Photo Credit: Nisa Notta
Some food that will warm up your heart during these colder days
Lucia Harley, Social Media Manager
As the weather cools and the leaves begin to turn, our kitchens fill with the warm, comforting scents and flavors of fall. From sweet, aromatic spices, to hearty vegetables, the ingredients coming in season are sure to fill your home with that lovely fall feeling. I’ve chosen two of my favourite fall recipes with seasonal ingredients like pumpkin (of course), peppers, zucchini, garlic, spinach, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.
Sausage and Zucchini Stuffed Peppers — A fall favourite, comforting, hearty, meal-prep kind of dish that lasts. I’ve made a habit of making a large batch of them and storing them in my fridge for quick dinners on the go.
What you’ll need…
- 6 large bell peppers
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 3 mini zucchinis
- ½ red onion
- Spinach
- 1 package of Italian sausage
- Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, onion, garlic powder, nutmeg
- Jasmine rice
- Mozzarella cheese
- Muffuletta spread (if you don’t have muffuletta money, chop up some olives; this is also optional)
- Vegetable broth
Remove the casings from your sausages and oil a large pan. Break up your sausage in the pan. Add a generous amount of onion and garlic powder. Cook on medium heat until brown.
Remove the sausage and put to the side. Clean your rice and begin cooking it in the veggie stock.
Dice your garlic and onion and add to the pan. Add a generous amount of Italian seasoning, onion and garlic powder, and a bit of nutmeg. Still on medium heat, let the aromatics do their thing.
Preheat your oven to 425°F. Cut the tops off your peppers and place the bottoms in a baking pan (insides and seeds removed). Dice the remaining pepper bits from the tops and add to your pan. Dice and add your zucchini. Add salt and pepper.
As your oven is heating, put the empty peppers in. Deglaze your pan with veggie stock, add your sausage back in and let it all simmer. Add your cooked rice, a bit more stock, and continue simmering.
Take the peppers out, add in the filling, placing pieces of mozzarella between each spoonful and on top. Place in the oven until the cheese on top melts.
Serve on a plate with the extra filling and muffuletta spread/olives on top. Enjoy!
The Best Pumpkin Muffins — A recipe my mother taught me, a fan favourite of all my friends in elementary school who would often receive one courtesy of my mom, and one that brings that cozy pumpkin smell to your kitchen.
What you’ll need…
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 eggs
- One 15 ounce can of pure pumpkin puree
- ½ cup coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 375° and place 12 paper liners into each well of your muffin baking pan.
Whisk together flour, sugars, baking soda, salt, and spices in a medium bowl.
In another bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin puree, coconut oil, and vanilla extract.
Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together. Do not overmix—just stir until everything is together in the batter. Then, evenly distribute the batter into each well.
Bake your muffins for 22 minutes. Enjoy!!
There you have it: two fall recipes with ingredients at their prime this time of year! I hope that you make these, and that when you do you feel warm inside, and the fall smells fill your home, because there is a lovely, familiar chill in the air, and the leaves are starting to fall.
