Food:
16 Fall Recipes to Satisfy Your Autumnal Cravings
Words by Sacha Strebe.
Recipes from Cook Beautiful by Athena Calderone.
While we’re not one to play favorites, we can’t help but err on the side of Autumn. Don’t you? The crisp cool air is a welcome change from summer’s incessant heat, bringing with it the turning of the leaves that crunch so happily beneath our boots. There is also something special about the busyness of September. After months of rest, we welcome the return to structure and getting back to work, and there’s always that delightful buzz of the holiday season ahead, too. But of course, our favorite part about this time of year is our autumnal cravings. We can’t wait to swap summer’s raw salads for soul-warming soups, tasty roasts, and heavenly pies. Yes, we’re ready to spend some serious time in front of the stove cooking all of our favorite fall recipes.
Keep reading for some of our favorite fall recipes to satisfy your hankering for Autumn’s seasonal delights.
ROASTED PUMPKIN AND BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH POACHED EGGS
‘Tis the season to cook everything with our favorite squash. Pumpkin is creamy, sweet, and goes with just about anything you pair it with including Brussel sprouts and poached eggs!
CREAMY CAULIFLOWER SOUP WITH DUKKAH AND WATERCRESS PESTO
This soup combines sweet roasted florets with buttery Yukon Gold potatoes and an aromatic trifecta of leeks, garlic, and thyme. The nut, seed, and spice mixture (known as Dukkah) adds a wonderful crunch, but the brightness of the lemony watercress-pistachio pesto cuts through the heavier flavors.
MEYER LEMON RICOTTA TOASTS WITH BLISTERED GRAPES
The first time I tired blistered grapes was at Franny’s, one of my all-time favorite Brooklyn restaurants, and to say I fell hard for them would be an understatement. These days, I regularly pop red and black varieties into a scorching hot oven until they’re blistered and oozing with sugary juice. Roasted grapes are delicious alongside pork or rabbit, but my absolutely favorite way to savor them is with fresh ricotta on crostini. The crunchy bread, jammy fruit, and creamy cheese are a decadent combination, especially when spiked with Meyer lemon zest and drizzled with saba—a syrupy Italian condiment made by cooking down grapes. My recipe isn’t finicky: Rosemary would work in place of tarragon, and really any type of seedless grape will do. If you can’t find saba, simmer balsamic vinegar until it’s reduced by half to achieve a similar taste and consistency.
JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE, CELERY, AND PEAR SALAD
Celery is like the forgotten vegetable—no one ever thinks about it. But if I had to make just one salad all fall, it would be this one in which celery plays a starring role. A super-crunchy showstopper with an unexpected flavor profile, this dish is dead simple to prepare.
TUSCAN KALE SALAD WITH LEMON-TAHINI DRESSING
I know, I know—not another kale salad! But indulge me and try this one before you write off the world’s trendiest vegetable as overrated. There are a few elements that set my kale salad apart. First, I slice the kale as thinly as possible, about 1/16 inch (2mm) thick. To get clean, precise cuts, I approach the leaves like basil, stacking and rolling them before chopping, chiffonade style. Second, I use apples to add a sweet-tart note to the earthy green. Finally, there’s a lemon-tahini dressing, which brings everything together with its addictive, nutty acidity. After a few bites, you might just rekindle your romance with kale.
MISO-GLAZED CARROTS WITH CARROT-TOP PESTO
The combination of miso and butter transforms these carrots into something truly amazing. Ginger, sesame, and carrot-top greens come together to create a delicious pesto that will tantalize your tastebuds.
ROASTED CAULIFLOWER WITH PARSLEY, LEMON, JALAPEÑO & CAPERS
Roasted cauliflower has a nutty, sweet flavor that’s hard to resist. My son has eaten it two or three times a week since he was three years old—that’s a lot of cauliflower! Over the years I’ve started to experiment with adding flavors to brighten the dish and spice things up. Recently I turned it up a notch, playing with spicy, briny, herbaceous, and citrus flavors all at once to create a parsley, lemon zest, chopped caper, and jalapeno mixture for my roasting florets. Just chop and toss before the golden nuggets come hot out of the oven. And voila, you’ve got the adult version of child-friendly cauliflower candy. Now, if only you can get your little one to try just one bite…
SHAVED BRUSSELS SPROUTS, PINE NUTS, AND GREEN OLIVES
True story: I once got a slew of hateful comments on Instagram because I posted a photo of my son making this salad. Apparently, the fact that I let my then eleven-year-old use a mandoline was grounds for calling child protective services! But a mandoline is a necessary tool if you want to achieve the feathery, delicate sprout slivers that this salad requires. Okay, yes, the blade is sharp, but if Jivan can handle one, so can you! Be precise, watch what you’re doing, and you’ll be fine. And if you can find them, use larger sprouts to minimize the work. This is a super easy fall salad that is both healthy and ridiculously delish. And there’s no such thing as too much lemon here—the salt, acid, and cheese make the sprouts shine
DELICATA SQUASH AGRODOLCE
Thanks to their tender, edible skin, prepping delicata squash is beyond easy: Just slide, scoop the seeds, and the squash rings are ready for the oven. The flesh is creamy and sweet, making it ideal for roasting. Once golden and caramelized, the rounds are delicious straight up but doused in this agrodolce reduction, they’re downright addictive.
