Five Fall Comfort Foods 

It’s here: a glorious season of some of my favorite foods! As a parent, I’ve never been hungrier, so lean into some delicious autumn eats and enjoy them with your family (if you feel like sharing). 

From local recipe developer, mom of three, and New York Times best-selling author Caroline Chambers, consider a cozy beef stew! Her new book What To Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking has lots of family-friendly and delicious ideas organized by time commitment. 

REALLY GOOD BEEF STEW 

Serves 6 to 8 

To call this dish a beef stew is to vastly undersell the absolute masterpiece that it is. It has so much flavor. From the beef to the Parm to the harissa to the lemon—there’s a lot going on, and it all melds together during a long, slow simmer that turns this soup into a pot of gold. Beef stew meat is one of my favorite ingredients to bargain shop for—you can often find it on sale in the meat aisle. It’s basically all the scraps from butchering beef, cut into tiny cubes, perfect for making stew! 

For the stew: 

• 3 large carrots 
• 1 large fennel bulb 
• 1 large yellow onion 
• 4 garlic cloves 
• 1 cup dried French green lentils 
• 10 cups low-sodium beef stock (from three 1-quart containers) 
• 2 pounds beef stew meat 
• 1 cup farro 
• 2 dried bay leaves 
• 1 to 2 tablespoons mild harissa (1 will just flavor it, 2 will give it a kick) 
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste 
• 3⁄4 teaspoon ground cumin 
• 1 lemon 
• 1 (8-ounce) block Parmesan cheese 
• Kosher salt 
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
• 1 large bunch collards 

For the croutons: 

• 4 thick or 6 thin slices of absolutely any kind of bread (the better the bread, the better the crouton) 
• Extra-virgin olive oil 
• Kosher salt 
• 1⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder 

1. Make the stew: In a food processor, combine the carrots, fennel, onion, and garlic. Pulse until very, very finely chopped, 10 to 15 pulses. Alternatively, you can chop them by hand. 

2. Transfer the veggies to a large stockpot. Add the lentils, stock, beef, farro, bay leaves, harissa, tomato paste, and cumin. Grate in the zest of the lemon directly into the pot; set the zested lemon aside. Slice off the rind of the Parm and throw the rind in the pot too. Season with salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. 

Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes or so, until the beef is tender. In the last 30 minutes of cooking, roughly chop the collards and stir them in. 

3. Meanwhile, make the croutons: Cut enough bread into 1⁄2-inch cubes to make 4 cups. Warm a huge glug of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When it simmers, add the bread and stir to coat in oil. Add more oil as needed to coat well. 

4. Spread the bread into an even layer. Sprinkle generously with salt and the garlic powder. Cook, undisturbed, until golden brown on the first side, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir and cook until golden brown all over, 3 to 4 minutes more. Remove from the heat and let cool in the skillet. 

5. If an oily fat layer has risen to the top of the stew, skim it off with a large spoon. Fish out the Parm rind and bay leaves and discard. Halve the zested lemon and squeeze the juice into the pot, then stir. 

6. Ladle the stew into bowls. Top with the garlicky croutons and so much Parm that it looks like it snowed on your bowl. Seriously, that part is very important. Enjoy! 

To make this in a slow cooker, dump in all the stew ingredients, cover, and cook on low for 6 hours. 

Reprinted with permission from What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking by Caroline Chambers © 2024. Published by Union Square & Co.

WINTER SQUASH 

Enjoy a classic roasted winter squash: Butternut, kabocha, or acorn squash are top options. Wash the skin thoroughly, remove the insides (optional: you can roast the seeds similarly to pumpkin seeds), then carefully chop into small chunks. Arrange on a rimmed cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle sea salt and rosemary on top. Roast at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, then take out briefly to flip over the squash pieces and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Cook for an additional 10 minutes, removing when the squash is tender. 

SWEET POTATO APPLE CINNAMON COOKIES 

Thanks to Hannah Hargrove, baby and toddler-focused registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) of Tiny Eaters Nutrition for no-sugar-added sweet potato apple cinnamon cookies. 

First, prepare 1 chia “egg” and let it sit for a few minutes: 1 tbsp chia seeds mixed with 3 tbsp water. Then, combine 1 cup almond flour, 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking soda, and 1/4 tsp salt. Fold in 1 cup mashed sweet potato (about 1 medium sweet potato), 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce, 1 peeled and grated apple, 1/2 tsp vanilla, and the chia “egg.” As an optional bonus to help fight any constipation issues your little one might be facing, you can add 1/4 cup Tiny Sprouts apple cinnamon digestion booster or 1/4 cup milled flaxseeds. This makes about 24 cookies, approximately 2 tbsp each. Flatten cookies and bake at 350 degrees on a cookie sheet for 20 minutes. 

PERSIMMONS 

Seek some local fuyu persimmons and lean into the mild Monterey weather by freezing them. Wash a few firm persimmons, then corral them in a container in the freezer for about eight hours. Then, carefully use a serrated knife to cut off the top and dig into the delicious fruit with a spoon. (I had never tasted persimmons for most of my life, and once I did, I couldn’t believe what I was missing. I encourage you to share this delicious treat with everyone.) 

PUMPKIN AND PECAN PANCAKES 

Keep it simple: add some canned pumpkin and pecans to your usual pancakes or oatmeal! Substitute pumpkin puree for half of the liquid ingredients (like eggs, oil, or butter), then pop some pecans on top to infuse a bit of fall energy. Adding a dash of powdered ginger or nutmeg will add more kick.