And then fall swept in just as we flipped the calendar, like it knew we were turning the page on summer. I was ready to heat up my kitchen again after several weeks of warm weather. I was ready for socks again, too.

And then–back to the dinner menu–I came across the Unfussy Apple Cake (101 Cookbooks), and worked backwards from there. It was going to be the perfect dessert centerpiece for an unfussy evening.

After the apple cake was finished baking (the quickest thing ever!), I wrapped the pork tenderloins snugly (like tucking my daughter in for the night) for the Prosciutto Wrapped Pork with Sweet Potatoes and Pears (Real Simple). This is the unfussiest recipe of them all. It literally takes about four flicks of the wrist, eight swift chops, and a creatively messy arrangement of sweet potatoes, pears, and thyme on a baking sheet–then you add the pork bundles.

I whipped up a quick spinach salad with chopped walnuts, pomegranate seeds, and a dribble of oil and balsamic–dinner was done.

The kitchen smelled divine. It smelled like fall.

Fall might just be my favorite cooking season. What’s yours? Do you have a favorite fall menu?

Sarah Fullerton, content marketing & editing. Armed with a masters in journalism from Northwestern, a passion for all things cooking, and a perpetual oven mitt, Sarah loves nothing more than to camp out in the kitchen with a new recipe, interpret it creatively (a dash of this, a dash of that), and then surprise her husband and daughter, her friends, and herself with the results. Sarah’s favorite recipe. She can be contacted at sarah [at] plummelo [dot] com.

“The Food Matters Cookbook is the essential encyclopedia and guidebook to responsible eating, with more than 500 recipes that capture Bittman’s typically relaxed approach to everything in the kitchen. There is no finger-wagging here, just a no-nonsense and highly flexible case for eating more plants while cutting back on animal products, processed food, and of course junk. But for Bittman, flipping the ratio of your diet to something more virtuous and better for your body doesn’t involve avoiding any foods—indeed, there is no sacrifice here”–Simon & Schuster

Equipment
Roasting pan or ceramic casserole

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cut the onions into wedges and the potatoes into 1-inch cubes. Spread them over the bottom of the baking dish.

3. In a small dish, combine salt and pepper in a 2:1 ratio.

4. Open the chicken over the sink and let any residual juices or blood drain. Reach into the cavity to see if there are any giblets left inside. If so remove them, and either discard them or save them to make soup stock at a later time. You’ll want to take a paper towel and pat dry your chicken. Please DO NOT rinse your chicken; running water and raw chicken can help spread salmonella.

5. Place the chicken breast side up over the bed of onions and potatoes. Drizzle the exterior and the cavity of the chicken with olive oil, and then sprinkle liberally with the salt and pepper blend.

6. If you have them on hand, you could put lemon or orange wedges, garlic cloves, or fresh herbs in the cavity at this point to infuse a bit more flavor.

7. Put the chicken in the oven, and set the timer for one hour (the general rule is 20 minutes for every pound of chicken you’re cooking).

8. Test the chicken for doneness. This can be done in a few ways. One is to jiggle the drumstick a little and see if the juices run clear (clear juices means it’s done, red juices means it’s not ready yet). You can also insert an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken. It’s done if it reads 165. If the chicken isn’t ready, put it back in the oven for 10-15 minutes and re-test.

9. Place your chicken on a platter over the bed of roasted potatoes and onions. Enjoy!

NOTE: To flavor your chicken just a bit more you can apply an herb butter. This requires you to chop fresh herbs like rosemary or thyme, and mash them into room-temperature butter. Carefully lift the chicken skin to prevent ripping, and massage the butter under the skin so it spread throughout the chicken.

Laura Troyani heads up Marketing and Business Development for Plummelo. Not content with just being another behind-the-scenes pencil pusher, Laura decided to give blogging a shot and writes practical, everyday tips for the home cook (or aspiring home cook). Laura’s favorite foods are ice cream, olive oil, ice cream, parmesan cheese, ice cream, and occasionally ice cream.

