I am new to Node.JS but very experienced with JavaScript and jQuery. I have had no problem installing jQuery via npm install jquery, however, referencing plugins within the code is another challenge.
I have reviewed this similar StackOverflow question, and the solution appears to work but it seems to me that instantiating a "fake" browser window and injecting your jQuery plugin-based functions each time you need the plugin is possibly not the most efficient approach.
The specific plugin that is failing for me linq.js (yes, I am aware that js linq is available via npm but it is not the same as linq.js!).
NOTE: The plugin to which I am referring does not rely on any DOM elements; in my case, it simply runs JSON objects through various data functions. This is why I don't think I need to instantiate a window object.
How do I properly import and use jQuery plugins in a Node.JS application?
You don't.
You don't use jQuery on the server, ever. It has no place there, you don't have a DOM on the server and jQuery itself is a mediocre library to start with.
If you really want to use a "jQuery plugin" in node, you rewrite the plugin as a standalone module without a jQuery dependency.
As an aside, you also shouldn't need linq.js because it's an API you don't need, you already have array methods. Also your coding C# in JavaScript rather then learning JavaScript.
You also have all the array methods (map, filter, reduce, etc) so you simply do not need this. If you really want some of the sugar linq.js offers use underscore instead. (I personally recommend for ES5 over underscore)
Please use ECMAScript correctly rather then emulating C#.