If you missed an early spring planting, you can get a second chance to plant cool weather loving plants. But, what sort of plants will yield a gourmet salad for your table?

What to Plant:

Vegetables that like to grow in cooler weather include peas and lettuce, along with root vegetables like carrots, turnips, radishes, and beets. Just look at all the gourmet salad inspiration you have with just those few vegetables in your garden this fall! And don’t forget some root vegetables actually produce very delightful salad greens as well as a root crop.

Fall is also the time to consider planting Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and broccoli. These vegetables work well during the cooler weather when grown from small plants instead of seeds, which solves the shorter growing season. Harvesting these vegetables when they are very young and tender also provides an unexpected gourmet treat.

Lettuce plants thrive in the fall weather, and there are many types of heirloom and leaf lettuces to get you started on a gourmet salad. Choose lettuces like Boston, Bibb, Endive, and Romaine that will still be delicious late into the season. Other interesting greens are possible as well, like arugula, mustard greens, leeks, tender kohlrabi, swiss chard, chicory, and corn salad.

Some of our favorite salad herbs thrive in a cooler garden. You can easily add a gourmet taste to any salad when you add garden fresh herbs like chives, dill, chervil, cilantro, thyme, and a variety of parsley. Once you get all your cool weather gourmet ingredients together, it’s time to put your salad together.

Dress Fall Gourmet Garden Salads Lightly

The best way to enjoy the fresh vegetables from your cool weather harvest is in a big gourmet salad. Simple vinaigrette dressings will allow the natural flavors of your fresh vegetables, greens, and herbs to come through. After all, you worked hard on your fall harvest, so shouldn’t you taste your efforts first? The dressing should compliment, not compete.

Start with ingredients like olive oil, white wine, red wine, balsamic vinegar, and lemon juice, then combine sweet or tangy ingredients to twist the taste of your dressing to your liking. Then season with a dash of salt and pepper, or a little of those prized herbs you just harvested from your fall garden.

Of course, fall crops of squash and pumpkin work perfectly along with your newly planted fall crops. When combining fresh vegetables with the earthy flavors of roasted butternut squash, or pumpkin, for instance, choose a sweet ingredient in your dressing, such as orange juice, maple syrup, or a little honey. Creating a gourmet garden salad in the fall season is all about a mix of flavors that are surprising as well as pleasingly warm and satisfying. You won’t get that mix by drowning the salad in heavy dressing. So, keep it light, fresh, and perhaps a bit sweet so all the flavors play nice together!

Finishing Gourmet Touches

To make a fall gourmet garden salad even more interesting, compliment it with fanciful sprouts and crunchy seeds and nuts. Top with sweet or salty pecans, walnuts, almonds, or even a mixed nut combination. Roast the nuts first and put on the salad hot for even more fun. Sprout your own seeds for a real taste surprise. For example, put radish seeds on a damp paper towel and you’ll get sprouts that taste like radishes. That’s a bit more gourmet than alfalfa sprouts, don’t you think?

Add even more gourmet flair to your garden salad with some smoked fish, sweet sausage, or even some fruit. Pretty slices of red pear or Granny Smith apples adds a lot of impact to a garden salad. Don’t forget the cheese! Just about every gourmet salad will benefit when you add a topping of crumbled Bleu cheese, Roquefort, Gorgonzola, or Feta.

When you taste your late season gourmet garden salad created by your own hands, you’ll be happy you took the time to plant and nurse your garden along through the cooler weather. Harvesting a garden before the growing season ends can be a challenge. But the pride and pleasure you get from serving salads made with the vegetables from your own garden will make the experience unforgettable.

Thinly slice or shave the zucchini and yellow squash. You can do this with a mandoline or with a peeler to get it very thin. Place in a bowl.

Cut the mint leaves into strips by rolling them together, then slicing them into strips. Add the mint to the bowl with the squash.

In a separate bowl, whisk the oil and lemon juice together and then salt and pepper as you continue whisking.

Drizzle this dressing over the squash in the bowl, then add the toasted pine nuts and toss together.

