Prep time: 45-60 minutes (plus cooling time for brine and glaze)

Brining time: 24 hours

Roasting time:  3-4 1/2 hours, depending on turkey weight (plus 20-30 minutes resting time)

This dressed-up version makes a lot of pilau, enough for a crowd of twenty at a potluck or as a side dish for a family reunion. As a main course it will feed ten hungry diners.

You can use canned chopped tomatoes instead of fresh ones; if so, use the juice from the cans to replace some of the chicken stock.

Chipotles add a distinctive edge to the dish; they are dried, smoked jalapeno peppers and they are "muy, muy piquante." They come in small cans and can be found in the latino foods section of most grocery stores. If you can?t find the pureed chipotles, get whole ones and chop them very finely. Leftovers can be refrigerated or frozen; add small amounts to chili, bean soups, scrambled eggs, or any dish that you?d like to kick up a notch.

Ingredients amounts and variations are up to you, but as recipe contributor Jane Odt of Minnetonka, Minnesota warns, "Don't use tomatoes or other squishables." Sounds like good advice!

Ingredients amounts and variations are up to you, but as recipe contributor Jane Odt of Minnetonka, Minnesota warns, "Don't use tomatoes or other squishables." Sounds like good advice!

These are best when baked and assembled close to serving time; if you wish to hold them longer, assemble the sandwiches right after the biscuits have cooled completely then store them airtight for up to four hours. Stack the sandwiches on a platter, then see if you can get them to the table before they disappear.

Even better the next day! Great way to use leftover turkey from Thanksgiving.

The flavor of the soup improves even more if you let it cool down (or chill it overnight) and reheat it before serving. However, don?t add and cook the noodles until just before serving, or they?ll absorb too much of the liquid as the soup cools down.

Says Carol, "I grew up enjoying the Pumpkin Bread my Aunt Melanie always made for us over the holidays. It was always my favorite dessert, and she would make an entire extra loaf just for me! But being a nutritionist, I felt there was a healthier alternative. So I replaced the dairy with Organic Valley dairy, I replaced sugars with natural sweeteners, and I used whole grain flours instead of white flour. It tastes just as good as the pumpkin bread Aunt Melanie makes, and always gets rave reviews from everybody!"

The recipe serves a crowd, but it can be cut in half for smaller groups.

This recipe takes well to substitution: spinach can be substituted for the chard and  provolone cheese for the feta. For meat eaters, replace one cup of the wild rice with cooked Organic Prairie breakfast or Italian sausage.

For the apples, consider a mix of Cortlands and Wealthys. Cortlands are tart and crisp and hold up their shape after baking, while Wealthys are sweeter and a bit softer. The contrast works well here.

Using rice flour keeps this recipe gluten-free; but wheat flour may be substituted. Mashed potatoes also thicken and fortify the soup?and it?s a great way to use up leftovers.

For the sauce, use an oak-aged balsamic vinegar; unlike some harsh-tasting imitations, it will give the dish more sweetness and depth.

Note: Thai peppers are tiny, profoundly hot peppers. Mash them with the garlic in a mortar and pestle, or use the flat of a knife--a blender doesn?t work as well. Beware the fiery juice on your fingers. Use less or more according to your family?s tastes.

But it still contains a key element--a coin key hidden inside the pastry. Before Christmas dinner, chesnitsa typically is passed around the table, and each person breaks off a piece to see if they can find the coin baked inside; whoever finds it will prosper in the year ahead. ?This chesnitsa is quite different: a delicate, layered creation that resembles baklava, not practically suited for breaking off hunks,? says Kovach. But, ?it?s still authentic chesnitsa because of the coin, the holiday, and the heritage.?

This recipe is from her mother?s mother, who was born in 1888 and lived in the Austrian-controlled Serbian region north and east of the Danube River.

Either way, the salad gains main-course substance with the addition of stale bread. You?ll need something sturdy and dry enough to soak up the flavors without getting soggy. If only fresh bread is on hand, dry it in a toaster oven for 10 minutes then let it cool.

