October blew in the door last night, and here we are, anticipating the bounty of fall vegetables: Sweet potatoes, pumpkins, beets, chard, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli. Our favorite way to indulge in these vegetables involves olive oil and a quick roast in the oven. But what if you want to make autumn vegetables play the star? What if you want to push them past their side dish backup role? Here are 20 ideas to put vegetables in the center of your table tonight.
Butternut squash hand pies, and a casserole where sweet cauliflower takes the place of pasta. Grilled wedges of cabbage, a velvety pasta sauce made from broccoli, late-summer zucchini with mozzarella, Thai greens to eat with rice, and a kale soup with chunks of potato. These and more today — a feast of vegetables for the fall table.
CAULIFLOWER & BROCCOLI
• 1 Cauliflower & Chicken Sausage Casserole
• 2 Roasted Cauliflower & Potato Soup with Dill Whipped Cream
• 3 Velvety Broccoli and Feta Pasta
EGGPLANT
• 4 Eggplant Caponata Sandwiches
• 5 Easy French Ratatouille
• 6 Roasted Eggplant Salad with Smoked Almonds & Goat Cheese
ZUCCHINI & SUMMER SQUASH
• 7 Zucchini Boats with Mozzarella and Olives
• 8 Eight-Ball Zucchini With Eggs Baked Inside
WINTER SQUASH
• 9 Delicata Squash Stuffed with Mushrooms, Farro, Pecans & Dried Cranberries
• 10 Butternut Squash, Sage, and Parmesan Pasties
• 11 Quinoa Stuffed Sweet Dumpling Squash
SWEET POTATOES & CARROTS
• 12 Roasted Sweet Potato Wraps with Caramelized Onions and Pesto
• 13 Sweet and Spicy Roasted Carrots, Parsnips, and Chickpeas
BEETS
• 14 Sautéed Rainbow Chard with Raw Beets and Goat Cheese
• 15 Warm Beet and Sweet Potato Stacks
CHARD & GREENS
• 16 Collard Greens Stew with Chorizo & Garlic
• 17 Thai Stir-Fried Greens
• 18 Kale and Potato Soup
CABBAGE
• 19 Salvadoran Pupusas con Curtido (Masa Cakes with Cabbage Slaw)
• 20 Cabbage in Mild Yogurt and Mustard Seed Curry
More Vegetable Advice
• A Guide to Storing Fruits and Vegetables
• 10 Easy Ways to Eat More Vegetables Every Day
• How to Make Vegetable Stock
• How To Peel, Cut, Core, and Dice: 20 Tips & Techniques for Fruit and Vegetable Prep
(Images: See linked recipes for full image credits)
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101 Cookbooks has a really delicious recipe for caramelized tofu tossed with shredded brussels sprouts and pecans. I was dubious at first but was immediately won over. Amazing! http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/caramelized-tofu-recipe.html
Just a quibble, but it's odd to see "zucchini and summer squash" in a listing of 20 ways to eat FALL vegetables for dinner. (Although, I've got a recipe for zucchini boats filled with parsnips...)
A local restaurant makes delicious butternut squash lasagna with roasted root veggies as the side. No recipe from them, but worth researching a similar one...
I cut up a few potatoes and sweet potatoes and an onion, toss in oil, then lay chicken breasts on top. 400 degrees for 40 minutes or so (you can check), and in the last 10 minutes toss dried cranberries into the veggies. SO GOOD, like Thanksgiving or Mom's roast chicken dinner, but all in one pan and very, very easy. You could toss in whatever other veggies you like, too.
We just got a "last hurrah" of summer squash from our CSA! And winter squash, though stored through the winter, grows in the summer, too. =)