Fall brings shorter days, but still hints of summer. Celebrate with more than 60 seasonal recipes
This colorful, flavorful Provençal salad combines vegetables from late summer harvests with the first potatoes and radishes of fall. Eggs boost the protein content.
Kathy Morrison
Taste Fall! Embrace local flavors of the season and get an early start on holiday spirit
In autumn, apple may be king, but it’s not the only fresh fruit that celebrates the season. Newly harvested pears, persimmons, pomegranates, figs, grapes, mandarins and limes all deserve to be showcased in fall baking and desserts. They also add juicy flavor to salads and side dishes. (We’ll show you how.)
If apples are your favorite fall fruit, go beyond basic apple pie with roasted apple tart or apple pie-cake. Or try adding those apples to crumble, coffee cake and bar cookies.
Sacramento’s tomato season extends well into October. Make the most of those late-season tomatoes in fresh tomato soup, tomato bread pudding or oven-roasted tomato jam.
Got pumpkin? Use that colorful pulp in muffins, mini-turnovers, creamy soup, hearty stew or pumpkin spice cake (with pumpkin spice latte buttercream frosting). Those other orange fall favorites – butternut squash and sweet potatoes – add flavor, moistness and antioxidants to breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert.
Our fall vegetable menu also features chayote, corn, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, greens, beans and other nutritious and flavorful crops. No wonder we choose fall to celebrate our harvest and give thanks for our local bounty. Why not celebrate with a French-inspired Provençal salad?
Of course, the holidays are right around the corner. That makes this cookie season, too. It’s time to start baking for gifting (and snacking). Why not incorporate seasonal fruit into those treasured treats?
In this recipe collection, discover more than 65 delicious ways to enjoy our local harvest of fall fruit and vegetables. They’re at their very best right now – in season.
Featured vegetables: Beans, Brussels sprouts, Butternut squash, Cabbage, Carrots, Chayote, Chilies, Corn, Garlic, Greens, Leek, Lima bean, Onion, Potato, Pepper, Squash,Sweet potato, Tomato (ripe or green), Zucchini
Featured fruit: Apple, Blackberry, Fig, Grapes, Lemon, Lime, Mandarin, Orange, Pear, Persimmon, Walnut
Appetizers and sauces
Stretch salsa season with a zesty blend of citrus flavors in our mandarin and lime winter salsa. Try it with corn-chile fritters. Pumpkin-packed mini turnovers are finger-friendly holiday appetizers.
Breakfast breads and coffee cakes
Start your day with the goodness of apples, pears or persimmons – all baked into breakfast treats. We like sweet potato muffins so much, we offer two very different versions.
Soups
Use your autumn tomatoes in a super-easy soup or make your own versatile vegetable broth. Celebrate fall Tuscan style with veggie-packed ribollita. Warm a chilly night with creamy spiced pumpkin soup.
Salads and sides
Give your fall harvest a French twist with a Provençal salad. Persimmons, grapes, figs and mandarins add juicy pop to autumn greens. Add seasonal spirit to autumn meals with super-cute cheesy little pumpkins. Brussels sprouts put crunch into slaw or try them roasted with pomegranate.
Vegetable-focused mains
Butternut squash and pumpkin make for hearty fall casseroles and stews. Corn adds crunch to succotash, roasted alongside steelhead trout. Hungry for chili? Try our version with black beans and sweet potatoes. (Plenty of vegetarian ideas, too!)
Desserts and sweets
In the mood for pumpkin spice? You’ll love our pumpkin spice cake with pumpkin spice latte buttercream frosting. Apples mix it up in our favorite crumble and an apple pie-cake. Pears star in clafoutis and skillet cake while persimmons pack an old-fashioned holiday pudding.
Cookies
This is cookie season and we offer an interesting assortment that showcase seasonal fruit and flavors. Whether it’s our (really) old-fashioned persimmon, iced lime shortbread or hearty apple pie oatmeal bars, discover a new favorite for holiday gifting and get-togethers.
Miscellaneous
Oven-roasted sweet ‘n’ spicy tomato jam turns those last tomatoes into this zippy ketchup alternative. Pomegranate molasses will become your new “secret” ingredient in fall glazes, vinaigrettes and marinades.