Roast

Everyone should know how to roast a chicken. It's a life skill that should be taught to small children at school. The ability to properly prepare a moist yet thoroughly cooked bird, with nicely crisp skin, should be a hallmark of good citizenry—an obligation to your fellow man. Everyone walking down the street should be reasonably confident that the random person next to them is prepared, if called upon, to roast a chicken.

Just in time for Thanksgiving, we’ve given the stunningly delicious Vegducken an autumnal makeover. This year’s entirely meatless take on turducken focuses on autumnal flavors with butternut squash, sweet potato, and parsnip filling in for the traditional meats. The mushroom-cranberry stuffing makes use of leftover vegetable scraps, making the dish #wasteless.

This vegetarian version of the classic appetizer uses soy sauce, smoked paprika, and smoked almonds to pack so much savory flavor that no one will miss the traditional bacon. Use Gorgonzola dolce if you prefer a more mild blue cheese flavor.

These tender, flavor-packed meatballs are the perfect Thanksgiving party snack, but—for what it’s worth—they'd also make an excellent meatball sub.

Use butternut squash two ways in this autumnal dinner: shaved into a Southeast Asian–inspired salad and roasted with pork until caramelized and tender.

Elevating the humble onion: Roasting them in their skins retains their natural sugars, and they get meltingly soft without disintegrating.

This roasted butternut squash recipe is perfect for a dinner party—serving on a large platter encourages second helpings and all the half portions, tastes, and just-one-more bites that follow.

Get all the garlicky, herby flavors of classic Italian Porchetta in a roast chicken.

Look to Mexico, where turkey has been the big bird for centuries. Continue the theme by using the leftovers for tacos (corn tortillas, shredded meat, lime…). We promise you won't miss your sandwich.

This impressive side plays on the classic twice-baked potato with toppings of Parmesan whipped cream, candied hazelnut-bacon bits, and chives.

This fall grain salad combines spelt with kabocha squash that's been roasted in a smoky paprika and pomegranate molasses glaze.

A vinegary red bell pepper mixture cuts through the richness of this classic Italian-American appetizer for a bite that's salty, smoky, and sweet.

This stick-to-your ribs vegetarian dinner is a snap to make: Just hit the prepared pasta section of the grocery store for the gnocchi, roast some eggplant (do this step ahead, if you want), add marinara (store-bought is fine), and top with mozzarella.

This faster, healthier version of standard chicken Parmesan is perfect for a cozy weeknight dinner. Serve with garlic bread and a side salad to round out the meal.

Remember those pink salt blocks everyone was searing steaks on for a minute? A bit of kosher salt performs a similar function: transmitting heat.