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10 Fall Produce Items You Should Be Using More

10 Fall Produce Items You Should Be Using More

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If you step into any pie or coffee shop during the fall, you’ll see pumpkin, apple, and cranberry all over the menus. But we think these seasonal fall produce items deserve to be popular flavors, too.

Wikipedia.org
Wikipedia.org

Jujube

The jujube, also called the red date or Chinese date, actually takes on the appearance of a dried, wrinkled up date while still on the tree. In China you’ll find a sweet syrup made from this fruit, and it’s also popular candied. It would be the perfect addition to a cheese and dried fruit plate, or to a fruit cake.

wikipedia.org
wikipedia.org

Chicory

Chicory is a perennial that comes out in the fall, and usually has beautiful blue-ish/purple leaves. Chicory root can actually be baked and ground up as a coffee alternative. It’s a bit more nutty and woody tasting than coffee, and would make a great flavor for ice cream or breakfast and dessert breads.

Wikipedia.org
Wikipedia.org

Cape Gooseberries

You may have seen these in the store and thought they were tiny orange tomatoes, but they’re actually delicious berries. The berry is sweet and slightly tart, making it the perfect fruit for jams, pies or even teas.

Flickr.com
Flickr.com

Persimmons

You’re probably familiar with persimmons, but we don’t think they get enough play in cooking and beverages. When peach marinades leave with summer, persimmons would make a delicious sauce or marinade for fall beef roasts.

Flickr.com
Flickr.com

 

Beets

Did you know beets are a fall vegetable? They pop up a lot in salads in the summer, but beets actually taste delicious when cooked, ground up and mixed into a beef or turkey patty. They’re also tasty when put in cauliflower soup, or baked into a semi-sweet bread.

Wikipedia.org
Wikipedia.org

Rutabagas

The rutabaga is a cross between cabbage and turnips, but it’s slightly sweeter than either of those, so it would make for an amazing addition to turkey stuffing, shredded into a sweet potato latke, or baked into a potpie.

Wikimedia.org
Wikimedia.org

Figs

Many people don’t know this but figs have a second season in late fall. You probably mostly notice fig trees overflowing with them in the summer. Baked figs taste delicious with roasts, but they’d also make a tasty tea, or bread. Consider this: toasted fig on a goat cheese pizza. Yum!

Wikimedia.org
Wikimedia.org

 

Sunchokes

Sunchokes, also called Jerusalem artichokes, are in the sunflower family but they have a big, edible portion at the bottom of the plant comparable to a potato. It’s a bit sweeter, and nuttier than a potato and we think it would make a great alternative to sweet potato pie.

Wikipedia.org
Wikipedia.org

Pineapple guava

This fruit is also called a feijoa but nicknamed the pineapple guava because it has the qualities of both of those delicious fruits. The fruit looks similar to small, unripe avocados, and inside has a spongy, white meat that holds gooey, super sweet and tropical-tasting edible seeds.

Wikimedia.org
Wikimedia.org

Sugar apple

This fruit looks a bit like an apple-cactus-hybrid. It’s also called a Custard Apple sometimes, because it has an amazingly creamy, sweet inside similar in texture to a custard. Naturally, it would make a great filling for a cream pie or a Danish, or whipped into your homemade whipped cream for pies.