Dairy

Charmoula is a tangy, spicy sauce—in this case, made with cumin, cilantro, garlic, and lemon—that's traditionally served with meat in Morocco.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Amy Sedaris's I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence. For Sedaris's tips on throwing a Halloween party, click here. Meat loaf has a lot of variations so be creative and change it up.

Full of fiber-rich garbanzo beans, an Indian staple, this healthy dish from Maneet Chauhan is an ideal side or starter. Add grilled shrimp or chicken to make it a meal. You can use the marinade recipe from our tandoori tilapia with hearts of palm salad .

Maneet Chauhan, chef at Vermilion in Chicago, uses nonfat yogurt to reduce calories but not taste.

These tiny birds, stuffed with creamy goat cheese, make fun yet elegant turkey stand-ins. Since the quail are small and there's not much meat on each one, plan on serving guests two to three per person, and encourage them to chew the meat off the bones rather than trying to cut it off with a knife and fork.

Editor's note: The recipe below originally appeared in One Potato, Two Potato by Roy Finamore with Molly Stevens. It was reprinted, along with the introductory text included here, in The 150 Best American Recipes by Fran McCullough and Molly Stevens. __ Probably the most frustrating part of preparing Thanksgiving dinner is the last-minute potato mashing and gravy making. If you have this recipe in your arsenal, you can knock off the mashed potatoes 2 days ahead and have them sitting pretty in the refrigerator, ready for a last-minute heating. But that's not the only time you need these potatoes; they're also great for a buffet or for any crowd. These luxurious mashed potatoes have a couple of other virtues, too. They're light and fluffy because they're whipped with an electric mixer, and they're incredibly luscious because they have sour cream and butter, plus cream cheese to give them a little edge. __

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Ted Allen's The Food You Want to Eat. This is the easiest homemade cocktail snack you could ever imagine. Even better: it's probably the most delicious one in existence—salty, cheesy, and irresistible. It's basically a very cheesy cheese cracker; just a bit of shredded cheese baked with a tiny bit of flour and some herbs until it's good and crispy. (And it has the added advantage of making your house smell fantastic.) It's also a great tasting and beautiful addition to a salad, especially if you're brave enough to try this: the moment the crisps come out of the oven, while they're still hot and flexible, try rolling them around the handle of a wooden spoon to form a cylinder. They're also great looking left in their natural state of flat, irregular ovals.

This delicious last course is a little sweet and a little savory—like dessert and a cheese plate in one dish. If you can't find fresh figs, buy dried black Mission figs, soak them in warm water until very soft, then drain and pat dry.

A favorite from the '70s, pumpkin cheesecake is even more fun as a crumbly, nutty bar.

New York-style cheesecake gets a flavor update with a hint of orange and spice. The sweet-tart sauce balances the rich filling.

Reminiscent of Sara Lee's 1950s-era graham-cracker and sour-cream cheesecake, this version features a thick layer of delicious sour cream atop the creamy filling and tart Key lime custard.

In the '80s and early '90s, chocolate cheesecake was at the top of our list. The simple ingredients in this rich, dense version let a good boutique chocolate shine.

Quiche is cool again, and it tastes as delicious now as it did back then.