Harvesting in the garden. (Provided photo — Yvona Fast)

The fall equinox was Sunday, equalizing days and nights. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is today.

The peach season is over — replaced by apples and apple cider. European Ashkenazi Jews ring in the New Year with apples and honey, symbolizing a sweet year to come. Other sweet vegetables often served during the holiday are sweet potatoes, squash, beets and carrots. To increase their natural sweetness, these veggies can be glazed with honey.

Lakes are cooling down. Trees are ablaze with autumn color. It has been a dry summer. A warm September means corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, beans and zucchini are plentiful, ripe and ready for picking before the first autumn frost.

This is the time of year when gardens overflow with fresh veggies. Last Sunday, someone brought their extra bounty to church. There were yellow wax beans, zucchini, tomatoes and cucumbers. With Mom gone, there is no garden. I brought home some of each and even froze some of the beans.

I will miss the variety when summer ends. Many summer vegetables are not available at the supermarket and don’t come in the frozen veggie aisle. There are beets, but they only come in crimson. There are green beans, but no yellow beans or pole beans. Cauliflower is available, but where are the purple and orange varieties? Addio Pomodoro (Italian). I don’t buy fresh tomatoes from the supermarket; they’re picked green in Mexico or California and shipped north in refrigerated trucks, losing all of their fresh flavor. I enjoy the fresh flavors now, while a large variety of local veggies are plentiful.

According to CDC data, only 12.3% and 10.0% of surveyed adults met fruit and vegetable intake recommendations, respectively, in 2019. So many people have a way to go to reach the recommended 5 servings in our Dietary Guidelines. Yet fresh, unprocessed vegetables from our region’s local farms — low in fat, high in fiber, loaded with vitamins and minerals — are a delicious key to a healthy diet. They add flavor and variety to quick, healthy autumn meals.

A broad repertoire of recipes can be created from all this summer bounty. Fresh veggies cook quickly and can be combined with pasta, stirred into egg dishes or added raw to main dish salads. When making meals from garden-fresh produce, the most time-consuming tasks are slicing and dicing. To speed things up, use a food processor — or put your family to work!

Hot or cold, pasta dishes make wonderful, quick, easy summer suppers. One-dish vegetable skillets — with a little meat or beans added for protein — offer a fast, easy way to make veggies part of your supper. Skillet cooking is simple and inexpensive and gets your food quickly from the fridge onto your plate. Just toss all your ingredients into a single skillet to create a no-mess, no-stress weeknight meal. Cleanup is easy because everything cooks in one pot.

Stir-frying is a quick, easy way to incorporate all those healthy veggies into your dinner menu. Once considered exotic fare, today stir-fries are ubiquitous in shopping mall food courts as well as Chinese restaurants. But they’re also easy to prepare at home. Fresh, tender-crisp vegetables, chunks of lean meat, fish or tofu and easy, zesty sauces combine for great flavor. The meal is ready to serve in minutes. Just put on a pot of grain (like rice or quinoa) or pasta to serve with the dish. By the time it’s done, the meat and veggies will have finished cooking.

Main dish summer salads make great use of those abundant summer veggies. Don’t limit summer salads to lettuce and tomatoes. Get creative! A salad can be any combination of vegetables — and it doesn’t have to include greens. Add pasta or grains and eggs, meat or beans to make it a complete meal.

Like most holidays, food has a special place in Jewish New Year celebrations. During Rosh Hashanah, no bitter or sour food is served, but only sweet food that symbolizes a sweet year to come. The traditional blessing is “May it be your will, Eternal God, that we are renewed for a year that is good and sweet.” It was the prophet Nehemiah who brought the Persian custom of eating sweet foods to celebrate the New Year to ancient Israel.

“Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10)

As we begin the autumn season, I wish you all a good and sweet New Year. Shana Tova U’Metukah!

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Fall Apple and Honey Muffins

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Ingredients:

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1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup honey or maple syrup

3 eggs

1 cup creme fraiche (or plain Greek yogurt)

1/3 cup rolled oats

1 1/2 to 2 cups diced apples

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

Optional topping: 1 Tablespoon sugar, 1 Tablespoon flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon melted butter.

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Directions:

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In a small bowl, mix together flours, spices and leavenings. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400F. Butter or oil a 12-cup muffin tin.

In a large bowl, beat together eggs and crme fraiche. Stir in oats.

Wash apples. Core and dice. Sprinkle with cinnamon and set aside.

Stir the flour mixture into the liquid ingredients and stir just until moist. Fold in fruit.

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. If using an optional topping, use a fork to mix all ingredients thoroughly in a small bowl and sprinkle on top before baking. Bake 20 to 25 minutes.

This can also be baked in a 9″ x 9″ pan or a loaf pan. Lower the temperature to 375 degrees F. and bake 40 to 45 minutes.

Option: use other fruit, like pears, plums and grapes. Wash fruit. Core apples, plums and pears, but do not peel. Chop and place in a small bowl; add grapes.

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Harvest Skillet Dinner

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Ingredients:

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1 to 2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

2 potatoes

1 cup green beans

1 cup wax beans

Vegetable or chicken broth, for moistening

1 small green pepper (or 1/2 large), washed, seeded, cubed

1 onion, peeled and diced or 1 cup green onions, sliced

1 clove garlic, crushed or minced

1 cup broccoli or cauliflower florets

2 cups cubed zucchini or summer squash

2 tomatoes, diced

1 can of garbanzo beans, drained

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh basil

1 cup finely diced pepperoni, ham or sausage (optional)

1/2 cup coarsely grated Parmesan cheese

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Directions:

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Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cube the potatoes; cut the beans into one-inch lengths. Add, sprinkle with salt, cover and cook about five minutes. Next, add the pepper, garlic, sausage (if using) and onion and continue cooking another five minutes. Add the broccoli and zucchini, uncover and cook 5 to 10 minutes more or until vegetables are desired tenderness, stirring and making sure nothing sticks or burns — if that happens, lower the heat and add a little broth. Stir in the tomatoes, garbanzo beans, basil and Parmesan just a couple of minutes before serving.

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Author of the award-winning cookbook Garden Gourmet: Fresh & Fabulous Meals from your Garden, CSA or Farmers’ Market, Yvona Fast lives in Lake Clear and has two passions: writing and cooking. She can be found at www.yvonafast.com and reached at yvonawrite@yahoo.com or on Twitter: @yvonawrites.