With the onset of the fall season, there is so much to do, so much to get excited about! If you’re like me, fall is the perfect time of the year, with the summer heat starting to dwindle away and the crisp, cool air of the fall coming in. The leaves change from bright green to beautiful hues of red, orange, yellow, and brown. There’s pumpkin patches, apple orchards, football games, haunted houses, and so much more. As the fall harvest season starts to roll in, there’s so much wonderful produce to get your hands on!
Starting around mid-August, the fall harvest season is full of delicious fruits and vegetables to eat, ranging from pumpkins to cauliflower. You may be more familiar with the popular fall produce items, like pumpkins or mushrooms, but there are so many other items to sink your teeth into. Wanting to make the most out of the fall season? Looking for some delicious recipes that utilize the best of what the fall has to offer? These top five recipes will make you happy, tickle your tummy, and help you savor all of the best season of the year.
Crock Pot Butternut Squash Soup
Decadent, mild, and creamy when cooked, butternut squash is one of those vegetables that make you feel like you’re wrapped in a warm blanket. Packed with vitamins A and C, not only is this squash delicious, but its also good for you to eat! On a fall day, this crock pot butternut squash soup is an easy dinner that will make you want to cozy up on the couch and relax. Simple vegetable ingredients with a hint of spice and a dash of cream makes this soup perfect for fall.
Sweet and Salty Fig Toast
When you get a good and ripe fig, nothing short of magic happens in your mouth. Sweet, delicate, and soft in texture, figs are used in a variety of dishes, ranging from sweet to savory. Figs have two seasons, says Molly Watson of the Spruce Eats, “a quick, shorter season in the early summer and second, main crop that starts in the late summer and runs through fall.” A great fig recipe includes both sweet and savory elements, and this sweet and salty fig toast is the perfect combination of both. With Neufchâtel cheese (similar to cream cheese), flaky sea salt, honey, and olive oil to compliment the figs, this recipe will have you dancing in delight at how good it is.
Eggplant Parmigiana
When we think of comfort food, macaroni and cheese, casserole dishes, or meatloaf come to mind. When I think of comfort food, I think of Eggplant Parmigiana or Eggplant Parmesan. Mild in flavor and tender in texture, eggplants can be used in a variety of ways and they come into season at the end of the summer, lasting well through the fall season. Eggplant Parmigiana combines the tender eggplant and amps up their flavor through breading and frying, layering with tomato sauce, and smothering each layer in cheese. What could possibly be bad about that combination? Making this dish is a bit of a labor of love, but in the end its so worth it.
Brussel Sprouts Au Gratin
In the world of food, brussel sprouts have a bad reputation with a lot of people. Opinions on the tiny, green vegetable are very polarized- you either love them or you hate them. But in my opinion, a good sect of the people who hate brussel sprouts just haven’t had them prepared well. If you have a hard time stomaching this vegetable or if you absolutely love them, brussel sprouts au gratin is for you. Tender brussel sprouts are coated and baked in a delicious cheese sauce, so you have have your greens and enjoy them too!
Carmel Apple Pudding
Apples are one of the most popular and perhaps plentiful produce items of the fall harvest season. Crisp, sweet, and delicious, apples are harvested in the late summer through the fall. These fruits are usually in dessert dishes and I’m not complaining! Looking for something outside the traditional apple pie for dessert? You have to try this caramel apple pudding. Vanilla pudding mixed with sticky caramel then layered with fried spiced apples and ginger snaps will give you all the flavors of fall in one bite!