Healthy Fall Entertaining Recipes

Smoky paprika yogurt and an herb and preserved-lemon salsa verde add pops of flavor to this healthy slow-cooker recipe. If you have extra time, brown the lamb and onions, in batches, before adding them to the slow cooker for increased depth of flavor.

This healthy, gluten-free dessert has everything--crisp-on-the-outside, gooey-inside meringue base, whipped cream, tart cranberry sauce and toasted nuts. Plus, you can make everything ahead of time, then simply assemble and serve.

This healthy cake recipe is like a pumpkin-flavored version of Boston cream pie. Rather than the traditional round shape, we use a 9-by-13 pan to make a four-layer rectangular cake that looks fun and provides more layers of creamy goodness.

A velvety, light custard surrounds ripe pears in this healthy pear pie recipe. Serve with a dollop of vanilla whipped cream.

Serve this vegetarian tart recipe as a main dish or in thinner slices for an appetizer or side dish. Since you'll be pleating the dough to create a rustic look, buy ready-to-roll pie crusts rather than prepared pie shells--you'll find them in the dairy section of your market with other ready-to-bake items or near the frozen desserts.

For this standing rib roast of pork recipe, get the roast with the bone tips "frenched" (stripped of meat) and the chine bone removed for easy slicing. You can often find them ready to go during the holiday season, but you may want to call your butcher in advance to make sure one is available.

For this classic roast beef recipe, cremini or white mushrooms are delicious in the sauce. But if you want to get fancy, mix in some wild mushrooms, such as oyster, maitake or porcini.

This Ethiopian-spice-rubbed turkey recipe has just the right amount of curry-like seasoning to make it exciting but still at home on a Thanksgiving table. There's enough au jus left in the roasting pan for any traditionalists to drizzle over their turkey; use the citrus aioli for dipping or for turkey sandwiches the next day.

When shopping for this healthy salad recipe, be sure to pick up the right type of persimmons. The flat-bottomed Fuyus called for here are bright orange and have texture of an almost-ripe peach when ready to eat--perfect for salsas and salads, with or without the peel. Oval-shaped, darker orange and larger Hachiyas are only edible when almost liquid on the inside. The flesh is best used in baking or can be scooped out of the skin and eaten like custard. Underripe, they are off-puttingly tart.

This healthy recipe is a savory riff on the traditional brown-sugar-and-pecan-topped sweet potato casserole so often found on Thanksgiving tables. Crispy baby kale leaves make a stunning garnish, but any green or herb that suits you will look great, fried or not.

These little cute stacks are everything you want in a potato side dish: tender in the middle, devilishly crispy on the outside, and seasoned with sage and butter throughout. For best results, use a mandoline to slice the potatoes extra-thin.

Mushrooms are a rich, "meaty" addition in this healthy cornbread stuffing recipe. Here we use oyster mushrooms, but you can use any variety you like. If you have time, bake the cornbread a day or two in advance so it has time to dry out a bit, which lets it absorb the flavors more readily.

Celeriac adds a bright celery-like flavor and lightens the texture in this healthy mashed potato casserole. The fried shallots are reminiscent of the crispy onions that top a green bean casserole.

The cheesy-seedy crust that tops this healthy cauliflower casserole recipe evokes "everything" bagels. Serve for the holidays or as a hearty side dish with roast chicken.

Whole roasted carrots make quite a statement on the dinner table when they're topped with a port wine-and-fig dressing. In this recipe, we like dried Calimyrna figs because they're a tad less sweet than Mission figs and taste slightly nutty as well.

Skip Grandma's mushroom-soup-drenched casserole this year and cook this fresher green bean side dish with a tangy shallot and walnut relish instead. If you can't find white balsamic vinegar, use apple-cider vinegar (instead of regular balsamic vinegar) instead.

For this healthy winter squash recipe, we roast grapes in a 450 degrees F oven for a bit to intensify their flavor. We pair them here with kabocha squash, but butternut or acorn would also work. Serve alongside a green salad and roasted chicken for a hearty dinner.

In this healthy crab cake recipe, the subtle sweetness of crab and peas is complemented with a pop of ginger and sesame oil in the aioli. Crab is available in a range of "grades." For a sweeter flavor and more toothsome bite in this appetizer, choose lump or jumbo. Most crabs from the U.S. and Canada are considered good choices for the environment.

Bitter crunch from the Belgian endive is a foil for the creamy, peppery egg salad and briny caviar topping in this healthy appetizer recipe.

This cheesy dip recipe is lightened up by subbing mashed butternut squash for some of the melted cheese. We also loaded it with chili-spiced caramelized onions. Serve this healthy makeover with tortilla chips or sliced jicama for dipping.