Thanksgiving dinner at our house gets larger, and the company more diverse, every year as children grow up, move away, get married and come home with friends, spouses and children of their own. We're up to 16 and still counting. We have Republicans, Democrats, even fire-breathing Independents; Catholics, Lutherans, Jews, Buddhists and an agnostic or two. Not surprisingly, when this melting pot sits down to eat, we represent dietary preferences just as varied: die-hard meat eaters, those who will eat fowl and fish but no red meat, many vegetarians and a couple of vegans just for good measure.

Last Thanksgiving our youngest grandson refused a slice of turkey saying, "No thanks. I don't eat anything with a face." While I am proud of his stance, it would be easier to cook for our youngest vegetarian if he would eat more things with leaves, stems and seeds. Right now his diet is limited to apples, carrots, peanut butter, French fries and, well,--don't get me started.

Cooking for this motley crew is great fun, honestly. The traditional side dishes are an easy sell; the real challenge is coming up with a "carvable" vegetable entree, a centerpiece that is eagerly anticipated, even by the omnivores.

This year's entree is a layered Harvest Vegetable Pie that can be encased in puff pastry as well and has an easy vegan version. The fillings may be made a day in advance and refrigerated, making assembly and cooking on Thanksgiving Day quicker.

The vegetarian Thanksgiving menu chez Ryan follows. The only hors d'oeuvres served are crudites and relishes to whet, not dull, the appetite for the feast that follows, which includes two desserts. The last course is always a platter of choice seasonal fruit, peeled, cut and sliced and a big bowl of nuts in their shells. The grownups sit around the table cracking nuts and jokes. The children race around and wrestle. The cat crouches under the bed waiting for the bedlam to subside. And the dishes just wait--sometimes until morning.

Harvest Vegetable Pie

The success of this layered vegetable pie depends upon making sure all ingredients are as dry as possible, so don't stint on cooking times. You can make the four filling-ingredients a day ahead and store them in the refrigerator in plastic bags with a clean, folded paper towel tucked in to absorb any excess liquid. fresh spinach has a much better flavor than frozen. One I 2-inch nonstick skillet can be used to prepare all ingredients; simply rinse with hot water and dry in between.

2 28-oz. cans whole tomatoes in tomato juice 1 clove garlic, minced 2 Tbs. tomato paste 3 10-oz. bags washed, ready-to-eat salad spinach or 3 10-oz. packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg 1 tsp. each salt and freshly ground black pepper. divided 2 lbs. mushrooms, stems included, cleaned 4 cups thinly sliced yellow onions 1 tsp. sugar 1 cup crumbled fete cheese (see glossary p. 126) 4 eggs, beaten 1 cup grated part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided (see glossary. p. 126) 10 sheets phyllo dough (see glossary. p. 126)

In large colander or sieve set over bowl, drain tomatoes. Save juice, covered, refrigerated, for later use. Cut tomatoes in half; place cut side down in colander; drain well. Squeeze seeds out of cut halves. Chop each tomato half into 8 pieces.

Place tomatoes in lightly oiled 12-inch nonstick skillet. Saute over high heat, stirring, until all juices have evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook, stirring, until garlic is soft, about 3 minutes. Add tomato paste; stir gently to combine. Cook until no juice remains, about 5 minutes. Turn tomato mixture onto large plate lined with paper towel to cool.

Cook spinach in batches with I cup water in skillet, covered, over high heat until spinach wilts, about 5 minutes. Remove to colander to drain and cool. Squeeze spinach by handfuls until very dry. (If using frozen, thawed, chopped spinach, skip the cooking step and squeeze until no more moisture can be extracted.)

Chop spinach finely with knife on cutting board. Return to colander to drain. Squeeze a second time. In medium bowl, mix spinach with nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon salt and teaspoon black pepper. Place on paper towel-lined plate.

Trim woody ends from mushroom stems. In food processor, using shredding blade, shred mushrooms finely in batches. Or mince in batches on cutting board with knife. In lightly oiled skillet over high heat, saute mushrooms, stirring, until all moisture evaporates, up to 20 minutes. Season with remaining teaspoon salt and teaspoon black pepper. Turn onto paper towel-lined plate to cool.

