Vegetarian

Epicurious member Eileen La Mendola tells us that her husband’s family preferred their sweet potatoes roasted and topped with melted marshmallows. But it was her husband who inspired this revamped version of the family classic featuring bourbon and pecans. It’s been a hit ever since.

Layers of potatoes smothered in cheese and mushrooms provide cozy comfort at any winter or holiday meal. This side—rich and creamy on the inside, toasted and crunchy on the top—will definitely warm you on a cold night. Gruyère cheese, sweet and salty, affords this dish its smooth texture, while the mushrooms add a distinctive flavor that will keep the family asking for seconds.

This zinger of a pesto sauce breathes new life into a nutritious winter staple, and works well with acorn and kabocha squash, too.

Transform a traditional holiday side into something bold and beautiful using smoked paprika (hot or sweet) and cayenne. This dish couldn’t be simpler to prepare, requiring just a handful of ingredients and yielding a result that’s sweet, savory, and delicious.

The cherry-cranberry combination achieves the perfect balance of flavors alongside a roasted turkey or ham—or drizzled on vanilla ice cream. If cherry cider is hard to find, substitute a sweet-tart fruit juice such as cranberry or pomegranate.

Whoever believes that bread-based stuffing is the only one worth eating hasn’t tried this wild rice version. Alongside perfectly cooked poultry, its blend of sweet and savory stands out as a great-tasting, healthier alternative to plain old stuffing. Pearl onions are sweeter than their larger cousins and they add a nice visual touch, so seek them out in the market’s frozen section. And to fortify nutrients, substitute with brown rice, which requires a little more cooking time than white.

Buttermilk-enriched cornbread combines with onions, apples, dried apricots, and prunes in this simple and versatile Thanksgiving stuffing. While prep is fairly minimal, take note: You’ll need to dry the bread overnight, so be sure to start this recipe the day before. And if you’d like to offer a vegetarian-friendly option, swap a high-quality vegetable stock for the chicken broth.

Thanks to caramelized shallots and a brown sugar–cider vinegar glaze, this surprisingly elegant hash wins over even the most adamant of Brussels sprout naysayers. Plus, it requires almost no preparation; everything is quickly sautéed, making this an ideal addition to the holiday table. This hearty hash is also perfect for the morning. Pair it with a sunny-side egg, and you have a well-rounded breakfast or an impressive, guest-worthy brunch.

Mountains of porcini and white mushrooms lend deep woodsy notes to this hearty vegetarian entrée, while a béchamel sauce offers all the richness of a meat-filled version. Use a food processor to finely chop the fresh mushrooms; they’ll cook more quickly. Members return to this recipe time and time again because its flavor far outweighs the fuss of assembling it. If you’re short on time, make just the filling or the whole dish a day ahead of time.

This dish is as good as the time and ingredients you put into it, so use quality ingredients and patience to get the flavors to harmonize. A teaspoon of white truffle oil can substitute for the black truffles.

Meat lovers may smile politely and insist otherwise, but it’s the rare vegetarian lasagne that truly pleases the committed carnivore. In the case of this exceptional recipe, the meaty texture of the eggplant makes a luscious stand-in for Bolognese sauce. Choose your eggplant wisely: a younger, smaller one will yield the tastiest results. Try white or Asian eggplant for a more mellow flavor.

Chef Joe Bonaparte, academic director of culinary arts at the Art Institute of Charlotte, North Carolina, must have had garden parties or afternoon snacks in mind when creating this enticing combination of eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes topped with parsley, basil, and chives.

In this unique and lively salad, juicy clementines combine with crunchy jícama, salty pumpkin seeds, and creamy queso fresco to create a vibrant yet harmonious medley of textures and flavor notes. The garlicky vinaigrette is versatile enough to use on almost any salad. For a healthy, quick dinner, top the salad with a piece of grilled mahimahi, or pair it with a piece of avocado toast and call it lunch.

These dark leafy greens never tasted better. Be sure to seek out lacinato kale (also sold as Tuscan kale, black kale, dinosaur kale, or cavolo nero), a variety that is noticeably more tender and mild than the common curly kale, also known as Scotch kale. Take the time to massage the leaves in oil with your hands; the result will be kale that seems to melt in your mouth. If ricotta salata isn’t readily available at your market, try pecorino romano, another Italian cheese that’s easy to grate and has a similar salty flavor.