Butternut Squash

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

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

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.

This is known as chilpachol in Mexico. Don't forget to add a squeeze of fresh lime juice to each bowl.

Butternut is one of my favorite squashes. We often bake a small butternut squash (about 1 pound) at home; we split it lengthwise, seed it, score the flesh with a knife, sprinkle on a little salt, and bake, skin side down, for 1 hour in a 400-degree oven. Excellent in soup and pureed, butternut squash is always welcome at our table. This gratin is quite rich and should be reserved for special occasions, like Thanksgiving.

Many dark, leafy greens, like kale, contain calcium. The beans have it, too.

For this soup, cook your favorite winter squash.

These savory pastry packages are a fitting presentation for Oscar night - plus they're perfect with the ham. This recipe makes few extras for second helpings.

Active time: 1 1/2 hr Start to finish: 3 1/2 hr This recipe, which accompanied our 1954 article on Tunisia, called for what were then two very exotic ingredients. One, the granular pasta called couscous, is now commonplace in supermarkets across America. The other, dried rose petals, is available by mail order.

Cassolita Cinnamon-scented caramelized onions and fried almonds crown this dish of baked squash that traditionally complements the couscous of Tétouan, a city steeped in Andalusian culture and cuisine. In Kitty's family, cassolita or cazuelita (little pot) always accompanies a platter of couscous. She serves it with her Thanksgiving turkey as well.

Pre-marinated pork tenderloins can be found in the supermarket meat section. To round out the meal, add a romaine salad dressed with Dijon vinaigrette and a basket of warm cranberry-corn muffins; finish with wedges of apple pie and sharp cheddar cheese.