Main Course

This is an adaptation of a Turkish recipe, a sweet and savory combination of lentils, onions and carrots that can be served hot or at room temperature, as a main dish or a side.

Some people say that the best part of a big roast turkey is that it lasts: not just the meat, but the bones, which you can simmer into something wonderful the next day. If you’re a small group for the feast, you can make a boneless breast, but when it’s gone, it’s gone. Or you can roast a half breast on the bone and when the celebration is over, the fun begins. In this case, the breast roasts over a bed of butternut squash, red onions, and russet potatoes.

Infusing the chicken broth with the squash's seeds and fibers helps to reinforce the earthy squash flavor. We found that a 2-pound squash consistently yields a cup or so more than the 3 1/2 cups in step 1; this can be added to the skillet along with the squash scrapings in step 2. To make this dish vegetarian, vegetable broth can be used instead of chicken broth, but the resulting risotto will have more pronounced sweetness.

IN the last 20 years or so, pad Thai has gone from being virtually unknown in this country to being a restaurant and takeout staple. It’s easy to see why: the tangy, crunchy, slightly sweet noodles are irresistible. But it’s difficult to understand why more people don’t make it at home, since pad Thai is essentially a stir-fry (in Thailand they refer to it as a Chinese noodle dish). It requires little more than chopping and stirring, and comes together in less than a half-hour.

This savory side is perfect paired with corned beef or as a hearty vegetarian entree. To serve 8 or 10, simply double the recipe and bake it in a 9- x 13-inch casserole dish instead. It's filling and satisfying enough to help you budget bully a single corned beef brisket into serving a big crowd. Gratin defined.

Serve as a vegetarian main course or as a side dish with steamed fish or roasted chicken. If you don't have any leftover brown rice on hand, use a package of frozen cooked brown rice as a shortcut.

Potatoes are finely cut into small cubes, then cooked risotto-style.

A hearty bowl of pasta plus savory cheese? You'd never know this whole-grain comfort food is diet-friendly! Squash supplies all the vitamin A you need for the day.

Coarse-ground degerminated cornmeal such as yellow grits (with grains the size of couscous) works best in this recipe. Avoid instant and quick-cooking products, as well as whole-grain, stone-ground, and regular cornmeal. Do not omit the baking soda—it reduces the cooking time and makes for a creamier polenta. The polenta should do little more than release wisps of steam. If it bubbles or sputters even slightly after the first 10 minutes, the heat is too high and you may need a flame tamer, available at most kitchen supply stores.

We reduced fat by coating the eggplant with egg whites instead of whole eggs and baking, rather than frying, the slices for a lighter version of this classic.