Allow the mixture to stand for about 10 to 15 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.

Serve in small salad bowls and sprinkle with more toasted pine nuts if desired.

Trim, wash, and cut the radicchio into 8 wedges each. Put in large bowl (keep wedges intact).

Trim, wash, and cut the yellow summer and zucchini squash into 1 inch thick circles; add to bowl.

Trim the onions to no longer than 3 inches and wash; add to the bowl.
Add the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, kosher salt, and black pepper to the bowl and toss coating the vegetables well.

Turn the grill on medium-high heat and spray a grilling pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Place radicchio and both squashes on the grilling pan, and once the grill is preheated, place on grill and grill, turning once, until lightly charred on both sides, about 8 or 9 minutes total cooking time.

Just before the radicchio and squashes are fully charred, put the onions on the grill pan, cooking for about 2 or 3 minutes, turning over at least once, until lightly charred.

Arrange the mixed greens on salad plates, place the grilled vegetables on top.

Divide the feta cheese between the salads, and sprinkle the top with sunflower seeds if you like.

In a large nonstick saucepan heat some oil and add the cumin seeds. Cook carefully until lightly brown.

Next add the onion, garlic, leek and butternut squash chunks and allow them to cook for about 15 minutes on very low heat, while stirring occasionally.

Add the vegetable stock, cover and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Pour the soup into a blender and process it until smooth. Return the mixture to the saucepan, heat gently and stir in the yogurt.

Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with crunchy bread.

Bring water to boil in a large saucepan and cook the beets until they are almost tender (about 30 minutes).

Remove the beets while keeping the liquid and peel.

Cut the beets into bite-size chunks.

Place the beets, potatoes and onion into the liquid and boil for about 10 minutes.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow to stand for a few minutes.

Remove the vegetables and transfer them into a bowl.

Then add some olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Mix in the dill pickles and season with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle with parsley.

Preheat your oven to 450°F.

Arrange the potato chunks in a baking dish. Sprinkle on top with rosemary, olive oil and salt and pepper.

Toss well and then top with the bacon.

Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the bacon is crisp.

Enjoy this easy-to-bake dish with a green salad.

Spread the peanut butter on the bread.

Arrange apple slices on top of the peanut butter.

Sprinkle with nutmeg and cinnamon.

Place under the grill until the apples begin to soften.

Heat the
oil in an electric deep fryer to 370°F – 380°F. Combine
flour and next 4 ingredients in a food processor and pulse for 3-4
times. With machine running, pour in water through feed tube and
process about 15 seconds, or until ingredients begin to come
together.

Transfer mixture to a lightly floured work surface and mix
by hand, adding more flour as needed, to make a soft dough.

Roll into a circle about 1/8 inch thick and cut each circle into
12 wedges. Add 2 or 3 at a time to fry basket. Lower into hot oil
and fry 5-7 minutes, turning several times, until golden. Drain
on absorbent paper and repeat with remaining sopaipillas. Serve
with honey, syrup, guacamole or salsa

Mix the sugar and apple sauce; add the fat. Mix the dry ingredients. Through a sifter, add them to the apple sauce mixture.

Flour the raisins and stir them into the batter. Turn into a greased loaf-cake pan or into two layer-cake pans.

Bake in a moderate oven at 375 degrees F.

Chill or freeze Twinkies for several hours or overnight.

Heat 4 cups vegetable oil in deep fryer to about 375 degrees.

Mix together milk, vinegar and oil.

In another bowl, blend flour, baking powder and salt.

Refrigerate while oil heats.

Push stick into Twinkie lengthwise, leaving about 2 inches to use as
a handle, dust with flour and dip into the batter. Rotate Twinkie until
the batter covers entire cake.

Place carefully in the hot oil. The Twinkie will float, so hold it under
with a utensil to ensure even browning. It should turn golden in 3 to 4
minutes. Depending on the size of your deep fryer, you might be able to
fry only one at a time, two at the most.

Remove Twinkie to paper towel and let drain. Remove stick and allow
Twinkie to sit for about 5 minutes before serving.