in your kitchen, a second cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven gets the job done. The weight of the second pan compresses the mushrooms and allows a nice crunchy crust to form while keeping them juicy and tender on the inside. Get the recipe
Artichokes Jewish Style (a.k.a. Carciofi alla Giudia)
The key to this dish is using large baby artichokes and blanching them so the leaves will more easily bend outward. The resulting is meaty and vegetal, crisp and yielding, subtle and sharp, thanks to the drizzle of lemon juice. Get the recipe
Dashi Simmered Tomatoes
Japan has a century-long tradition of vegetarianism. "It's the underpinning of all the cooking that exists today," says Nancy Singleton Hachisu, author of Japan: The Vegetarian Cookbook. The key to the success of this understated, yet elegant, dish is having great tomatoes — and making sure not to waste any of their precious juice. Avoid using overripe tomatoes in Japanese cuisine. If you cannot find sansho leaves, mitsuba can be substituted, or green shiso leaves, cut into a fine chiffonade. Get the recipe
Roasted Carrot and Sweet Potato Tzimmes
This recipe comes from Amelia Saltsman, author of The Santa Monica Farmers' Market Cookbook. Tzimmes is a traditional Ashkenazi root vegetable stew, an easy-to-make vegetarian dish that pairs well with brisket or chicken. It's sweetened with prunes or dried plums in orange juice, which brightens the tzimmes without adding refined sugar. Get the recipe
Stuffed Mushrooms
Sharon Hudgins, author of The Other Side of Russia: A Slice of Life in Siberia and the Russian Far East, shared this recipe, which calls for Boletus edulis or large champignon mushrooms. Get the recipe
Chanterelle-Stuffed Padron Peppers
Kathleen and Charlie Schaffer of Schaffer like buying Weiser padron peppers and stuffing them with a goat cheese filling. They also pickle them for Bloody Marys and use them in Spanish omelets. Get the recipe
Confit Okra with Whipped Feta
Chefs Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis, the duo behind Bestia, Bavel and Saffy's, make this okra dish with Middle Eastern aromatics such as mint, cilantro, ginger, and turmeric to intensify the flavor of the okra. They serve it over whipped feta to add a bit of acidity and creaminess. Get the recipe
Store-bought gnocchi served with a fennel frond pesto is a family favorite in vegetable guru Hetty Lui McKinnon's house. Photo credit: Hetty Lui McKinnon
SALADS
Fennel and Gnocchi Salad with Fennel Frond Pesto
Here is a lovely double fennel salad from Hetty Lui McKinnon, author of Tenderheart. Crunchy shaved raw fennel is slathered in fennel frond pesto and tossed with crispy morsels of pan-fried gnocchi. This salad shows how anise flavors can be layered without overpowering other ingredients or dominating a dish. This is an adaptable recipe. Add some roasted broccoli or cauliflower, incorporate a leafy green, such as baby spinach or watercress, or substitute a filled pasta like tortellini or ravioli for the gnocchi. Get the recipe
Moroccan Beet Salad
Cumin, coriander, turmeric cardamom and cinnamon dress up this simple but tasty take on beets from Cheryl Forberg, who wrote Stop the Clock! Cooking: Defy Aging–Eat the Foods You Love. The honey in this recipe can easily be replaced by agave or date syrup. Get the recipe
Roasted Delicata Squash Salad
Benny Bohm, who was the general manager of Ammo Café, shared the restaurant's popular squash salad recipe. One of the best things about delicata squash is that the skin doesn't have to be removed before cooking. Get the recipe
Barbara's Rice Salad with Cumin and Walnuts
Marilynn and Sheila Brass, known as the Brass Sisters, share Thanksgiving memories and some recipes from their book, Heirloom Cooking With the Brass Sisters: Recipes You Remember and Love. This dish mixes long grain white rice and wild rice. Get the recipe
Persimmon, Celery and Pecan Salad
Combining persimmons, pecans, baby greens and feta cheese is a great mix of fall flavors. Amelia Saltsman says it's her family's favorite Thanksgiving salad recipe. Get the recipe
Crunchy Kohlrabi & Toasted Walnuts Salad
In V is for Vegetables, chef Michael Anthony says one of his favorite vegetables is kohlrabi. Look for ones that are no bigger than baseballs because they'll be less fibrous. Kohlrabi have tender hearts and are really just soft stems "whose spiky offshoots are merely the ribs of leaves, easily removed with a paring knife," he writes. Get the recipe
Huckleberry's Cauliflower, Squash and Sunchoke Salad
Of this recipe, chef Zoe Nathan says, "The key is properly roasting the vegetables, especially the sunchokes. You want them very crispy." This is another easy, make-ahead option. Get the recipe
