Early Fall Seasonal Recipes

I doubt anyone but me cares, but I had said I would be posting seasonal recipes last Thursday, and I'm just getting around to it more than a week later. If anyone has anxiously been awaiting seasonal recipes - I'm so sorry!

What's in season in September/October?

To find out what's in season in your area, you can google "produce availability" and the name of your state, or choose your state on PickYourOwn.org. The latter has to be the worst designed and yet most valuable website I've seen. Anything you want to know about pick-your-own farms and preserving foods can be found there.

If you live in North Carolina, you will likely see the following fruits and vegetables at the farmer's market this month: apples, cabbage, corn, grapes, green beans, leafy greens, peaches, peanuts, pumpkin, squash, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes.

Seasonal Recipes for Early Fall

This first recipe is a sneaky way to add more veggies to your kids diet. It's a type of macaroni and cheese, but the sauce also includes butternut squash. You can see in the picture that I actually didn't use macaroni - we didn't have any, but I'm not sure what kind of pasta I substituted.

Macaroni in Butternut Squash
(modified from Fresh Choices)

SERVES 6
COST: $1.10 per serving*

12 ounces elbow macaroni
3 cups of peeled, seeded, and chopped butternut squash
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. tahini
2 tsp. mustard
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/2 c. milk
2 Tbsp. seasoned dry bread crumbs

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  
• Cook the macaroni according to package directions.
• Meanwhile, microwave the squash in a casserole dish with a little bit of water for 10 minutes, or until the squash is very soft.
• Transfer the squash to a food processor. Add the parmesan cheese, tahini, mustard, salt, and black pepper. Process until smooth.
• Blend in enough milk to make a sauce the consistency of very thick soup.
• Put the pasta in a 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Add the sauce and mix thoroughly. Sprinkle evenly with the bread crumbs.
• Bake until the top is lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes.

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This is basically a giant pancake. The original version of this recipe called for bananas, but we've tried peaches and apples, and both worked great.

Another great choice for brinner is this recipe for mango pancakes - you can substitute peaches or apples to make it local and seasonal.

Peach Cinnamon Dutch Baby
(modified from Fresh Choices)

SERVES 4
COST: $1.21 per serving*

3/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
4 eggs
2/3 c. milk
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 peaches, chopped
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, eggs, milk, and 1 Tbsp. butter
• Heat the remaining 1 Tbsp. butter over medium heat in a 10" oven proof skillet. Add the peaches and 1 Tbsp. brown sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, just until heated through and the sugar melts, about 2 minutes. Stir in the cinnamon.
• Rewhisk the batter and then pour into the pan, stirring briefly to scrape the fruit from the bottom. Transfer to the oven and bake until the pancake begins to puff around the edges, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining 1 Tbsp. brown sugar and bake until very puffed and golden brown, about 5 minutes more.
• Serve immediately and cut into wedges.

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Other great recipes for late summer:

:: It's Frugal Being Green has a scrumptious-looking recipe for butternut bisque.

:: It's Not Easy Being Green has been working her way through a harvest of giant zucchinis.

:: Farmer's Daughter is making apple walnut bread.

:: Going Green Mama remembers making apple streudel with her grandmother.


*Note that all costs are estimates based on prices in my area. Your costs may vary.


Related Posts:

• Late Spring/Early Summer Seasonal Recipes
• Spotlight on Raleigh: Finding Local Foods in the Triangle
• Eat Conscious and Local