4 recipes for fall cooking

"Cooking in early fall can be confusing. Farmers markets and grocery stores are caught between two seasons: The last of the summer harvest is still perfectly ripe, while fall's first crops are already inching their way into the produce section. Do you keep leaning on summer salads and grilled vegetables, or start roasting squash and baking casseroles? Luckily, you don't have to choose; this is one of the most flexible times of the year in the kitchen."

"Garlic and Cherry Tomato Baked Chicken: By late September, when local beefsteak tomatoes can be harder to find, I turn to cherry tomatoes. They still taste like sunshine, with a sweetness that makes them perfect for roasting. In this recipe, they collapse into a jammy sauce that's brightened by white wine and thyme, while chicken thighs turn golden and juicy in the oven. Whole garlic cloves soften into buttery bites, giving the sauce richness without overpowering it."

"Hasselback Eggplant Parmesan: In my mind, Eggplant Parmesan is the perfect example of using late-summer produce in a hearty meal. Typically, you would bread and fry slices of eggplant before topping them with cheese and sauce. In this fun twist, it's kept a bit lighter by cutting the eggplant crosswise, almost all the way through, leaving the very bottom intact to hold the vegetable together while it cooks."

Early fall brings overlap of late summer and early fall produce, offering flexible cooking options. Farmers markets and grocery stores offer ripe summer fruits like tomatoes and eggplant alongside early apples and winter squash. Summer produce adapts well to roasting, baking, and stewing, while fall crops can be prepared lightly for warm days. Four recipes illustrate the transition: garlic and cherry tomato baked chicken uses cherry tomatoes that collapse into a jammy sauce with white wine, thyme, and softened garlic alongside golden chicken thighs. A Hasselback eggplant Parmesan stuffs cheese between crosswise slices, bakes in marinara, and finishes with browned panko and Parmesan.

Read at Boston Herald