ORECCHIETTE WITH KALE, FENNEL, AND SAUSAGE
This recipe came about by happy accident on a day when my market was out of just about everything on my shopping list. I picked up a few links of pork sausage and a bunch of lacinato kale and headed home without any real plan. In the fridge, I found a bulb of fennel and thought, why not? The flavors ended up melding so deliciously that it’s been a weeknight standard ever since. As yummy as it is, this is one of those recipes that should be used as a guide rather than taken as gospel. Have fun with it and adapt it to suit your needs. Omit the pasta, add more broth, and you have soup. Get rid of the sausage and it’s a great vegetarian dish. Play around with what you’ve got—it’s how all the best recipes are born.
ROASTED SQUASH WITH DATES, OLIVES, AND ORANGE
There is nothing quite like squash season. They are always so candy-sweet upon roasting with a caramelized crunch that is irresistible to our tastebuds. If you love some roasted squash too, then I promise this dish will become a weeknight staple in the fall. It’s also a great side dish for Thanksgiving around the corner! The addition of dates gives a chewy texture, olives bring a savoriness and the orange gives it that zesty kick every dish needs (in my opinion!).
WHITE BEANS RECIPE WITH CITRUS ROASTED FENNEL
This white beans recipe is super hearty and makes for a delicious side dish or appetizer. I love roasting fennel because it completely changes the flavor—it’s sweet and caramelized. You simply halve the fennel, then cut into quarters, douse it in olive oil, and some fresh orange juice with orange zest, and habanero chili, then pop it in a 400-degree oven and let it get all caramelized and brown (be sure to flip it halfway through!). While that’s in the oven, I’m going to take some garlic, and some shallots, then sautee that in olive oil, throw in some white beans (this is a white beans recipe after all!)—and yes, they are canned white beans because I never have time to soak them overnight. Once they are really savory and flavorful, I smash them together with the roasted fennel and finish it off with treviso (similar to radicchio and you can use either). The bitterness of the treviso is a really nice counterbalance to those heartier flavors. Then I’ll finish it off with some preserved lemon to give it that acidic tanginess and brightness on the palette.
SLOW-ROASTED ARCTIC CHAR WITH CRANBERRY CHUTNEY
The jewel-toned fruit of this chutney teams up with thyme, shallots, and preserved lemons to create a puckeringly tart counterbalance to the creamy acorn squash and rich Artic char. Hearty and full of fall flavors, it’s a perfect pescatarian option for Thanksgiving.
STEWED LENTILS WITH SWEET POTATO
Black lentils, carrot, celery, fennel, cumin, a little bit of spice, a little tanginess all come together in this quick, easy, and healthy lentil stew recipe. To serve, I fold in some roasted sweet potatoes, labne, and a zippy, herbaceous salsa verde sauce. Both the lentils and the sweet potatoes are great kitchen staples when you’re busy, like me! You can add either one of them to a grain salad, a green salad, or to a piece of protein—they’re just really great options to have on hand when you’re in a pinch. Also, the salsa verde sauce I make for this recipe is another condiment that can be made separately and used as a delicious spread over scrambled eggs or on a sandwich. Pro storage tip: put a little extra olive oil on top so that the herbs don’t brown and oxidize. I know you are going to love this recipe as much as I do.
CARDAMOM-COGNAC APPLE CAKE
This classic French apple cake is akin to a moist, bread pudding-like cake thanks to the addition of buttermilk. And the taste? Think deliciously decadent but not too sweet. Cognac and cardamom add a little something special, but don’t overwhelm the bright, clean apple taste.
PEAR AND HAZELNUT TART
The very first “from scratch” dessert that I mastered was a proper French pear tart. Still a nervous cook, I was petrified at the idea of rolling out classic pastry dough, so, after much research, I found a recipe with a pressed-in crust—one that goes straight from mixing bowl to pan, where it’s mushed into shape with your fingers. Though I chose to make the tart because it was easy, I was blown away by the flavors—and by the oohs and aahs fo my dinner party guests. This recipe is an adaptation of that original desert, modernized with an almond- and hazelnut-infused crust and a lavender honey and crème fraîche filling,
