These fall vegetable dishes are exactly what you need to manage the grief that comes with saying goodbye to heirloom tomatoes. (They’ll be back next year—we promise!)
Each is made with a veggie that is at its best during the autumn months. Think sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and more.
These recipes are also super healthy and super simple, so you can make them on the busiest of days and they’ll basically go with anything. (Some can even stand on their own as a full meal.)
Just think about how happy you’ll be eating them in a cozy sweater.
9 Simple Fall Vegetable Dishes
Cranberry Roasted Root Vegetables
Throw a variety of root vegetables in a pan and roast them slowly in the oven and you’re basically guaranteed a delicious dish. This recipe, however, takes roasted root veggies to the next level. While the veggies are getting crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, you’ll be whipping up a super simple glaze that is bursting with flavor and nutrients, thanks to cranberries and orange zest, warming spices like nutmeg and cardamom, and honey.
Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad
Sure, you roast your Brussels. When you shave the sprouts instead of chopping and cooking them, however, they make a great base for a crisp salad. Here, we toss them with sweet figs, grapefruit, and pecorino and add a final dreamy ingredient: crunchy, herb-toasted hazelnuts.
Balsamic Roasted Beets
Yes, beets do turn everything they touch (your hands, your dishes, your counters, etc.) an intense shade of fuschia, but they’re packed with vitamins, minerals, and powerful antioxidants called betalains. This recipe is a little easier since you don’t have to peel them first. (The skins will come off really easily after they’re roasted, we promise.)
RELATED: These Are the Fruits and Veggies In Season During Fall
Mashed Butternut Squash
Many mashed veggies can become delicious, hearty side dishes for fall, and butternut squash has even more warming flavor than some of its competitors. When you add coconut oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg, it’s ridiculously tasty. Bonus: unlike potatoes, there’s no peeling or chopping time. You simply roast the squash in its skin and then scoop it out. Just be sure you have a super sharp knife to cut the squash in half initially.
Stuffed Acorn Squash Bowl
Acorn squash may not be as popular as butternut, but in addition to its healthy attributes, it can double as dishware. How many vegetables can make that claim? Make this “bowl,” and then fill it with a healthy, autumnal meal (like chili!) that will benefit from the extra chunks of squash you’ll scrape up with your spoon.
Sweet Potato Nachos
Nachos are pretty much a guaranteed crowd-pleaser when it comes to party food. Sweet potato nachos are the same, except much healthier. This genius game-day upgrade eliminates empty chip calories and replaces them with a delicious, nutrient-dense fall favorite: sweet potatoes.
After replacing the base, you can enjoy all of the other amazing, nutritious layers of nachos you’re used to—from peppers and onions to black beans and avocado.
Homemade Sauerkraut
Cabbage is at its peak during fall, so why not turn it into gut-healthy kraut? It may sound intimidating, but it’s actually incredibly easy once you get the hang of it. You don’t need any canning experience, and the process is as simple as leaving the cabbage in a jar to ferment on its own. Once it’s done, you’ve got a condiment that adds flavor to many dishes and is also filled with active microbes. Weird, we know…but soooo good for you (and delicious).
RELATED: Why We Love Sauerkraut and Why You Should Too
Kale Salad With Carrots
We never met a kale salad we didn’t love, and while kale’s sprouting almost all year at this point, fall is its best season. This salad’s selling point is its simplicity. There’s no massaging required; you just chop the kale as finely as possible, toss it with carrots (another fall veg!), and add the dressing. Pro tip: Make extra dressing and save it for a kale-apple salad the next day.
Cauliflower and Chickpea Curry
When there’s the start of a chill in the air, we start to crave bowls of steaming curry—and cauliflower is the perfect autumn vegetable to base one on. This recipe combines it with lots of other healthy vegetables and legumes for a hearty, totally plant-based meal that includes plenty of antioxidant-packed spices. It’s vegan if you leave off the Greek yogurt topping, and vegetarian if you include it.
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