Root Vegetable

Try using Grade B maple syrup, which has a deeper flavor than Grade A, in this recipe. Look for it at natural foods stores.

Toasted homemade croutons are tossed with a warm dressing for a stuffing that's lighter than the traditional Thanksgiving version.

Leftover ham in the fridge or sweet potatoes in the pantry? This clever brunch dish is the way to go.

Both turkey meat and gravy are used in this vibrant soup. Pass grated Parmesan cheese alongside if you like.

Celery root (also called celeriac) is one of autumn's most delicious—but least appreciated—vegetables. Here it adds fresh celery flavor to this velvety first-course soup.

The puffs can be formed and chilled or frozen on baking sheets well ahead of time, then simply popped into the oven.

These beefy bites are filling enough to stand in for a meal.

This spread has a dose of fiber and heart-healthy fat, plus beta-carotene.

This slightly spicy, moist side dish is both deeply satisfying and nutritious. Sweet potatoes are rich in complex carbohydrates and fiber, giving them a low glycemic index (this means that they slow the body's absorption of sugar and help regulate blood-sugar levels). A bonus for weight watchers: All those complex carbs will make you feel fuller longer than white potatoes do.

Contrary to popular opinion, Thanksgiving turkey, when not butter-basted, can be a healthful centerpiece to the meal. It's a superb source of lean protein, B vitamins, magnesium, and potassium. To add flavor without adding fat, this recipe uses a garlic-herb rub and a small amount of grapeseed oil, which raises good cholesterol. Another calorie-saving trick: In the gravy, roasted garlic replaces most of the fat from the drippings.

When there is a whole lamb on the Arab table, the occasion is a special one. It is prepared to celebrate the birth of a child, a marriage, the return from a pilgrimage, or the recuperation from illness. For the host, it is an opportunity to honor the guests, showing them how important they are. When I was growing up, my mother always prepared it for the Eid al Adha, the celebration for the end of the pilgrimage to Mecca. It used to be that only families of little means, who could not afford to buy a whole lamb, stuffed the shoulder, neck, or leg. These days, anyone who is preparing dinner for a small gathering will stuff just the leg, as I do here, with a mix of herbs, garlic, and carrots. I prefer farm-raised fresh lamb for this dish, for its tender, delicate meat. Ask your butcher to butterfly the leg of lamb and to leave the thin membrane on the leg; it retains the meat's juices as it cooks.

Why, we wondered, should traditional bread stuffing have to use white bread? Rye and pumpernickel stand up much better to the sweet caramelized onions and earthy turnips in this very autumnal version.

Our resident Louisianan, associate food editor Alexis Touchet, remembers this dressing from her childhood—and it's the one that still graces her family's Thanksgiving meal, year after year. This dressing is not considered a stuffing for the turkey, but a dish that "dresses up" the table.