Transitioning from Summer to Fall Seasonal Food

Create an Autumn Turkey Cranberry Dish Like a Localvore

Sep 15, 2008

When warm days are still lingering, and September is beckoning, carefully incorporating fall seasonal food with summer cooking makes for delightful new dishes.

Fall seasonal food is comforting, indicative of autumn and all things crisp and pumpkin-colored. Magazines covers and grocery aisles are showing off apples and the spoils of the first harvest, and after a long hot summer, the desire for quieter, cooler nights prevails.

The practice of eating seasonal foods is an ancient one, when a seasonal food calendar allowed foods to be consumed when they were at their best, particularly vegetables and fruits.

Nowadays, those that eat seasonal foods year-round are known as localvores, people who are committed to building a local food economy.

This time of year, localvores are enjoying seasonal foods like apples, ciders, tomatoes, squashes, cranberries, pomegranates, and stone fruits such as peaches and plums.

A 2005 study, cited by the localvoreproject.org, shows the number one reason to purchase seasonal food, particularly produce, is for superior flavor. This demand has obvious health benefits: eating lots of fruits and vegetables, but also avoiding the need to add high-calorie sauces or condiments for flavor.

Summer to Fall Recipes

Transition your summer to fall seasonal recipes by combining the summer's final bounty with classic autumnal ingredients. Work canned pumpkin into a bread or soup recipe; add canned or dried cranberries to oatmeal, fruit or pasta salads. Experiment with lean and quick-cooking turkey cutlets and sausages, a great pre-Thanksgiving flavor to end-of-summer seasonal food suppers.

If it is still too warm to start cranking up the oven, take fall seasonal food classics to the grill. Instead of a roast chicken dinner, try stuffing a bird with traditional roasting herbs and seasonings and cooking over indirect grill heat.

Move pot roast outdoors, preparing everything from the beef to the carrots and potatoes grill side. Or, try the following recipe for an almost-fall, seasonal food supper.

Fall Seasoned Turkey Meatballs:

Substitute fat-free ground turkey breast if you wish. Regular ground turkey will make a moister meatball. For a superfast supper, grill mild turkey sausages instead.

2. Preheat a small sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add the dried cranberries, zest, juices, stock and honey. Bring the mixture to a simmer, and then turn the heat to low, simmer 5-10 minutes, until the mixture has reduced by half.

3. Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium-high. In a medium bowl, add the turkey, breadcrumbs, egg, and seasonings and mix well with a wooden spoon. Add more breadcrumbs if mixture is too wet. Form into 16 large meatballs, and thread onto skewers (unless using grill pan). Grill 6-8 minutes on each side, until cooked through.

4. While meatballs are grilling, prepare salad. Toss together apple, greens and walnuts in a salad bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, walnut oil, honey, salt and pepper. Pour over the salad, toss.

5. Remove turkey meatballs from grill, let rest five minutes. Serve alongside cranberry sauce and salad. Serves 4.

The copyright of the article Transitioning from Summer to Fall Seasonal Food in Fall Recipes is owned by Lisa Ann Schleipfer. Permission to republish Transitioning from Summer to Fall Seasonal Food in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.