Healthy Fall Entertaining Recipes

A pear cobbler is a crowd-pleasing dessert that highlights one of fall's sweetest fruits. Cinnamon, ginger and cardamom give this pear cobbler a sophisticated twist for a quick and easy homemade dessert.

Coconut milk gives this pumpkin soup a creamy texture and rich flavor, without making it too heavy. This soup would make a wonderful starter for a special meal, such as Thanksgiving dinner. If you'd like to add some texture, feel free to garnish it with lightly toasted pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds). A drizzle of pumpkin seed oil is also a nice touch.

This homemade apple pie recipe has a simple and classic flavor, with fresh apples, spices and butter that's been sizzled until it's brown and nutty. The top crust is where you have the opportunity to add a touch of pizazz. Here we suggest cutting the dough into leaf shapes for an autumnal motif, but you could cut any shape you want.

Get into the fall spirit with this one-pan gnocchi with a creamy pumpkin sauce. Some pumpkin and other squash sauces can be cloyingly sweet, but not this one--it's savory all the way, thanks to the bacon, garlic and thyme. Instead of being boiled, a package of store-bought gnocchi--one of our favorite convenience products--is browned and crisped in a little bit of bacon fat. Then the sauce (made with canned pumpkin--another great convenience product) is prepared right in that same pan, so cleanup is minimal too. Serve with a simple green salad for an easy dinner that comes together in 30 minutes.

This beautiful butternut squash salad with creamy burrata cheese and peppery arugula is perfect for fall entertaining. For the best flavor and texture, remove the burrata from the refrigerator about an hour before use and assemble the salad while the squash is still warm from roasting so the cheese will melt slightly. Feel free to use precut butternut squash to make this recipe easier. If you can find pomegranates, the arils add a bright pop of color and flavor to this healthy salad, but it's just as good--and almost as impressive-looking--without them.

This butternut squash and apple soup recipe is brimming with warm and cozy flavors of fall (thanks to a delightful kick from the curry). It also delivers 25 percent of your daily fiber and is chock-full of potassium, a nutrient that many of us fall short on regularly. Streamline the prep for this recipe and pick up pre-cut butternut squash: you'll need 7 to 8 cups. Round out your meal by serving this easy soup alongside a salad or sandwich.

It's common to combine pork with apples. In this easy recipe, we're doing just that, but amping up the apple taste with an apple cider reduction. Dried sage can be used, but try to find fresh sage leaves which will add more flavor to this dish.

Traditional Irish lamb stew is made with inexpensive shoulder or neck cuts of lamb, but for possibly the best Irish stew you'll ever make, give this version made with leg of lamb a try. Choose a bone-in cut to make the rich, flavorful broth for this healthy lamb stew. Requiring just a handful of ingredients and 35 minutes of active time, this lamb stew isn't just tasty--it's also easy!

In this easy one-pan dinner, boneless pork loin roast is cooked over a bed of carrots and parsnips for an all-in-one dish that makes an impressive centerpiece for a holiday meal or Sunday dinner. Choose free-range heritage pork if you can--its flavor really shines with no more seasoning than a bit of thyme and a little sea salt. If you'd like, dress up the meal with a traditional Irish apple condiment--Ploughmans chutney or Bramley applesauce, which you can find in specialty stores and online.

In this 35-minute recipe, sweet pears and savory Cheddar cheese are topped with a buttery brown sugar- and cinnamon-oat topping. Whether you serve it for breakfast, a snack, or dessert, we know it will be a hit with your family.

A combination of exotic mushrooms gives this fat-free gravy a captivating nutty flavor that blends well with both chicken and turkey.

This Middle Eastern dish is most often made with ground meat and eggplant (or potatoes) and topped with a thick béchamel sauce. To reduce fat and calories, our makeover moussaka recipe uses fat-free milk, low-fat yogurt, and light ricotta cheese for the topping, but even with those subtitutions, it still delivers on taste!

The ingredient list may look long, but this low-fat pork stew goes together easily. And for added convenience and easy cleanup, we've included instructions for making it in your slow cooker.

It's been said that serving cabbage for New Year's promises prosperity, so adding a few carrot coins can only sweeten the purse.

If you'd like the chutney in this pork tenderloin recipe to be both sweet and tart, opt for sweet apples like red or golden delicious and sweet onion.

There's nothing easier--or tastier!--than a pan of roasted root vegetables. Clean them, trim them, and season them with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and let them roast to perfection in the oven while you focus on the rest of your meal.

Instead of the typical glazed carrot side dish, try this version, with added parsnips and a tangy--but sweet--balsamic vinegar glaze.

Take advantage of pears when they're at their best in the fall and winter. This fruit salad combines ripe pears with low-fat Greek yogurt, toasted pecans, and a touch of honey. It's perfect for breakfast, a snack, or dessert.

We mix Yukon gold and red-skin sweet potatoes with mild leeks in this easy au gratin recipe. The combination of Parmesan and Cheddar makes this dish irresistible.

Porcini mushroom powder adds an earthy, robust flavor to the dry rub used in this roast beef recipe. The roast is sliced, topped with a Marsala-mushroom sauce, and served with a chunky mash of root vegetables for a filling dinner the whole family will enjoy.