A Tasty End to the Main Season

Sweet and hot peppers, last of the summer crops, could not withstand nighttime temperatures in the 20s. Expecting this, we harvested all the good fruit beforehand.

With my own yard work starting to be under control, I was able to to turn some of my time to cooking up delicious dishes! You will see I used a lot of winter squash - I typically don't cook it up until the weather starts to get cold because there are still so many other veggies to use.

Beets - I have mentioned the Chocolate Beet Cake in prior writings as suggestions for the beets, but haven't actually made the cake in awhile until this week - it is time consuming, but the end result is a moist, rich, delicious dessert, packed with beets. Yum...

Potatoes, sweet potatoes - one of my favorites of the fall is what I like to call "mixed mash". This time, we just did the 2 potatoes, but in the past I have added turnips, carrots and/or rutabaga. Made it for guests and they also loved the combination.

Potatoes, peppers, garlic, leeks, turnips, kohlrabi - roasted these delicious veggies and made a lot so the next night I had a delicious frittata. Due to the inclusion of sweet peppers, it almost seemed like a hash.

Bok Choy - made the Spicy Roasted Bok Choy - I just love this dish.

Bok choy, garlic, kale, peppers (sweet and hot), cauliflower - made a delicious stir fry. I tend to look these up on-line and find a sauce I want to make and then use whatever veggies and a protein.

Winter squash, hot pepper, onion and garlic - made a Vietnamese "pumpkin" soup - most of the rest of the world just uses pumpkin as the generic term for winter squash. For this very simple recipe, use ground pork (locally raised provides the best flavor), which you marinade in a bit of fish sauce, salt, pepper, and just a teaspoon of sugar. Saute onions and garlic and then add pork to brown. Add water and cook for a few minutes, add a good amount of cut up squash and simmer until the squash is tender. Top with chopped cilantro, basil and thinly sliced hot pepper.

Leeks, garlic, winter squash - made an Indian spiced soup. So good and warming.