October 7, 2009: This week’s featured fruits and vegetables are: apples, sweet potatoes, peppers, winter squash, salad, eggplant, herb, and cabbage.

Recipes: Get Stuffed!

The cool Fall weather is an invitation for baking: filling the house with warm enticing smells for hours on end. Magically, this week’s veggie box is stuffed full of stuff that stuffs well! Here are some recipes for stuffing and baking:

• Apples: Stick with the classics: Baked Stuffed Apples with nuts and dried fruit.
• Sweet potatoes: For a sweet side dish, try Apple-Pecan-Stuffed Sweet Potatoes; for a savory (and vegetarian) main course, try Savory Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with kale and a little tofu.
• Peppers: I found a whole page of recipes for stuffed peppers. Two that looked interesting were Classic Stuffed Peppers with ground beef and tomato sauce and Turkey Stuffed Peppers with ground turkey and a white sauce.
• Winter squash: For a traditional fall side dish, try Apple Stuffed Squash; for a main dish with an unusual twist, try Baked Stuffed Squash with Beef, Black Beans, and Chili Seasonings.
• Eggplant: Here are two fresh takes on this concept: Indian Stuffed Eggplant and Stuffed Eggplant with Shrimp and Basil.
• Cabbage: Here I offer my own recipe for Stuffed Cabbage Leaves, or, for vegetarians, Five Vegetarian Stuffed Cabbage Recipes.

So go get stuffed!

Food For Thought: DC Green Festival

This weekend, DC plays host to its sixth annual Green Festival, taking place on October 10-11 (Saturday 10-7, Sunday 11-6) at the Washington Convention Center. The Festival is a great place to learn about organic gardening and farming, along with a host of other green initiatives. Check out their price page for ticket prices and ways to get discounts on admission.