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Editor's note: The recipe below is part of a healthy and delicious spa menu developed exclusively for Epicurious by Chef Jesús González of La Cocina Que Canta Culinary Center at Rancho La Puerta Fitness Resort and Spa. Jicama is a large root vegetable with light brown skin and a white interior. Also called Mexican potato and yambean root, jicama is native to Mexico and South America and is available in Latin markets and most supermarkets in North America.

Editor's note: The recipe below is from Feast: Food to Celebrate Life, by Nigella Lawson.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Feast: Food to Celebrate Life, by Nigella Lawson. Strictly speaking, I don't think of this as a casserole, but I know that this is the traditional nomenclature; and, besides, I do sometimes serve the beans in one so it seems silly to quibble. This is another recipe I'd never have thought of adding to my Christmas till I started cooking for Thanksgiving, but I love its fresh, citrussy crunch. Actually, all I've done is bring on board an amplification of the way my mother always cooked green beans: just plenty of butter, plenty of pepper, and vicious amounts of lemon.

A good roast potato isn't about showing off or about striving desperately to impress. Nor is it a difficult thing to achieve, but I can't pretend it isn't a high pressure zone. You either get it right or you don't, and anything less than perfect is a disappointment. It's brutal but it's the truth.

Called Jewish wontons or raviolis, kreplach are pasta dumplings, usually triangular in shape, filled with minced meat, onion-spiced potatoes, or cheese. Kreplach carries a lot of lofty symbolism; its triangular shape represents Judaism's three patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Equally lofty: the Jewish momma who can roll her kreplach dough to optimum thinness (so that, according to Sam Levenson, "a tempting bit of their buried treasure should show through"). If the wrappers are not paper-thin, your kreplach will taste like "craplach." However, though we've included wrappers in this recipe, there's really no reason to knock yourself out making them. Just purchase wonton wrappers in a Chinese food store or supermarket, and making kreplach becomes a cinch. There's even a kosher brand called Nasoya, available in many supermarkets; look for it near the tofu.

Chunks of bacon give this English classic newfound appeal.

This simple roasting method brings deep, bright flavor to winter tomatoes.

These are delicious warm or at room temperature—especially convenient when you're cooking for a crowd.

Related to the turnip, rutabagas are slightly sweet, and their flesh has an orangey hue.

Cooking a pot of rice is much easier than tearing up and toasting bread for stuffing. Assembling the side dish a day ahead saves time, too.