What to do with all those apples? Here are some terrific ideas that go beyond the all American apple pie–some classic, some very fresh and inventive, all delicious.

Oh, and p.s.: There are no actual apples in a Caramel Apple Martini, but they sure do taste good after a day at the orchard!

Read more by Robin Horrigan

Robin Horrigan writes the column Cooking from the Carpool Lane. She lives on Boston’s south shore and is a stay at home Mom to Ryan, seven, and Maegan, three. Her fascination with cooking sprouted from watching Julia Child cook on a little black and white TV; Robin helped her Mom in the kitchen until she was old enough to ask Santa for her very own copy of The Joy of Cooking. She experiments with all kinds of cooking and baking, from quick weeknight dinners and easy cookies to long simmering weekend stews and complicated, fancy desserts. Ryan thinks if his Mom will ever be famous, it will be “for her awesome cookies.” Her friends say it will be for the cocktails. Either way, if she’s not doing volunteer work or shopping for shoes, you’ll probably find her in the kitchen. Robin’s favorite recipe.

If you haven’t tried quinoa yet, add it to your list. It is a grain-like crop, much more readily available now than it was even a few years ago, probably sold with the rice and barley in stores that carry it. We kind of think of it as a cross between couscous and barley–it tastes more like barley with the consistency of couscous, and therefore lends itself to lots of great uses.

Use this recipe as more of a guide than an absolute. Cook the quinoa according to package directions. If you use the recipe instructions to cook the grains (covered and over high heat for 20 minutes) your result will be a burned mess.

Mix the cooked quinoa with as many colorful and crunchy raw or blanched veggies as you like. If you toss the quinoa with the spinach while it is still hot, you’ll get the very nice wilted effect. It’s a great idea for a new CSA shareholder like me, who is all of a sudden buried in scads of vegetables I might not buy all together in one week.

The instructions are somewhat elaborate as to how you should arrange the salad, but there is no need to stress about this. You can make it as artful and composed as you like, or do what I did: toss the hot quinoa together with the spinach and some roughly chopped dill, and then add in the vegetables all mixed together. Toss with the vinaigrette. It looked lovely.

Raw pumpkin seeds are not something I see often in my travels, but this is a nice element in the salad, so I think you can improvise with toasted pine nuts or almonds for a similar effect. I also added a quarter of a red onion I had leftover in the fridge. Sub asparagus for the broccoli or increase the quantity of radishes if you have some to use up. Try a red or green pepper in place of the cucumber, or skip the beets if you don’t care for them.

There is no reason why this dish can’t be a meal in itself, and I would definitely make it for girlfriends for lunch. However, serving it as dinner would absolutely not fly in my house, so tonight we had it with grilled mahi mahi skewers and that seemed to do the trick. I think it would be a great side dish to bring to a summer party.

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Robin Horrigan is a stay at home mom to a 6-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter. She is the cruise director for her busy family, keeping the calendar full of the stuff that makes life worth living, but leaves plenty of time to shop for shoes. When they’re all at home, you’ll find the Horrigans knee-deep in chocolate chips and cookie racks, baking treats together that celebrate the four seasons and even the silliest of holidays.

So it has been with this newfangled idea they’re calling Meatless Monday. I’ve mostly ignored the background babble. Meatless Monday is a concept initiated by The Monday Campaigns in association with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

When I first heard about Meatless Monday it sounded to me a bit like Backwards Friday, an annual event we had in grade school when all the kids wore their clothes backwards. It was something you do once for the novelty of it–it wasn’t something anyone would make a lifestyle out of.

I have to admit that I didn’t initially investigate the concept or read up on the why and how of Meatless Monday, but it didn’t sound like something I’d try, much less permanently implement (even though I am generally quite content forgoing meat). But in the burgeoning movement to reduce one’s carbon footprint, and toward greater long-term health, my interest was slowly piqued by this one-day-a-week vegetarianism thing. After all, I do love a good eggplant parm. How hard could it be?

