Fall Vegetables from the Farmers’ Market for Easy Dinners

Now that Labor Day weekend is over and done, it’s back to work, back to school, and back to the other events that fill our social schedules in the evening. When it comes to dinner, we’re looking for something that’s uncomplicated, easy, streamlined, and tasty. Since there’s less time for planning and experiments, what’s a person to do?

Thankfully, the season’s late-summer produce is peaking: squashes, leafy greens, beans, and corn, not to mention cauliflower and cucumbers. A visit to a farmers’ market is sure to provide you with enough vegetables to fill out a menu for most of a week. Plus, cauliflower, squash, and beans keep better in the fridge than some of the others. (Eat your corn as soon as you buy it.)

As for meals, the fastest and easiest techniques are sheet pan dinners, one pan meals, and slow-cooker dinners. Might I suggest a sheet-pan roasted chicken with vegetables such as sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts (or whatever good vegetables you nabbed at the farmers’ market). It’s a one-pan meal that can be on the table in less than an hour from start to finish, with minimum cleanup.

A quick one-pan meal could be simply braised pork chops with apples, onions, and garlic, all readily available fresh this time of year. Again, ready in less than an hour with minimal cleanup. Want fish?  How about a simple blackened honey-glazed salmon bites? You get the idea.

If you have a slow cooker (and I’ve learned that 7 out of 8 of us do), your options expand. Soups, stews, and big meals such as roasts are now on the menu. It’s a great device to make chili, but I also use mine to prepare a favorite household recipe of Mississippi pot roast.

For these fall menu ideas, all it really takes is some ingenuity, some new recipe ideas, and a trip to your local farmer’s market. Many of these recipes aren’t written in stone – you can freely substitute ingredients, as long as they make sense to your dinner companions. You could even be a little adventurous and creative.

What are you finding to cook with at the farmers’ market? How do your menus change in the early fall? Please share.

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