The cooking rut: It can happen to the best of us, even the most adventurous chefs and inspired home cooks. We head to the grocery store with our shopping lists, fill our grocery carts with our favorite foods and whip up those quick go-to meals we know the kids and family will love. Seasonal cooking? What with the carpool, soccer practice and busy schedules eating into cooking time, figuring out how to savor the season’s harvest can seem a little more stressful than it should be. Especially when the kids are demanding pizza for dinner!
Want to freshen your dinner menu? Then simply check out our top five ideas for embracing fall at the dinner table and we’ll help you amp up your fall eating with a few quintessential fall ingredients that are sure to bring a little autumn into the kitchen. With the evenings drawing in, the weather getting cooler and a farm-fresh autumn harvest of fruits and veggies just waiting to be enjoyed, fall’s the perfect time to get back in step with a little seasonal eating. After all, fall cooking brings about some great flavor combinations! Say hello to your new fall shopping list and read on.
Spice it up!
With a little pumpkin and pumpkin spice that is! No need to prepare a whole pumpkin for a hint of that comforting pumpkin flavor we all adore. Simply sprinkle a little pumpkin spice on your cappuccino as a fun fall update on your coffee treat, or add a hint of pumpkin spice to your hot chocolate drink and prepare for a coffee break with a difference.
Then, when it comes to pumpkins, the opportunities are endless. Think pumpkin pies, but also think of a host of other perfectly pumpkin-y alternatives too. How about pumpkin spice cookies, maple and pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin cheesecake or even pumpkin spiced chocolate brownies? On the savory side there’s plenty to get hungry for too. Just go for a creamy pumpkin soup and you’ll have all the flavors of fall in one healthful, comforting bowl. As for that family-favorite pizza? If your family loves a traditional all-Italian pizza or pasta recipe, you’ll find a host of classic Italian family recipes that incorporate the fall flavors of butternut squash and pumpkins with ravioli and even pizza! Buon appetito!
Eat an Apple a Day
They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Seems like a good mantra to have with winter flu season right around the corner. And as it just so happens, apple season is in full swing too. Take a bite of a crunchy and sweet all-American apple and include some apples into your five-a-day and you’ll take a bite of real fall freshness.
Got kids? Try surprising your youngest family members with a fun, fall-delicious dessert that’s out of the ordinary and exceptionally tasty and try a delivery of caramel apples or yummy chocolate-dipped apples. Or, if classic is more your style, serve up a traditional fall apple pie – a la mode of course! And why stop there? Go for some delicious warm apple cider as a comforting evening drink and you’ll be well on your way to apple heaven!
Pick Pomegranates
Whether you sprinkle these juicy jewel-like gems of yumminess onto a spinach salad, add a handful to a rich and indulgent baked brie, or put a few on top of your guacamole come snack time, if there’s one delicious way to bring a bold burst of color and sweet taste to a dish, it’s with a pomegranate. It doesn’t matter whether you peel your own, buy the seeds ready to eat, or pick up a bottle of pomegranate juice, there are plenty of delightful ways to enjoy pomegranates and no faster way to enjoy a dose of fall.
Go Nuts
Yes, everyone’s favorite sweet and delicious summer fruits may be out of season, but the good news is that nuts and dried fruit are always in plentiful supply! And, they make for a perfect healthful snack when the days are short and cold weather is setting in. While making like a squirrel and munching on cashews, almonds and peanuts is a yummy and fast way to satisfy that fall snack craving, incorporating a few nuts into your favorite recipes is a wonderful alternative and simple solution to bringing the taste of the season into your cooking. Plus of course, if you’re not the baking type, there are always sweet and tasty pecan pies and pistachio ice cream to be enjoyed.
Crave Cookies
And finally, if there were a time of year that was designed for cookies, it would be fall! You could say that cookies are the culinary version of putting a warm familiar sweater on or wrapping a cozy scarf around your neck! So, just in time for the fall, why not give your cookie jar a taste of sweet dried fruit with a batch of cinnamon raisin cookies, a few almond and cranberry cookies or a delicious seasonal gingerbread cookie of ginger spice cookie? And of course if you can’t resist a frosted cookie, you can still embrace the season. Simply go for a few sweet frosted cookies that have been cut and decorated like fall leaves!