Andy Baraghani's Vedge Wedge Salad
A wedge salad isn't just for your grandpa's favorite steakhouse. Andy Baraghani's update on the classic still features cold, crisp lettuce but it's cut into smaller pieces so the dressing, a garlicky tahini-based ranch, can penetrate the leafy layers. Get the recipe
Evan Kleiman's Garlic-Parmesan Salad Dressing
Throw together your favorite greens and whatever vegetables you have in the fridge then toss with a liberal application of this salad dressing. Be sure to eat it with someone you love. Get the recipe
Scalloped potatoes aka potatoes au gratin are a comforting favorite. Photo credit: Shutterstock
POTATOES
Vegan Red Potato Salad with Pesto
Yes, you can skip the mayo that most potato salads rely on without skipping the flavor. Bryant Terry swears on it. His creation calls for roasted red potatoes and a pesto made of parsley and pine nuts. Get the recipe
Evan Kleiman's Mashed Potatoes
Sometimes you don't want to do anything fancy or newfangled with your potatoes. You want the solid comfort of warm, fluffy mashed potatoes. We see you, potato people. (Click here for a few minor variations on mashed potato cooking techniques.) Get the recipe
Colcannon
Darina Allen of Ballymaloe Cooking School in Ireland got us ready for St. Patrick's Day with a few recipes from her book, Irish Traditional Cooking. Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish with four standard ingredients: potatoes, cabbage, butter and milk. You don't need to wait until March to serve it. Get the recipe
Scalloped Potatoes with Kimchi
Lauryn Chun, author of The Kimchi Cookbook, shared this recipe with us. It has all the familiar elements of American comfort food — potatoes, cream, cheese — and the added punch of kimchi. Plus, it earned Evan Kleiman's personal stamp of approval. Get the recipe
Cheesy Hasselback Potato Gratin
The recipe was created by J. Kenji López-Alt and adapted by Emily Weinstein. "This golden and glorious mash-up of potato gratin and Hasselback potatoes has been engineered to give you both creamy potato and singed edge in each bite. The principal innovation here is placing the sliced potatoes in the casserole dish vertically, on their edges, rather than laying them flat as in a standard gratin, in order to get those crisp ridges on top," Weinstein explains. Get the recipe
Mormon Funeral Potatoes
Don't be deterred by the name. Mormon Funeral Potatoes are basically a potato casserole with plenty of butter, cream and cheese. What's not to love? Get the recipe
Potato and Green Garlic Chowder
Former LA Times Food Editor Russ Parsons shared this vegetarian recipe with us back in 2008. Replace the butter with olive oil and don't grate Pecorino Romano on top, and it becomes a vegan soup. Get the recipe
French Fries
Got some leftover French fries? Tamar Adler's recipe is the perfect way to use them up. For more ideas on what to do with leftovers, check out her Everlasting Meal Cookbook. Get the recipe
A salad of sweet potatoes and quinoa can be prepared in advance of a holiday dinner. Plus, you can customize it by adding ingredients that suit your fancy. Photo credit: Shutterstock
SWEET POTATOES
Sweet Potato & Quinoa Salad
Mark Bittman first shared this recipe back in 2009 and it holds up. It's easy to make and has the virtue of being able to be prepared in advance. Get the recipe
Tequila Sweet Potatoes
This unusual way to serve sweet potatoes comes from pitmaster Rick Browne, who also hosted the public television show Barbecue America. The strands of sweet potato soak up the tequila, lime juice and butter better than slices. Get the recipe
Sweet Potatoes with Orange Bitters
If you're sick of the same old Thanksgiving side dishes, this recipe for sweet potatoes from Yotam Ottolenghi's new book Plenty More will be a great addition to your table. Get the recipe
Sweet Potato Latkes with Coriander & Lemon topped with Cranberry Orange Relish and Marshmallow Fluff
Who says latkes should only be served at Hanukkah? Not us! White pepper gives these potato pancakes bite. Lemon juice adds a hint of tartness. Coriander imparts flavor. And rice flavor keeps these babies crisp. Get the recipe
Sticky Rice with Sweet Potato
You'll find this recipe in Charles Phan's The Slanted Door: Modern Vietnamese Food. If you rarely cook with black sticky rice and usually grab yams instead of sweet potatoes, this will be a fun way to pair these available yet underused ingredients in a rich, irresistible combo. Get the recipe
Sweet Potatoes and Korean Chile Paste Sauce