I’m particularly interested in a fresh start on Monday after gorging all weekend. The cheeseburger right off the grill at Saturday’s barbecue melted in my mouth (washed down by a bottle of beer), but following it with two pieces of The Pioneer Woman’s chocolate sheet cake was just unnecessary (but worth every bite!).

Monday is a new beginning. Monday speaks to me in tongues of crispy vegetables and protein sources low in saturated fat.

In his bestselling books, Michael Pollan has endorsed quasi-vegetarianism, and others are taking note. Giving up one-seventh of meat consumption (the equivalent of one day per week) is practicable, Pollan says, and I agree. I can do this.

So I mentioned it to my husband this weekend. “Honey, will you do Meatless Mondays with me?” I expected him to laugh and reply with a sarcastic, “Yeah, right.” But in a surprising moment of marital support, and without asking why, he said, “Sure. Starting tomorrow? Pasta Mondays.” I told him tomorrow we could indeed start with pasta–a win-win (easy for me to cook, even easier for him to like). But in my secret scheming, I plan to slowly intervene in this carb-lover’s lifestyle–after all, replacing a hearty protein with an empty carb is not helping anyone. Next week we’ll try a tofu or bean dish.

We’re aiming to try this for the long haul–for ourselves and for our planet. Meatless meals can be less expensive and easy to prepare. I’m all for that as a bonus. Are you on the bandwagon? Share with us.

Sarah Fullerton, content marketing & editing. Armed with a masters in journalism from Northwestern, a passion for all things cooking, and a perpetual oven mitt, Sarah loves nothing more than to camp out in the kitchen with a new recipe, interpret it creatively (a dash of this, a dash of that), and then surprise her husband and daughter, her friends, and herself with the results. She can be contacted at sarah [at] plummelo [dot] com.

I might as well come out and admit it: I love meat. I love it. I love that blissful first bite of medium-rare steak. I love the flavor a single smoky sausage gives to an entire pot of stew. I love bacon with my eggs. When I tried vegetarianism several years back, fellow veg-heads kept telling me, “Don’t worry! You’ll stop craving meat! Just give it time!” Never happened. After four years of sighing every time I caught a whiff of something on the grill, I finally admitted that my body just wanted what it wanted. Meat.

But liking meat has become a real dilemma in the past several years. The issues pile higher every day. There are the E. coli outbreaks from poor meat processing, which is affected by poor living conditions in the feedlots, which in turn comes from the food that the animals are given and how they are treated. There’s the land it takes to raise all the animals. There are the health concerns that come with diet high in meat. There are economic factors involving government subsidies and struggling farmers. It gets overwhelming very quickly, doesn’t it?

As I stand in front of the meat case at our grocery store, all these concerns shout, clamor, and fight for attention in my head. You’d think it would be an easy choice to go for the free-range, organic, locally raised meat. But it’s not.

For me, it comes down to time and money. My grocery store doesn’t sell local meat (and I’m highly suspicious of the cryovac-ed packages labeled “organic”). Buying better, more humanely raised meat means a special trip to the market downtown. I hate to admit, but that extra trip often feels like one thing too many after a long day.

And that good quality meat also costs more, which it should given its quality. But when the price difference between a package of chicken at my regular grocery store and one at a place like Whole Foods gets to be more than a few dollars, my budget just can’t handle it.

There are some solutions and compromises. By eating less meat overall, I can theoretically afford the better quality products. I also plan one big trip to the market downtown and freeze extra meat for the weeks ahead. I buy fewer steaks now and more roasts, which are more affordable and can be stretched into meals like Pulled Pork Sugo or Shredded Pork Wraps. I buy whole chickens and have taught myself how to separate them into pieces.

