Easy Fall Recipes for Meals, Side Dishes and Appetizers

Fall flavors take center stage in this subtly spicy pasta. With warm, seasonal ingredients like pumpkin and hazelnut, this pasta is ready to become a weeknight staple in your home. To balance the dish, a garnish of mint provides a fresh flavor juxtaposition and a nod to the fleeting flavors of summer.

Once the cool, crisp fall breeze rounds the corner, it's hard to find a table without a succulent side of root vegetables. These thyme-roasted carrots and parsnips are a fantastic option not only for their deep flavor, but the fall aesthetic they add to the table. After all, the best decor is edible decor.

Courtesy of entertaining expert Courtney Whitmore's book, Entertain in Style, this simple but elegant appetizer is sure to impress.

Ingredients:

• (2) 15.5-ounce cans chickpeas
• (1) 15-ounce can of pureed pumpkin
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 3 cloves garlic, roasted
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• pumpkin seeds, for garnish
• paprika, for garnish

Yield: 3 cups

Combine chickpeas, pumpkin, tahini, garlic, salt, lemon juice, cumin, and olive oil in a food processor. Blend until smooth. Serve garnished with pumpkin seed kernels and a dash of paprika.

For many, fall and winter dinners are all about soups and stews. This Hungarian cauliflower soup combines relatively simple ingredients to create an explosion of flavor that will keep you coming back for more.