The chile sauce's sweet, salty and spicy notes will perk up grilled meats, fish, tofu, meaty mushrooms or sautéed greens. You can find gochujang for sale at your local Asian grocer or at any good supermarket. If you prefer, kabocha squash and carrots can substitute for sweet potatoes in Susan Volland's recipe. Get the recipe
Sweet Potatoes with Curried Puffed Grains
Popped grains are a fun way to bring crunch to a dish. Grace Parisi pairs them with sweet potatoes, Madras curry powder, maple syrup and cayenne and boom! Get the recipe
Sweet Potato Salad
Scroll down to the bottom of the page for this recipe from Marilynn and Sheila Brass, aka the Brass Sisters. Orange marmalade and apricot jam bring sweetness. Red bell peppers and pecans bring crunch. Orange juice and apple cider vinegar bring tartness. Get the recipe
Squares of pasta with peas known as quadrucci served with a cheesy broth hails from Rome. Photo credit: Jonathan Lovekin
PASTA & NOODLES
Quadrucci and Peas, Roman-Style (Quadrucci alla Romana)
English-born food journalist Rachel Roddy has called Italy her home for the past 18 years. In her book An A to Z of Pasta, she says this recipe is a favorite of hers for the way it looks. Frozen peas are wonderful, and this is a dish in which they shine. I have suggested light vegetable stock, but lightly salted water would work too. Get the recipe
One-Pot Halloumi & Tomato Pasta (Hellimli Domatesli Magarina)
Located below Turkey, above Africa, and near Syria, Lebanon, and Greece, Cyprus sits at the crossroads of cultures. One of Meliz Berg's favorite ingredients is the spongy cheese halloumi. In Meliz's Kitchen, she presents this one-pot pasta recipe that begins with a delicious tomatoey base and, in true Cypriot fashion, is finished off with a liberal coating of grated Hellim (halloumi) and dried mint. Caramelized onions, cinnamon, and bay leaves give the dish its essential Cypriot umami. Get the recipe
Japchae (Korean Glass Noodles)
Joanne Lee Molinaro recalls her parents being reluctant to bring American dishes to the table except during the holidays. After turning to a plant-based diet several years ago, she learned to navigate Thanksgiving by incorporating the vegan Korean dishes of her childhood into the menu. Japchae, a labor-intensive glass noodle, is typically reserved for special occasions. "I am not ashamed to admit that I ask for this dish every single birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas," she says. Molinaro is the author of The Korean Vegan Cookbook: Reflections and Recipe from Omma's Kitchen. Get the recipe
Sunchoke Ravioli with Kale Pesto
Diane Forley, author of The Anatomy of a Dish, shared this recipe with us back in 2003. Get the recipe
Evan Kleiman's Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta and Beans)
This dish can either be a soup or a pasta. You vary the consistency by adding more or less dried pasta to the soup. Start by adding less so you get an idea of how much liquid it absorbs. If the soup gets thicker than you want, add a bit more water. Add it half a cup at a time. You can always add more but you can't take away. Get the recipe
Linguine with Saffron from Provence
Patricia Wells is a food writer and restaurant columnist who lives in France. You can also find this recipe in her book, The Provence Cookbook. Get the recipe
Winter Pasta with Cabbage
Amelia Saltsman, author of The Santa Monica Farmers' Market Cookbook, suggests this hearty and budget-friendly pasta dish. When selecting cabbage at the market, she looks for heads that are heavy for their size. She likes either Savoy cabbage or heirloom Wakefield Jersey cabbage for this preparation. The key is cutting the leaves very thin so they melt into a creamy sauce. You can easily make this vegetarian by taking out the bacon and using vegetable stock or water. Get the recipe
Pasta with Zucchini Sauce
Amelia Saltsman has another pasta recipe for us. She makes this dish by sauteing onions, garlic and diced zucchinis in olive oil until the squash begins to melt. If you have good zucchinis and good olive oil, this is a winning dish. Get the recipe
"I really think wild rice is underrated," says Andy Baraghani, who recommends this gluten-free option for stuffing. Photo credit: Graydon Herriott
STUFFING
Gluten-Free Wild Rice Stuffing
This savory wild rice dish is the ultimate gluten-free stuffing and doubles as a holiday-appropriate grain salad with lots of fresh herbs. Cook the grains in well-salted water for much longer than you'd think; until the rice is splitting open, it's not done. Get the recipe
Mixed Mushroom and Sweet Potato Stuffing
This was adapted from Charlie Trotter of Charlie Trotter's, Chicago. It involves sweet potatoes, sage and shiitake, portobello or cremini mushrooms. Get the recipe