Plump, locally grown tomatoes make this ?plain and simple? sauce vibrate with sun-ripened goodness. It?s excellent as is?over polenta, pasta, couscous or rice?or vary it with any number of additions and toppings throughout the harvest season.

The recipe yields about 4 cups of salsa.

This recipe features an easy-going mix of cherry tomatoes, feta cheese and fresh herbs that's done by the time the couscous is.

The authors write, ?Cindy Vue, who contributed this recipe, is a newly married, young professional who has adopted a progressive, healthy way to cook. This simple dish is typical of the food prepared by younger Hmong people for an everyday family meal. She uses a minimum of oil and no MSG. This dish nevertheless has a distinctly Hmong taste because of the garlic, cilantro and oyster sauce.?

The recipe yields 3-4 servings, but small ones by American standards. As is often the case with Hmong meals, it can be served with several other dishes. Sami Scripter says, ?To a point Hmong cooks will increase the number of dishes served, depending upon the number of diners, rather than increasing the quantity of each dish.?

Says Kathleen, "This pie sustained me throughout my healthy vegetarian pregnancy. It was a relatively easy one-dish meal that covered all of the food groups and made me feel that I was nurturing my growing baby. I love tapping into that nurturing-mother feeling when I make this pie for my friends and family now. Many great get-togethers, dinner conversations, and happy memories have since been nurtured by this pie!"

If you want to fancy it up a bit, turn the hot mixture into a buttered baking dish, sprinkle it with fresh breadcrumbs and some bits of butter. Then place the dish under a broiler to brown the crumbs.

Submitted by Lenore Gulyas, Boulder, CO

Says Lenore, "My daughter and I were making some Meringue cookies for some friends and my recipe calls for 6 egg whites. I did not want to throw the 6 egg yolks away so I decided to make some pudding.  When I went to the refrigerator to get the milk I saw the egg nog and decided to use it instead of the milk, and use it for an egg nog cream pie with whipped cream on top. The recipe I have for pudding calls for only 2 egg yolks, but I decided to use all 6 yolks, since I was using egg nog. I thought it would make a very rich pudding.  We shared it with some neighbors and it was a great hit. Everyone loved it and wanted the recipe. I told them unfortunately they would have to wait until I entered the contest."

Submitted by Gray Herzberg, Portland, OR

Says Gray: "This recipe was forged out of the fires of necessity.  After moving to Portland, Oregon, my then pregnant wife and I joined an organic C.S.A. (community supported agriculture) to promote nutritious gestation of our son.  Once a week a box of goodies alighted on our doorstep.  We loved the bounty of the fields and dales, and voraciously ate through the box.  However, an idiosyncratic division arose between the use and non-use of the ever present kale in our box.  To make better use of the oft neglected kale I scoured recipe books and the internet searching for a palatable vehicle, with limited success (read:none).  Until one fateful day when the only thing left in the bottom of the fridge was that little green monster. 

"After blanching the kale for my eggs (a good way to get my greens in the am, or the kale eaten), I had an epiphany, and then scrabbled the recipe you see before you, to the wild success it now holds in our family.  Not only is kale no longer the stepchild of our box, it has moved to the forefront of weekly planning, where a kale-less box is met with much chagrin.  To you and yours, Happy Holidays!"

Says Sheri, "It is a new family favorite at celebrations throughout the year. We often have 25-30 people getting together for food and fun and they really appreciate having something so savory to snack on while waiting for the main meal. Lots of bonding is done around the cheese ball plate!"

      The recipe calls for the use of a baking stone; if you don?t have one, use a heavy pizza pan instead and preheat it for 10-15 minutes instead of a half-hour.

Garnish the omelets with fresh fruit and sprigs of parsley and serve them for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner.

The recipe was first published in ?From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Cooking Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce? (Jones Books, 2004).

This will make enough for 1 large or two small servings and, if you use a larger skillet, the recipe can be doubled.

Note: grate the cheese when it's cold (it will be easier to do that way), then bring it to room temperature to "soften" it for mixing.

Makes 2-3 cups.