Butternut Squash

Maple syrup was used by the Ojibwa tribe for roasting wild game. Here it goes into a terrific side dish that includes squash, another Native American staple.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The following soup can be made with any variety of pumpkin except the traditional jack-o-lantern variety, which is too watery and lacks flavor. Apple Schnitz, time-honored Pennsylvania Dutch preserved apples, make a healthy snack as well as a novel garnish.

Margaritas and some guacamole with chips and/or vegetable "dippers" would start this Mexican-style dinner off right. Ladle out black bean soup to precede the tamale pie, and serve a Caesar salad with it. Finish by teaming lime sorbet with orange segments that have been marinated in tequila.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Soupe au Pistou During Marion Cunningham’s last visit with Richard Olney, he made a version of this recipe, which comes from Simple French Food. As he made it, he told her that he thought the trick to cooking is tasting — in the case of the soup that day, adding the right amount of salt and pepper, then cheese, then a little olive oil, and finally some macaroni. After making the soup in our own kitchens, following the recipe from the book (it's highly adaptable to seasonal produce or the contents of your larder), we can understand why this recipe is so loved among Olney’s fans.

A delicious side dish at the Old Manor Estate in Gingerland, Nevis.

This sweetly spiced dish is a nice substitute for sweet potatoes.

A mix of butternut and acorn squash makes this soup silky and flavorful. Keep it bubbling on the stove to warm up any roaming ghosts and goblins as they return home from their Halloween rounds.

Curry powder, cumin, and cinnamon give this dish a hint of the exotic.

This soup hails from Morocco.

If you've never thought of roasted squash as a side dish, try this recipe. Just rub pieces of butternut squash with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake until their flesh is tender and roasted to tawny gold. Serve the squash the way it's eaten in country houses in the part of the Emilia-Romagna region where nearly every family makes its own balsamic vinegar. Small bottles of balsamico are set out on the table, and everyone seasons their squash to taste with the vinegar. Try the squash with grilled lamb chops, roast chicken, pork and simple sautéed fish dishes.