The Fall Produce You Should Be Eating As Temperatures Cool

Eating in season is an important part of maintaining a more environmentally sustainable diet. Not only can eating in season be good for the planet, it’s also cheaper than eating produce that’s out of season, and it can ensure you’re getting the freshest and best-tasting fruits and vegetables possible. After a long summer, as the temperatures start to drop and you’re planning out your meals, you may be wondering how to work more fall produce into your diet. This list can give you a good place to start. Find these fruits and vegetables at your local farmers market or grocery store, and build your meals around them. This is the fall produce you should be eating this autumn.

1. Apples

Whether you can find the time to go apple picking or not, you should definitely find a way to use apples in your fall recipes. This is the time of year when the fruit tastes its best and is at its least expensive. Keep it simple and snack on some apple slices plain or with cinnamon and peanut butter, or turn them into a dessert by baking them into a pie or crisp. Apples also make a crunchy and fresh addition to an autumnal salad.

2. Sweet Potatoes

It’s always great to have sweet potatoes on hand during the fall months because they can be used for both sweet and savory purposes. You can treat a sweet potato like a baked potato by adding butter, salt, pepper and chives for an easy, healthy side dish, or you can turn it into a dessert by giving it a sprinkle of sugar and baking spices or transforming it into a sweet potato casserole with marshmallows.

3. Cabbage

There are few types of fall produce that will give you more bang for your buck than cabbage, which can be used both raw and cooked. Sliced thinly and quick-pickled in some vinegar or lemon juice, cabbage makes a crunchy sandwich topper, or it can be braised or sautéed to bring out its sweeter, milder, less punchy side. Add it to soups, salads, stir frys—it’s one of the most versatile ingredients you could have on hand.

4. Carrots

Carrots can make for both a crunchy snack and a mildly sweet side dish, which is why they’re great to have stocked in your fridge. They’re also a healthy and budget-friendly addition to those soups and stews you’ll be making this fall. Plus, they last a long time, so you don’t have to worry about using them up within a matter of days before they go bad.

5. Pomegranates

If you ask me, no fruit feels as special and as indulgent as a perfectly ripe pomegranate. Its fruit-coated seeds are tart and juicy, and they glow like jewels in a freshly cracked-open fruit. You can add them to desserts or salads for a burst of color and acidity and a touch of sweetness, but they may just be at their best when they’re enjoyed all on their own.

6. Broccoli

We should all be getting more cruciferous veggies into our diets, and broccoli is an approachable variety that’s at its best in the fall. Raw, broccoli packs a beautifully bitter punch, and cooked, it offers a milder but still funky flavor profile that’s delicious when properly seasoned. Add it to your roasted veggies for a touch of green.

7. Parsnips

Parsnips, carrots’ sweeter cousins, have a sweeter, licorice-like flavor to them that their orange counterparts do not. But just because they look like carrots doesn’t mean you have to treat them like carrots; they can be used in much the same way as potatoes. Roast them with olive oil and savory seasonings for a flavorful side, or mash them like potatoes for a creamy, buttery dish.

8. Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts are perfect for roasting when you want an easy veggie to put on your plate for dinner, but they’re also delicious raw. Shave them into your fall salad for a subtly bitter flavor, or snack on them whole with some mustard and hummus.

9. Beets

Earthy, bright pink and bold, beets are one of my all-time favorite root vegetables. They made an excellent addition to Middle Eastern and Mediterranean yogurt dips, where they color the yogurt a shocking pink, and when roasted, they can be used to top salads and grain bowls. Beets guarantee a colorful fall plate.

10. Kale

Kale may just go down in history as the trendiest vegetable of all time, but the truth is, kale is a timeless bitter green that’s perfect for use in a wide variety of dishes. Fried kale makes for a crispy side dish or snack, and the tough leaves become tender and silky when cooked in a soup.

Samantha Maxwell is a food writer and editor based in Boston. Follow her on Twitter at @samseating.