Many would agree that no holiday meal—particularly one that involves a roast turkey—would be complete without the bracing flavor of cranberry. But what most people have yet to discover is that this versatile fruit is good for more than just dressing your Thanksgiving bird.

In fact, the bright, mouth-puckering taste of cranberries, when tempered by the sweetness of sugar or matched by the fiery spice of hot peppers, lends itself equally well to preparations both sweet and savory, making it possible to weave them into just about any recipe imaginable—from salads to entrees to, of course, desserts.

What’s more, recent research has shown that the little berries contain significant amounts of antioxidants and other phytonutrients, which can help protect against heart disease, cancer and other serious illnesses—giving you all the more reason to pack in as much of the gleaming red fruit into your diet as possible.

Here, we’ve picked 15 of our favorite cranberry recipes of all time—from cranberry-glazed pork roast to a berry-studded rice pudding—so you can get a head start on working the festive fruit into your holiday menu this year.

Recipes:

• Green Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette
• Autumn Salad with Grapes & Cheese
• Gingered Cranberry Relish
• Cranberry-Chipotle Turkey
• Apple-Cranberry Crisp
• Cranberry-Orange Spirals
• Cranberry Creams
• Pear-Cranberry Tarte Tatin
• Cranberry Sorbet
• Almond-Cranberry Rugelach
• Apple-Cranberry Tart
• Cranberry-Pistachio Muffins
• Macadamia-Cranberry Triangles
• Cranberry Pork Roast
• Baked Rice Pudding