The produce in season right now is perfect for an autumnal feast.
One of the most exciting things about the changing of the seasons is all of the new produce that autumn brings. Local organizations like Grower’s Organic, who has distributed healthy organic produce to the Boulder and Denver areas for 15 years, make it easy for chefs to get the highest quality products for the restaurants and homes. Cooking schools in Colorado teach students about the delicious versatility of the fall and winter harvest. You can eat these fruits and vegetables for every meal of the day!
Squash
- Breakfast: A breakfast hash, like this one from Endless Simmer is full of enough nutrients to keep you going until lunch. Full of squash, mushrooms, kale and sausage, it makes the perfect brunch for a Sunday morning.
- Lunch: A butternut squash soup makes for a great lunch to take to work all week. Soups are very customizable, so they can be vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free or whatever else your heart desires.
- Dinner: Stuffed squash is the easiest way to redeem yourself if you neglected food groups throughout the day. Hollow out a squash, put your favorite meat, cheese and whatever veggies are left in your crisper and bake it for a quick dinner.
Apples
- Breakfast: Throw some sliced apples in your slow cooker along with some cinnamon, butter, sugar and select spices, and you have a simple baked apple breakfast. Some people might say you shouldn’t have so much sugar in the morning, but fruit is involved, so it’s totally fine.
- Lunch: The tartness of apples goes very well in a salad, especially with nuts and cranberries. Try a cider vinaigrette dressing on top.
- Dinner: Try a caramel apple grilled cheese sandwich, like this one from How Sweet It Is. It sounds like a strange combination, especially for dinner, but you won’t regret trying it.
Yams
- Breakfast: If sweet potatoes can go into a pie, they can surely make it into breakfast. Sweet potato oatmeal is both sweet and savory, and only takes about a half hour to make.
- Lunch: Sometimes a salad just isn’t cutting it. A lunch bowl like Deliciously Ella’s is perfect for days like that. All of the protein will get you through that midday slump.
- Dinner: You can prepare a fancy yam dish as side dish, or you can serve a classic side of yams baked with butter and brown sugar. Either way, everyone at the dinner table will be happy.
Pears
- ?Breakfast: When sautéed with butter and brown sugar, pears caramelize beautifully. This makes for a sweer topping for yogurt, cereal or oatmeal.
- Lunch: Like apples, pears make great salad toppings. Mix some pancetta or prosciutto, pears and greens with an olive oil dressing for a light but satisfying lunch.
- Dinner: Pear-flavored sauces are delicious. Eating Well’s recipe for pork chops with pear and ginger sauce will make you hungry even if you just ate.
Pumpkin
- Breakfast: Pumpkin is the holy grail of all fall harvest foods. Possibly the most versatile of them all, pumpkin makes most appearances in breakfast, in the form of muffins, oatmeal, pancakes and breads.
- Lunch: Have you ever thought to make pumpkin hummus? Ella’s recipe is sweeter than the average hummus and would go fantastic with some cinnamon pita chips.
- Dinner: If you have a go-to risotto recipe, try mixing some pumpkin puree and slices into it for a new twist. It’ll give the dish a mildly sweet taste, but will still go great with the cheese vegetables.
