The Perfect Pantry®

Recipe for vegan butternut squash and chickpea stew

When the aroma of cinnamon fills the house, I follow my nose to the kitchen, expecting to discover muffins or baked apples in the oven. Sometimes, the intoxicating smell of cinnamon comes from something even better: a savory, Moroccan-inspired vegan butternut squash and chickpea stew in a tomato sauce infused with cinnamon and coriander. A hint of smoky-hot harissa, the assertive North African pepper paste, balances the sweetness of the squash, and seems absolutely necessary here. (Kathy, my spicy-food-averse cooking assistant, loved the gentle heat, so you know it's not too spicy.) Make this stew up to three days ahead, or freeze it; like most stews, it's even better on the second day. Serve over couscous or rice, as the centerpiece of a vegan meal, or as a side dish with grilled lamb or fish.

Recipe for red rice salad with roasted beets, sun-dried tomatoes, cherries and nuts

Professional caterers and food stylists tell us that every platter needs something green, leaves or herbs or green doilies, if such things exist, to "pop" the colors of the food. This red rice salad pops all by itself, and I'm not talking only about the dazzling colors of the beets, sun-dried tomatoes and cherries (red! red! red!). In a sea of heavy holiday dishes, this vegan salad with tangy dried cherries -- plus your own slow-roasted tomatoes in place of sun-dried ones, if you made them last summer -- pops with just enough tartness to balance a table of rich potatoes and puddings. Red rice is neither easy to come by, nor inexpensive; you can find it online if not in your local gourmet shop. It's well worth the hunt, as the nutty and decidedly un-mushy texture of the rice makes it great for salads. If you can't find it, substitute red quinoa. With the nuts, this dish satisfies as a hearty vegan main course.

Recipe for oven-roasted carrots

True confession: I don't love cooked carrots. I like them raw, crunchy, dipped into something like hummus or ranch dressing. Cooked carrots don't float my boat. Post-Thanksgiving I discovered an unopened two-pound bag wedged in the back of my refrigerator. I thought about sending those carrots straight to the compost pile, but instead I decided to try cooking them the way I cook potatoes: tossed in a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted until their natural sweetness came to the surface and formed a little bit of a crust. Know what? It worked! Call them carrot home fries, if that makes sense: soft on the inside, crusty on the outside, with just enough salt. These oven-roasted carrots are truly the best cooked carrots I've ever tasted.

Recipe for red quinoa, beet and pecan salad with pomegranate-orange vinaigrette

Honestly, I had my holiday menu all figured out until two things happened to change the plan. I learned that one of our guests is a vegan, and I found both red rice and red quinoa at a gourmet shop a few weeks ago. Red! Vegan! Slight adjustment to a couple of recipes. Not a problem, as the menu already accommodates vegetarians and diabetics, along with a few picky eaters among the ten-and-under set. I can't wait to serve this bright red -- beet red -- quinoa, beet and pecan salad as part of my Thanksgiving buffet, to inject a shot of color and bright flavor into a meal that's so often overwhelmingly brown. While this dish isn't at all hard to put together, it's a zillion times easier if you use those lovely pre-cooked (not canned) beets in the produce section of your supermarket or Trader Joe's.