My husband and I caught a break recently. We both received small raises at our respective jobs–not enough to drastically change our lifestyle, but enough that there’s a little left over at the end of the month. We talked about getting iPhones or saving up for trips. In the end, we decided to put most of this extra money toward our food budget. After years of feeling our guts twist every time we stood in front of the meat counter, we’re ready to really commit to only buying local meat from farms we trust.

This is such a complicated and personal matter, I’d love to hear your thoughts! What choices have you made about eating meat?

Read about Emma Christensen.

It’s fresh. At the farmers’ markets in suburban Chicago, much of the produce is coming from farms within a couple hours’ drive. Providers at the market are picking fruits and vegetables within about 12 hours of it arriving at the market, sometimes less. This allows me to have the freshest produce possible. (Of course I neither realized nor appreciated that near where I grew up in Southwest Michigan happens to be a hot spot for growing asparagus and blueberries, among other things.)

It’s healthy! The best reason to shop the farmers’ market is because it is good for you! How can you go wrong with all that fresh, bright-colored, yummy produce? Just think of all the vitamins and minerals, and what tasty dishes you can prepare with the goods–like this Vegetable Ratatouille!

It’s cheap. The farmers’ market allows me to buy more produce for less money. I often just grab a handful of singles or a five or ten at the very most for the outing, and remarkably a pocketful of singles goes pretty far there. I love that red or green peppers are about 50 cents, not two dollars or more for the “fancier” colors.

It’s fun. Going to the market is my Saturday morning summer ritual. It’s an outing for the whole family. It’s entertainment. It’s enjoying the season and all it has to offer–the produce, the flowers, the sights and sounds. My neighborhood market often has someone playing a guitar. It’s interesting to listen to the farmers talk about what is at its peak now, or what’s coming next week.

It’s smart. It feels better shopping at the farmers’ market–giving my money directly to the source instead of paying the middleman.

The variety. I often go to the farmers’ market without a list. I just like to see what is in season and what looks good. I often come home with one of almost everything. It offers something for everyone. And many bakeries and local meat vendors also show up to my outdoor market.

No driving required. At least in my neck of the woods, farmers’ markets are neighborhood events. Part of the appeal is the leisurely Saturday morning walk, or bike ride, to browse and procure the goods. Lots of strollers, dog walkers, cyclists. An added healthy bonus.

No distractions. (No junk food.) Supermarkets definitely serve a purpose, but they can be rife with distractions: all those interior aisles containing products in boxes, bags and cans. I am often guilty of indulging my children in such nonsense, but I aspire to more. (I love meat as much as the next woman, but I recently heard something like “Eat what is a plant or grew on a plant, not what’s made in a plant.” Shopping at the farmers’ market helps me grow closer to living this motto.

No rules. I have always enjoyed the opportunity to create a meal strictly from what I find there. It is slightly more difficult now, with a husband and children, than it was when I was single, but I could still eat this way frequently: dinner consisting of a couple redskin potatoes or corn on the cob, a pile of green beans or asparagus, some berries.

Vegetarian for a day (or two). I am not a vegetarian, though I eat like one frequently. I don’t need meat daily. I am perfectly happy to eat an assortment of fresh vegetables and call it dinner. The farmers’ market not only allows that to happen, it makes it fun.

There are a few weeks still before opening day, and I simply can’t wait. Share in the comments what you look forward to about summer at the farmers’ market.

Read about Julie Hallinan.

There are times when I tried shopping the European way: buying only what I need and selecting the freshest foods that have traveled the smallest number of miles between their origin and my table. If I could make myself get used to this, I’d run into “the jicama problem” much less frequently. Inevitably, though, I find myself stumped as to what I’m going to do with the beautiful eggplant I brought home. Then I look at recipes only to find that I must go back to the store to make the eggplant dishes that appealed to me most. Now I’ve traded the jicama problem for an eggplant problem. But jicama/eggplant problems aside, it does work much better for my family if I plan first and shop later. Most of the time I am able to find the items I need.

