What are your favorite fall and winter vegetables?

I enjoy pumpkin confectioneries, bread, muffins, etc..

My favorite is chile peppers which I freeze for year-round use.

I love Butternut Squash soup and Pumpkin Beers!!!

Butternut squash!!

@forestGeek pumpkin beer? Sounds good, but this is the first I’ve heard of it.

@scamp – Ooh, do try it. Every year I eagerly await it. They are not usually overly pumpkin favored, but have slight hint of it in both taste & smell.

I’m a big fan of roast parsnip, in fact a ceramic dish with olive oil add potatoes, parsnip, carrot and onion, chuck in a clove or two of garlic for good measure, season with some herbs de provence and roast away… can I come back to yours for dinner?

We used to get crosnes in France in the winter. They’re not very common in the States. But you (niki) might be able to find them out where you are. They’re very distinctive looking, easy to prepare (the link tells how), and delicious. You can even eat them raw in salads. Get some if you see ‘em.

I love buttercup squash filled with any or all: apples, figs, dates, raisins, craisins, minced candied ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar and butter. Bake two hours at 300F. It is also a great substitute for pumpkin in a pie recipe.

@ forestGeek thanks! I’ll keep my eye open for it!

These are wonderful, thank you all and keep them coming!

Since there have been lots of votes for butternut squash: do you throw the whole thing in the oven and roast it like that? Or do I have to open it up and scoop out some squashguts?

I like spaghetti squash. I made some the other night

Persimmons, yum!!

Candied walnuts are great in the fall/on fall salads. Right now I’m really into beet salad with candied walnuts and goat cheese.

@nikipedia
When filling it, I slice it in half horizontally, scrape out the guts, fill, and put on the top before baking. If I have a really hard squash or am lacking an adequate knife, then I bake it 30–40 minutes before cutting into it.

Po-ta-toes. Boil ‘em, mash ‘em, put ‘em in a stew!

I love apple crisp during the fall. I just made some last night <3
I said the recipe in another post, but it’s really easy. Peel and slice four apples and mix them in a bowl with vanilla, spices, and brown sugar. Make the topping out of flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, and ½ a stick of butter, and mix it until it’s crumbly. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
This isn’t specifically a fall dish, but I love making long grain wild rice with chicken stock and sauteed mushrooms. I also love just mushrooms on their own- saute them in butter with sea salt and black pepper, then have them as a snack with a glass of red wine.
I really like making my own stuffing, too. Get one of those bags of dried cubed pieces of bread- it might say stuffing mix on the bag, I don’t remember. Dice some mushrooms and celery and saute them briefly in butter. Mix these with the bread crumbs and some chicken stock in a bowl. Add some rosemary, salt, pepper- basically, whatever spices you want. Spread it in a baking pan and bake for about 20 minutes. It will be a little crispy on top and soft in the middle.
I wish I had a recipe for pomegranates! They are one of the best fruits of the season.

Peel a butternut squash, cut into chunks, put into a baking dish with some chopped shallots and whole cloves of garlic, drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt over it, mix and cook! When the squash is baked and soft, drizzle a couple tablespoons of real maple syrup on it (the real 100% maple syrup stuff – not the fake cheap stuff with corn syrup). The maple syrup mixed with the butternut squash is amazing!

btw, I usually cook the squash at 400 degrees…it takes at least half an hour. And cover the pan with aluminum foil so it doesn’t dry out.

Acorn squash. I LOVE it. I put butter, salt & pepper in the little ‘bowl’ & bake them. Mmm

I like to roast winter squash by cutting it in half, scooping out the seeds etc. seeds to be roasted too!, rubbing some oil on a cookie sheet, & putting the squash cut side down, roast @350 till done(fork will go through). I sometimes do acorn squash cut side up, put some butter, brown sugar, spices in the cavity. Yum.

@occ – yum! Thanks, I’ve got to try that.

@Harp are crosnes anything like Jerusalem artichokes?

@ccrow I’m trying to remember if I’ve ever had Jerusalem artichokes. The crosnes really do taste like a nutty artichoke heart.

Ok, here’s one that is not super simple, but definitely easy if you follow the directions, and it is one of my absolute favorite recipes. Lots of the ingredients are fall/winter vegetables (sweet potato, kale, apples) and it is a delicious treat for a cold day.