In lightly oiled skillet, saute onions with sugar, stirring, until onions are caramelized but not burned, about 20 minutes. Turn out onto paper towel-lined plate to cool.

At this point, the four filling ingredients may be put into separate self-seal plastic bags, each with a folded paper towel and refrigerated.

To assemble pie: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium bowl, mix together fete, eggs and spinach.

Unfold phyllo sheets. Lay flat on length of waxed paper. Cover top completely with clean damp towel. Lightly oil 10-inch springform pan. (Used for cheesecakes, a springform pan is the type with removable sides.)

Remove one sheet of phyllo from top. Cover remaining sheets with damp towel. Working from edges toward center, spray or brush phyllo sheet lightly with olive oil or butter-flavored vegetable oil. Ease sheet into bottom of springform pan. Pat dough against sides; let excess hang out over pan edge. Repeat with second sheet at an angle to first sheet. Repeat with fourth and fifth sheets at angles so all four quarters of pan are covered.

Layer in 4 additional oiled sheets. Oil both sides of another sheet of phyllo; fold in half, ease into bottom of pan.

Add fillings in layers as follows: spinach-feta-eggs mixture; mushrooms, 1/2 cup mozzarella; tomatoes, 1/2 cup mozzarella; onions. Bring phyllo sheets up over top of pie. Spray lightly with oil.

Lightly oil another phyllo sheet. Cut in fourths, cutting along short side of rectangle. Fold each piece in half lengthwise. Roll up loosely jelly roll fashion. Pinch at bottom to make rose and spread side slightly to make petals. Repeat with each piece. Place 4 phyllo roses in center of pie, pinching phyllo top to attach.

Place springform pan on baking sheet to catch any drips. Bake until phyllo is golden brown and filling is completely cooked, about 1 hour.

Remove from oven. Let sit 10 minutes. With small thin spatula, loosen phyllo from pan sides. Unclasp springform; remove sides. Lift pie onto serving plate leaving springform bottom in place. Garnish edges with flat-leaf parsley. Carve with very sharp serrated knife. Makes 8 to 10 wedges.

Variations: Omit eggs and fete in spinach layer and substitute 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella-type soy cheese and 10oz. package Japanese-style firm silken tofu that has been drained and pressed to extract moisture. In the tomato and mushrooms layers, substitute 1/2 cup soy mozzarella for dairy cheese.

Instead of phyllo, try puff pastry. Use 2 sheets (1 package) frozen puff pastry, thawed according to package directions. Roll one sheet out slightly on lightly floured surface. Cut into three equal short lengths. Fit each length into sides of springform pan, allowing top edges to hang out over sides. Seal edges with water. Save scraps.

Roll out second sheet slightly. Cut circle 1/2-inch larger than pan bottom. Save scraps. Ease circle into pan bottom, sealing edges to sides on inner side with water.

Layer fillings as directed. Bring up overhanging puff pastry sides over top. Center will be open. Gather scraps, knead briefly to combine. Roll out into 9-inch circle. Brush edges with water to seal. Place on top of pie. Cut decorative slits with sharp knife. Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour.

Simple phyllo pie: Lay phyllo sheets as directed on 1 2-inch flat pizza pan. Layer fillings to within 1 inch of edge. Gather end of phyllo together on top of pie and twist. Bake as directed.

PER SERVING: 339 CAL.; 21G PROT.: 13G TOTAL FAT (6G SAT. FAT); 35G CARB.; 139MG CHOL.; 1,032MG SOD.; 7G FIBER. OVO-LACTO/VEGAN

Vegetable-Wild Rice Soup

Make this soup a day or two before Thanksgiving. It's important to keep the heat adjusted so the soup remains at a lively simmer and ingredients cook in the order added.

4 quarts vegetable stock 3 large garlic cloves, minced cup

sun-dried (not oil-packed)

tomatoes snipped into small

pieces (see glossary. p. 126) 2 large carrots, halved and sliced

inch thick 1 medium parsnip, diced 1 cup celery, thinly sliced 1 cup green beans, trimmed and chopped 2 leeks, white part only, cleaned and thinly sliced 2 cups shredded cabbage 1 cup wild rice (see glossary p. 126) 1 cup brown lentils, washed and picked over 4 new red potatoes, quartered

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 1 cup frozen green peas Grated Parmessan cheese (optional)