Thanksgiving Celebration Pie of Autumn Vegetables

Dear Lynne: My fiancee hates making people uncomfortable, so when she's a guest she doesn't say anything about not eating meat. This is our first Thanksgiving as hosts and cooks. Could you help me with a no-meat celebration dish that won't feel like a sacrifice to our friends?

— In Love With a Gorgeous Soul

Dear In Love: Imagine a great deep-dish pie of oven-glazed vegetables and herbs with enough garlic to make everyone close friends. This falls into the favorite-fallback-party-dish category for me.

Don't take the vegetable list as a hard-and-fast dictate. Cauliflower, parsnip, celery, broccoli, cabbage and beans could each or all go into the pan. Just remember to balance earthy tastes with sweet and rich ones like onion, new potato, yam or carrot. Cut harder vegetables into smaller pieces for even cooking.

Lynne Rossetto Kasper hosts "The Splendid Table,"American Public Media's weekly national show. The program airs Sundays at 2 p.m. on KUOW-FM (94.9). Contact Lynne at www.splendidtable.org.