Vegetable

Less is more when it comes to adding ingredients to this simple sauce and meatballs. Do make sure, however, that you're using the proper salt and pepper for seasoning, as you should with all of these recipes. You should be using a high quality kosher salt, if not sea salt.. The bigger and more intense the grains of salt, the less you'll need to season. If you want to experiment with these meatballs, try tweaking one or two spices at a time. Another twist is doing a 50/50 mix of ground pork with ground beef. You'll have a much juicer meatball.

I love the crimson glow of juicy little pomegranate morsels. Mix with fresh winter lettuces, serve it European style after the entreé, and enjoy.

**Editor's note:**Use this recipe to make Ali Larter's Winter Lettuces with Pomegranate Seeds . This is an everyday dressing that is wonderful on all variations of lettuces and vegetables. It's a welcome change from bottled dressing and so easy to make.

Kosher Status: Meat
Prep: 10 Minutes
Cook: 2 Hours, 20 Minutes
Total: 2 1/2 Hours

Watch out: These crispy, spicy avocado fries are addictive! Especially when dunked in a yogurty dipping sauce.

These are made with sweet potatoes, a superfood that helps you slim and energize. The sticks have kick, so dunk 'em in our cooling dip to put out the fire.

"Creamy squash and cheese crisps only make you think you're off the diet cliff!" says James Beard award winner Laura Werlin, author of Mac & Cheese, Please! and The All American Cheese and Wine Book.

Crunch-crunch-crunch will end up as munch-munch-munch when this salad is served. Flavor is obviously crucial in food, and certainly this salad has flavor, but tactile sensation is also a very important factor in our food perception and appreciation. We want pasta al dente, celery crunchy, bread grilled. This salad has a lot of texture to enjoy.

White soy sauce is sweeter than regular soy sauce, a good counterbalance to the earthy brussels sprouts.

"If you don't like sardines," says Lett, "you're going to today." Make sure to ask your fishmonger to remove the center bones but leave the head and tail intact.

Can't find Meyer lemons? Mimic their flavor by mixing half lemon zest and juice, and half orange zest and juice.

You can find Thumbelina carrots at farmers' markets.

Chermoula, a spice and herb sauce popular in Morocco and Tunisia, can be used as a marinade or condiment.

This 30-minute one-skillet dinner is just the thing for an October weeknight.

Lett says that getting a good, dark sear on the Romanesco cauliflower is critical to the flavor of the dish: "There's a nuttiness when you get that color on it."

If you like bold, assertive flavors, this rustic side dish is for you. Try it with roast chicken or pork tenderloin.

The buckwheat in soba is nutritious and a good source of fiber (and it's flavorful, too).

This knobby vegetable has no relation to the artichoke—it's the tuber of a type of sunflower. Look for small, evenly sized ones so they'll cook at the same rate.

Yes, there is butter in the sauce, but the key ingredient is verjus. If you can't find it, use half white wine and half unseasoned rice vinegar.