Fall is here, and the markets are overflowing with great vegetables. I anticipate this season more than any other — I really look forward to my first roasted butternut squash, and that first batch of tiny tender Brussels sprouts (especially when they're braised in cream — YUM!). What about you? What fall vegetables do you look forward to the most all summer long? Late-season eggplant? Frost-tipped kale? Creamy squash? Big heads of cabbage? And what's your favorite way to cook your booty — are there recipes you save for October?
Related: Recipe: Thai-Style Brussels Sprouts
(Image: Emma Christensen)
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Red cabbage... I can't get enough sauted in bacon fat with rosemary salt. FOOD OF THE GODS!
Are sweet potatos vegetables? I eat them any which way, but when autumn rolls around I really like doing interesting things with them. Scalloped with cream, thyme and parmesan, roasted with garlic and cayenne, mashed with butter, salt, cream and orange zest...
BTW Pirate Jeni, I'm going to have to give that a shot - anything with bacon fat is A-OK in my book!
Although they're available year-round, sweet potatoes. I like to bake them and top with blue cheese and bacon.
Roasted cauliflower is popular in our house, too.
Probably winter squash and pumpkin. I made some pumpkin & black bean empandas the other day, with a masa harina crust. I'd forgotten how much I love that flavor.
http://outoftheordinaryfood.com/2012/09/29/pumpkin-and-black-bean-enchiladas/
Oh, wait, are we counting chard? Chard's my favorite of all! I made this comforting and delicious meal the other day...it's like a frittata, but it has chickpea flour in it, so it's also like a big savory pancaked. And it has chard. And I made an olive sofrito with all of my autumn tomatoes to go with it. I'm already craving cheesy, bready things!!
http://outoftheordinaryfood.com/2012/09/12/chickpea-flour-chard-frittata-cake-with-olive-sofrito/
Brussels sprouts! (And not just because there is a gorgeous picture of them right there.) Also, sweet potatoes. Even though they're available year round I don't eat sweet potatoes in the summer. Partly as an homage to seasonal eating, and partly to give myself something to look forward to when autumn comes creeping.
Second (or third?) the sweet potatoes, always a household favorite--although they're available for more of the year I tend to "save" them for fall/winter when there are fewer other seasonal options. I also go crazy with pumpkin this time of year, esp. for baking (Smitten Kitchen's pumpkin muffins are SO easy and really really awesome). And I only finally discovered brussel sprouts last year!! Can't believe what I'd been missing out on.
Roasted Brussels sprouts, because this is really the only time of year I eat them (who eats off-season Brussels sprouts?). I especially love them over polenta. Mostly sprouts, just enough creamy hot polenta to fill up the corners, as the hobbits say.
Fall and winter are my favorite times of year, if only for the food. I love Brussels sprouts, all the greens (chard and kale, mustard and turnip!), the squash, sweet potatoes, parsnips, turnips, carrots...love it all. Put it all on a roasting pan and pour a little maple syrup and salt over the top, stew it with a nice roast, in soup form - love it ALL!
I am going to get so fat this year.
Squash! Especially acorn squash. I fell in love with it last winter and can't wait!
Butternut squash, cubed and roasted with olive oil, rosemary, and salt. Kills me everytime.
chestnut soup! http://7th-taste.com/2010/11/04/journey-to-corsica-chestnut-soup-rose-wine/
I love Brussels sprouts, and The Man (who used to LOATHE them) has decided that they're really quite good if they've been steamed until just barely tender, then halved and sauteed in some olive oil until nice and brown (like the picture above) and then dusted with a very judicious bit of freshly grated nutmeg.
Roasted carrots and/or parsnips. Sweet potatoes. Rutabagas. (Yep, those huge, wax-coated, turnip-like things.) Peel them and boil or steam until tender, mash, and add butter. Then add what appeals to you that day. We like a bit of cinnamon and maple syrup some days, and sage or rosemary other days. Butternut squash, either as a veggie (roasted, steamed, however) or turned into soup. Baked acorn squash, with butter and brown sugar in the cavity. (I'll halve the squashes and nuke them until about half cooked to save oven time.) When they're done, fill those puppies with green peas. Gorgeous to look at, easy as pie, and "festive" enough looking for dinner parties.
I've found that winter vegetables are much more versatile than summer vegetables.
I eat off season brussel sprouts... oh the shame... but I really really eat them now! Roasted with a little bacon fat and balsamic vinegar!!!! Nom Noms!!!!
Brussels Sprouts. They have them at the farmers market and they are sold in my favorite way- on the stalk! They are so quick and easy to cook I wonder why it took me 50 years to discover them. I like them steamed with carrots for a quick hot salad and I especially like them with farro, another great new thing for me!
My work:
http://flic.kr/p/de5FzW
http://flic.kr/p/dbZ7zU
Is there any autumn vegetable I DON'T love? Lol. That being said, green cabbage (NOT Savoy - hate that stuff) and sweet potatoes are two favorites, although aside from sweet potato fries, I usually use the latter in desserts.
Do onions count? Or apples? I know they aren't a vegetable, but I love them with cabbage and/or sweet potatoes. Or on their own. NOM.
Butternut squash (there are just SO many things you can do with this delicious creature!) and brussel sprouts (especially yummy when roasted with pancetta and onion). Oh, I am getting hungry!