Turnip

One of the very best things about this stew is its practical nature: If you blanch the vegetables, boil the potatoes, and make the infused broth a day ahead, this dish takes only 15 minutes to cook.

Though Lynch uses flanken for this dish, we prefer the look of regular short ribs.You can often find flanken as well as short ribs at your local supermarket. Both are from the flavorful chuck, or shoulder, portion of a steer; the former are a three-rib portion of short ribs cut through the bone and the latter are ribs cut between the bones.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The stock recipe yields 8 cups; there will be about 1 1/2 cups left over after you make the mushroom soup. To prepare the mushrooms for this soup, wipe them clean with a damp paper towel. Be sure to cut off the stems from fresh shiitakes. If using morels, rinse quickly to dislodge any dirt from crevices.

This gratin is particularly welcomed on the holiday table by those who love sweet potatoes and hate marshmallows. The cream and butter make this so delicious your guests will lie in bed and remember it happily all year long. You only serve this kind of dish once in a very long while, so the caloric intake is moderated. If your meal has too many sweet potatoes, see the variation for turnip gratin.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Active time: 50 min Start to finish: 50 min

The lavish efforts involved — the vegetables are braised, then marinated, and finally sautéed — result in a succulent savory casserole that's spicy with pepper and juniper berries and sweet and sour with cherry nectar and vinegar; each vegetable gives the sweet and sour a slightly different twist. The chestnuts, cooked with salt pork, are particularly wonderful, salty and satisfying. Begin preparations at least 7 hours ahead of serving, since the vegetables must marinate for 6 hours.

Though the truffles lend a wonderfully rich flavor to the shrimp, they are fairly costly, so you might want to save this dish for special occasions.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe can be made vegetarian by substituting either soy sauce or Bragg Liquid Aminos for the Nuoc Nam, a Vietnamese fish sauce made from anchovies which is used as a salty seasoning. The flavor will not be quite the same, but it will be equally satisfying.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Makes use of the microwave oven.

Root vegetables became a mainstay of the New England diet. The crops grew well during the summer and could be stored in barrels of sand or in root cellars to keep through the long winter. This spectacular casserole has potatoes, parsnips, turnips and carrots, and is sweetened with just a hint of pear. The pureed vegetables are swirled together in the baking dish to create a pretty marbled effect.

Great with just about any main dish.

This mixture of vegetables is subtly flavored with apple juice and wine.

Pan-roasting the vegetables imparts an earthy sweetness to this dish.

Strong beef broth and garlic, not sugar, make a true Ukrainian borscht delicious. Fresh root vegetables and roasted beets provide plenty of sweetness which is balanced by an acid edge of lemon.

"I recently had lunch at Café Boulud here in New York," says Shelli Rafkin of New York, New York. "My entrée, blanquette de veau, had the most incredible sauce I've ever tasted. The whole dish, in fact, was sensational." In this variation on the classic stew, the veal and the vegetables are cooked separately and combined at the end, when they're topped with a rich white sauce.

This dish is even better served over couscous.

This dish is delicious over couscous, which will absorb the flavorful broth.

In classic Chinese cooking, noodles destined for soup are cooked separately and added at the last minute so that the starch from the pasta doesn't cloud the broth. Because we were aiming for a rib-sticking dish, we broke with tradition and cooked the noodles right in the stock, allowing the starch to thicken the soup slightly.