My Favorite Fall Recipes
Over the past three plus years, I've shared quite a number of recipes and over time, they just get buried in the archives. So I'm taking the time to revive a few of my favorites which make a regular appearance in our kitchen, update the photos, and share them as part of seasonal collections.
When I think about recipes I'm excited to make in the Fall, there are two characteristics that come to mind; comfort and warming spices. I'll start with one from the first guest post I ever wrote - over on XGFX for Vegan MoFo (Month of Food). This little recipe was inspired by one of my favorite gluten free friendly restaurants in San Francisco, Betelnut. Crispy Cauliflower is simple to make and even better, it's very allergen friendly, making it a great appetizer to serve at a get together.
Get the recipe for Crispy Cauliflower here.
Next on the list is my go-to for a quick and extremely comforting dinner on a chilly night. I admit, it's also a little indulgent with cooking the leafy greens in the leftover bacon grease - but that's where the comforting factor comes from right? My vegetarian version of this dish uses portobello mushroom slices in lieu of the bacon and cooking the greens in olive oil instead of bacon grease.
Get the recipe for Creamy Polenta with Collard Greens & Bacon here.
My most indulgent, feeling sorry for myself dinner is this Loaded Baked Potato Soup. There are countless versions to be found all over the web - the one I make simply reflects my own personal taste and requirements for ingredients. First of all, whenever I make any kind of potato dish, I always use Yukon Golds - they're creamy and have a wonderful rich flavor. In another twist, I add leeks - to hint at another classic, Potato Leek Soup. Of course, to meet my dietary restrictions I use a roux made with gluten free all purpose flour and whole goat milk instead of any kind of cows milk cream.
Even though it's been over six years since I finished grad school, I still think of Fall as back to school time. My standard breakfast during my first year there was a garlic bagel and a hot chocolate from my favorite coffee shop in Monterey; Plumes Coffee. I love adapting my favorite meals from pre-gluten free days, so when I finally learned to make bagels - I felt like I had hit the jackpot. It's a bit of an endeavor to make bagels from scratch, but if you pre-slice then freeze them for later - they'll toast up like champs!
I couldn't do a round up of Fall recipes without something sweet and celebratory, so I'm sharing another baking success which came out of the Gluten Free Ratio Rally movement. This lightly spiced dish was my very first successful cake added to my gluten free baking arsenal (a big deal since I grew up baking lots of gluten-full cakes). One of the things I find great about angel food is I don't think most people even notice the difference with a gluten free version since flour really isn't the star ingredient. I've made this for a few different special occasions and it's always one of the very first dishes to disappear.