Fall Eating

Brussels and Sweet Potatoes

I've gone full on brassica-vore since it's now Fall. (Aside: it's bangin' out there with acorns pelting down, making the term "Fall" a bigger deal than the image of gently wafting leaves down. I was thinking I needed a hardhat in my front yard!)  Many of my favorite foods are now in season, and it just feels right to eat them. Cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, I love them all! But it doesn't always feel right to eat them, when they are not in season and they don't look great in the store. Only broccoli do I buy frozen, to add to other dishes. All the others have to be fresh.

I made this fabulous version of roast cauliflower the other day, from the New York Times, source of many of my experiments. This version has pancetta, olives, and parmesan, and half a cup of olive oil - so it satisfies my seasonal craving for blubber (got to fatten up to get through the winter, don't ya know). It definitely  made some meals by itself for me, not a side. I didn't think it would freeze well, so having done a whole head of cauliflower (and why not) I needed to eat it up quickly - three or four days. I have been known to eat an entire head of roasted cauliflower in one sitting, but this version is so very rich even I could not do that.

Roasted brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes on a sheet pan were even better for having bacon, shallots, and apples added (the apples for only the last ten minutes). Again, a complete meal, which I ate for several days. I need to be careful about over-buying, because when I'm with other folks, mostly we're eating out (or takeout) and it takes me a while eating alone to use up the vegetables.

Cabbage I don't roast, but it sautes up nicely and pairs perfectly with onions. I will have it with eggs scrambled in, or leftover rice as fried rice. Or, it can go with anything with gravy (omitting a starch) or be tossed in the pot for soups. And a shout-out to cabbage for being a champion keeper - I've had them last a month in my vegetable drawer. I wouldn't have tried to make a fresh coleslaw from the old head, but it was just fine as a well-cooked ingredient.

Broccoli is the easiest. Quick chop into my pyrex casserole, a quarter cup water, put on the lid, and microwave away. It's fine by itself, especially with parmesan and/or creme fraiche, or like cabbage, on the plate with something else. I've roasted broccoli in the toaster oven (especially for the sparse harvests when I grew it myself a year ago) but if I'm going to spend the time to roast, I'd rather have cauliflower or brussels sprouts.

No offense kale, I don't hate you, but I'm not in the habit of cooking you. 

As the brassicas take over my cuisine, lettuce-based salads fall off. I buy pre-washed lettuce mixes and I find some leaves are tending to slime before I get around to finishing off the bag, tainting the whole bag. Time to get out my countertop garden and grow my own!

I've got another head of cauliflower I ought to cook today. I'll do it roasted with just some olive oil, because I've got some fancy Octoberfest sausages I did on the grill yesterday. Yum!