5 Ingredients or Fewer

Here’s a nourishing dip for whole-grain crackers or pita bread.

A classic Middle Eastern dip for scooping onto wedges of pita bread.

Like the previous recipe, this classic dip is delicious scooped up on wedges of pita bread.

The addition of feta cheese gives this frittata a rich, pungent flavor.

A simply delicious sauce to serve over grains, veggie burgers, green vegetables, or mashed potatoes.

A delectable sauce to serve over noodles, grains, or green vegetables. Cashew butter is a luscious treat. Look for it in natural foods stores. It is also, as you may imagine, a delicious change of pace from peanut butter in sandwiches. This recipe doubles easily if you’d like a larger quantity.

Served in its shell, this makes a dramatic presentation as part of a winter meal.

Here’s a super way to use up leftover cooked green vegetables.

This is good with either of these greens, but try it in late summer or early fall when gardens are overflowing with Swiss chard.

This is good at room temperature as well as warm. Try it out on kids; leftovers are good to pack in brown-bag lunches.

I consider spaghetti squash a “fun” vegetable and enjoy serving it to anyone who has never tried it. Everyone seems delighted by this unique squash and its spaghetti-like flesh. This is delicious accompanied by Long-Grain and Wild Rice Salad (page 50).

Despite all the wonderful varieties of winter squash, I still like butternut best for basic preparations like this one. This smooth puree will add color to your plate and comfort your palate.

An appetizing preparation, this will invigorate the winter-worn palate.

A sweet-and-salty glaze gives this squash dish a pleasant Asian spin.

An intensely flavored (but not overpowering) accompaniment for Asian-style dishes, this adds an enticing visual accent to the dinner plate as well.

Both spinach and eggplant are compatible with curry seasoning, so teaming the two vegetables makes this stew-like side dish twice as nice. This is delicious on its own or over couscous.

Use this preparation in stews, for topping pizza, on French bread sandwiches topped with mozzarella cheese, spread with goat cheese, or in wraps. See Curried Spinach and Eggplant (page 213) or Eggplant Parmigiana Wraps (page 177).

An appealing vegetable trio is enlivened by a wine-scented sauté.

Use a variety of peppers to make this side dish colorful. Use leftovers to make sandwiches on fresh bread with spreadable goat cheese.

In this updated version of creamed spinach, you get the goodness of soy, but not the bother of cooking a flour-thickened sauce. It’s a feast for spinach fans!