A decade ago “going green” and buying organic or local seemed like more of a fad than anything; now these concepts are in the vernacular. Families are faced with even more product choices than ever, and the responsibilities can overwhelm the average shopper. Knowledge is responsibility, and I occasionally long for the days when I didn’t realize my mid-winter berry purchases had a true and lasting impact on so many aspects of the consumer food chain. Becoming a locavore has a certain amount of appeal, but I approach the idea with great trepidation as a New Englander used to long, cold winters, surviving on produce grown in warmer climates. I’m not really looking to become a pioneer woman.

I count myself among regular folks who are still a ways from making “eco friendly” our number one priority. I don’t know a single family that doesn’t worry about their two most precious commodities: time and money. My husband jokes that Whole Foods should be called “Whole Paycheck,” and although it is a mindset we are working to move past, he’s absolutely right. Stuff is pricey there. But it’s also the best shopping experience around with the highest quality product selection. Whole Foods’ marketing strategies make shopping with the earth and our health in mind very easy for us. I’ll pay a little extra for that inspiration. We’re on the waiting list for a local CSA farm share. I don’t know if I’m up for the challenge of being presented with a crate of produce every week and then figuring out how best to prepare and serve it. But I know I can use that bounty as the basis to plan my weekly shopping and feel good about it. I wonder if I’ll get any jicama…

On a lighter note, If you’re just in the mood to feel a little green this season, here are a few recipes that will inspire you with their verdant hue. A true vegetable hater tested the Spring Greens and Potato Soup, and he went back for a second bowl!  It would make a beautiful first course for a spring dinner party. Chocolate Cannoli Sandwich Cookies are dressed up with a sprinkling of lovely green pistachios. Lastly, when you have to buy a big bunch of cilantro for a single recipe (or are stuck with an exploded herb garden later next season) try Cilantro Pesto as a coating for simple grilled fish or shrimp or a light topping for pasta. If your vegetable drawer is overflowing with leftover arugula or flat-leaf parsley, try that instead for a different flavor.

Over Thanksgiving seven years ago, my husband suggested we get a crock pot. I have no idea where this came from since this is the man who cooks nothing but the occasional Thanksgiving turkey or Christmas roast. But I thought he was onto something. After all, we had an infant at the time and another mom friend of mine had been raving about the simplicity of dinner in the slow cooker prepared during naptime.

Next thing I knew, the slow cooker appeared under the Christmas tree, complete with a recipe book that I think contributes to the negative image of the slow cooker (read: lots of recipes using cans of soup and cheese sauce). I was a bit hesitant about embracing the crock pot, as I had a notion that they were relics leftover from the 1970s. But slow cookers seem hip now, with Williams-Sonoma selling $300 All-Clad versions and a plethora of more sophisticated cookbooks to maximize their results.

We are in prime slow cooker season, so I have been testing some recipes recently. Last weekend I made Real Simple’s Slow Cooker Smoky Pea Soup. The whole family enjoys split pea and ham soup, and true to its name, this one was really simple to make, and was tasty though it felt like cheating. Confession: technically I did cheat since I did not use a ham hock; I used a diced ham steak, but the results are equally good. It also provided enjoyable lunch leftovers for a few days.

Speaking of cheating, here is my favorite slow cooker trick: pulled pork. We invited some good friends over for a casual Sunday dinner a few weeks ago. I decided to make pulled pork in the slow cooker. I literally placed a boneless pork loin roast in the slow cooker and covered it with a bottle of barbecue sauce, put the lid on and let it go for about 7 hours. Once cooked, I shredded it, tossed it in the sauce, and served it on yummy, oversized pretzel rolls. Our friends raved. I had to confess it was a complete cheater’s meal. This dinner of pulled pork sandwiches, roasted sweet potato wedges and a green salad required literally a 5-item purchase at Trader Joe’s: the meat, the barbecue sauce, the rolls, a bag of sweet potatoes and a bag of salad!

Maybe next time I shouldn’t confess just how easy the slow cooker makes my life and just let everyone think I’ve been slaving over a hot stove all day.

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