What’s in Season: Fall Veggie Recipes

Purchase produce in season for these hearty and healthy recipes.

When it comes to purchasing produce, experts typically agree that it’s best to buy and eat what’s in season. It’s better for your wallet, your taste buds and your community.

This fall, swing down to your local farmer’s market or grocery store and pick up a few seasonal veggies. Not sure what to do with them? (We’re looking at you, turnips.) Here are a few healthy lunch and dinner recipes to try.

Acorn squash

Fall is the season of the squash: delicata, acorn, butternut. Try a twist on the traditional butternut squash soup with this acorn squash soup with kale by Marth Stewart to warm up on a chilly fall evening. (Bonus: It takes under 30 minutes to make and has bacon. #winning)

Endive

This obscure lettuce probably isn’t one you’ve reached for at the grocery store when planning on making a salad. But this endive and avocado salad recipe from Ina Garten would make an excellent side dish or lunch option. Besides, we’ll eat just about anything Ina makes.

Brussels sprouts

This green nugget of goodness often gets a bad rap—but cooked correctly, Brussels sprouts are one of the most delicious veggie options around. Don’t believe us? Try swapping potatoes for this healthier sprout in one of our fave childhood recipes: tater tots.

Cauliflower

This versatile veggie is having its moment in the spotlight, and for good reason. Rice it, turn it into pizza crust, puree it as a substitute for mashed potatoes, make it a vegan “steak”—the cauliflower can do it all. For a healthy vegetarian dinner option, try this Sicilian-style cauliflower with whole wheat pasta. Fiber and veggies—what’s not to love?

Pumpkin

Fall signals the return of many things: leaves changing colors, cooler weather, going back to school and PSLs (Pumpkin Spice Lattes). During fall, pumpkin reigns supreme, and is seemingly added to just about everything. But looking at this gluten-free pumpkin, fig and goat cheese tart, we’re OK with that.

Swiss chard

Kale may be all the rage, but you’d be silly to overlook its leafy cousin, Swiss chard. Try it as a side dish to pork in this pork tenderloin with Swiss chard and polenta recipe, or with chickpeas and a poached egg on top.

Turnips

Throw it into chicken noodle soup, roast it alongside other root veggies, or puree it as a substitute for mashed potatoes: Turnips are an often-forgotten root vegetable that adds a bit of “oomph” to your typical vegetable medley. Put it in the Dutch oven or slow cooker before work, in this comforting Paleo pot roast recipe.

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