AFRICAN PEANUT STEW
1 t canola oil
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
¼ tsp cayenne (½ tsp if you like really spicy)
1 large sweet potato cut into 1 inch cubes (don’t bother peeling it)
½ of a green cabbage, chopped
3 cups tomato juice
1 apple, peeled and chopped
1 large tomato, diced
1 bunch chopped kale or collards (I prefer Kale)
3 tablespoons peanut butter

heat oil, add onions, sautee 10 min. stir in garlic,
ginger, cayenne. Saute a few more min. Add sweet
potato, cabbage, sautee covered a few more min. Add
tomato juice, apple, tomato. cover, simmer 15 min
until sweet potatoes are tender. Add kale, cook 5 min
till bright green. Stir in peanut butter, simmer
gently 5 min. add water or tomato juice if stew is too
thick.
DELICIOUS!
(this recipe takes about an hour start to finish, but
lots of the time is unattended).
Also, it tastes even better the next day.

Nikipedia, for your question about how to prepare butternut squash, if you are making roasted squash chunks then you should peel it first (make sure you have a good peeler – butternut squash is very hard to peel), cut it in half length-wise, scoop out the seeds (and set them aside for roasting later) and then cut the squash into chunks. If you want to make a blended soup from the squash, you can forget about the peeling and just cut it in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and then put each half face-up on a lightly-oiled baking tray covered with aluminum foil and roast for about an hour. Once the squash is really soft, remove from heat and let it cool, and then you can use a spoon to scoop out the soft squash and leave the “shell” of the peel. You can then puree the squash and mix with broth, salt, pepper, maple syrup, to make the soup.

For roasting the seeds – separate the seeds from the gunk. Wash the seeds in a strainer. Pat them dry with a towel. Put them on a baking tray and mix in a little olive oil so they are lightly covered in olive oil. Add salt. Roast in the oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until you begin to hear a popping noise, which means they are done. You can do this at the same time as the squash is roasting so you save energy and don’t have to heat your oven twice.

Cauliflower is my veggie du jour. I just made a wonderful soup with chopped onions browned in a little EVOO, chicken broth, coconut milk, petit pois and chopped carrots, florets from a head of cauliflower, some mild seasoning, chopped parsely and some unsweetened, grated coconut tossed into every bowl.

When I had my back turned, Milo licked the empty bowls down to the glaze.

My kids recently fell in love with Kabota Squash, aka “Japanese Pumpkin.” I cut the squash into chunks, deseed it, and put it in a Corningware casserole with about an inch or so of water. I microwave it for 15 minutes. Then I scrap the flesh off the skin and mash it with a touch of real butter, put it back in the Corningware (minus the water), put brown sugar on top and then put it in the oven for 10 minutes or so to melt the sugar.

I dearly love parsnips baked until beginning to brown with a touch of butter. My kids prefer carrots done that way.

I will also make a stew that is packed full of turnip, rutabaga, potato, onions and carrots. I start with a light roux (flour in butter cooked until just beginning to tan), add canned low-sodium broth and the veg and cook until all the veg are meltingly tender.

Last night we lucked into some locally grown baby Bok Choy, so I stir-fried them with Chinese sausage (lop chong) and a bit of chicken broth thickened with cornstarch. I served it over rice.

And my kids will always eat sweet potatoes that have been baked and that are served with butter and cinnamon-brown sugar.

@Darwin; Real maple syrup goes well with baked sweet potatoes.

I really like turnips, although they are available year round. I found a new incredible recipe for potato soup, and that’s one thing I like about the colder months, the chance to make great rib-stickin’ homemade soups.

@Harp if you haven’t had them, Jerusalem artichokes are similar in texture to water chestnuts, & a bit sweeter.

Acorn squash (with butter and brown sugar or real maple syrup)
Pumpkin pancakes
Roasted pumpkin seeds

My sister, in zone 4, harvests her Jerusalem artichokes until the snow is too deep. You slice thin and eat raw in salad.

Here’s the recipe for the cauliflower soup.

In Dutch Oven combine 3 c. cauliflower florets, 14. oz can of coconut milk, 14 oz. veggie or chix broth, ¼ c. chopped fresh cilantro. Simmer, covered, 10 or so minutes, until cauliflower is tender. Add two cups frozen peas, carrots, whatever. Cook uncovered, until all is heated. Ad ¼ t. salt.

May serve with broiled (brushed with EVOO) pita slices.

Spaghetti squash
Swiss Chard