When it comes to side dishes, the star of Thanksgiving doesn't have to be the gravy, stuffing, or mashed potatoes. Enter: the Thanksgiving salad! Instead of brown and mushy, the salad can be one of the most delicious things on your holiday plate. Over years of hosting, I've found that bold flavor combinations like roasted squash, crunchy apples, pomegranate jewels, and tangy dressings will make everyone reach for seconds.
Cooking in early fall can be confusing. Farmers markets and grocery stores are caught between two seasons: The last of the summer harvest is still perfectly ripe, while fall's first crops are already inching their way into the produce section. Do you keep leaning on summer salads and grilled vegetables, or start roasting squash and baking casseroles? Luckily, you don't have to choose; this is one of the most flexible times of the year in the kitchen.
Cooking for people with food intolerances doesn't have to be daunting, because the rules of good cooking are always the same, McDermott says. Fresh produce is undoubtedly the cheat code to a delicious meal. Bold, fresh herbs or juicy summer berries are the easiest way to elevate any meal to a whole new level. And they're in season and available at your local IGA.
Garlic scapes pop up in late spring and early summer, the flower stems of garlic plants. Trimmed before they bloom, they have a fresh garlicky flavor with a texture and sweetness similar to other spring vegetables like green beans or asparagus. They have a short season, so you should act fast if you see garlic scapes at the grocery store or farmers' market.
September signals the wind-down of summer, which officially ends on the 22nd. It's a transitional month, one where some summer produce is still in season (corn, tomatoes, mangoes) but where autumn bounty is also starting to pop up (apples, pears, squash). I've scoured the internet to find the 30 best things to cook this month. These recipes celebrate the final few weeks of summer and the beginning of fall - sometimes at the same time.
Now at farmers markets and grocery stores across the country, typically from September to December, the honeynut squash as we know it was released around 2009 as a collaboration between the Plant Breeding and Genetics department at Cornell University and chef Dan Barber's team at the upstate New York restaurant Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Their dream was a shrunken, single-serve butternut squash that needs little more than a high-heat roast to become absurdly delicious.
As always in August, my favorite farmers markets and farm stands have come to the rescue with all sorts of colorful, fresh and locally grown produce. Cooking and eating outdoors always puts people in a better mood. That's especially true when the menu is hyper-seasonal. There's something so special about enjoying foods that are only available for a few months or weeks each year - not just because they're flavorful, but also because they support local farmers. Often, they're also more affordable.
