November brings a beautiful bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Let’s us use the last of fall’s seasonal fruit harvest while also enjoying winter citrus that shows up this month.
Knowing what’s in season is only half the battle. The other half is figuring out what to make with all these delicious fruits and veggies.
The best fruit in November will be late season apples, pears, and cranberries. The other fruit seasons are either starting or ending and be more sporadic or harder to find.
Some of the best fruit this month are late season apples:
Bartlett pears are best for eating fresh, but use Bosc or D’Anjou in baking as they will hold up better in high heat. Comice are great for a cheese board.
These tart little berries are in season from September through December. Perfect pairing for thanksgiving.
Fresh pomegranates are available at stores this month. One pomegranate usually has 6-8 ounces of seeds (also called arils), and they are great on fall salads or roasted vegetables.
November marks the end of fig season, so now is your last chance to buy this fruit. Their flavor is perfect for fall, especially when roasted with vegetables, added to a fall salad, or baked into a warm dessert.
While grocery stores provide grapes year-round, they are only in season in the US from June through November. Try roasting them and adding to a salad, on top of sweet potatoes, or alongside steak. Roasting softens the fruit, tames the acidity, and gives them an almost honey-like sweetness.
Kiwi season starts in fall and continues into spring from US-grown fruit. Try using Kiwi as a marinade this month – the enzymes in kiwi have unique meat-tenderizing qualities.
Grapefruit in season starting in November from Texas and Florida. Ruby Red and Flame grapefruit tend to be the sweetest varieties, and pink grapefruit are often less bitter.
Mandarin and clementine season starts in November, often sold under the Halo or Cutie brands. The fruit is usually sweeter later in the season, however. This month, try using them to make a citrus & herb roasted turkey.
Kumquats are tiny little citrus fruits the size of grapes with a sweet & sour flavor. The entire fruit is edible – the rind is sweet and aromatic while the flesh is very tart. The seeds, while edible, are usually spit out because of their bitterness.
The cool November weather is perfect for roasting root vegetables (like parsnips and sweet potatoes), brassicas (like brussels sprouts), and winter squash (like pumpkins and butternut squash).
Roasting brussels sprouts brings out the sweet and nutty flavors, while also taming their bitterness. Adding bacon, maple syrup, and cheese also helps reduce bitter flavors from brussels sprouts thanks to the extra sugar and fat.
Parsnips have a nutty, slightly sweet taste when they are in-season, with hints of cinnamon or nutmeg. These flavors really come through when roasted and caramelize really well thanks to their sugar content. In fact, parsnips were used to sweeten foods before sugar cane was widely available.
Sweet potatoes are in season from September through December, but they store quite well and can be found all year at fairly high quality. Outside of Thanksgiving casseroles, try making a sweet potato soup or baking your own chips.
Freshly harvested mushrooms are available this month. Look for chanterelles, oyster mushrooms, black trumpet, and lions mane (to name a few).
Winter squash are such a diverse and fun category of vegetables, with so many different uses.
If you haven’t eaten celery root before, give it a try this month. You eat the root, which tastes like a cross between celery and a potato, with a potato-like texture. It’s great for roasting or adding to soups.
While these vegetables are often available all year, they grow best in cool weather when they can produce the best flavor and texture. If you haven’t bought fresh celery from the farmers market in fall, try seeking it out and notice the more pronounced flavor and less-stringy texture.
These are in season in fall but are also available year-round at very high quality. Enjoy them in any of your fall recipes this month.
Drop us a line for more information on November Produce!
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