Fall Harvest Lasagna

I've been waiting all year for this glorious fall season to arrive.  Summer is great with it's bounty of veggies, but the ones I really like wait until fall to be seasonably ready.  Fresh, crisp apples and pears top my list of go-to-snack foods.  I also love the rich flavor of the hefty 3 pound tomatoes that aren't ripe until fall in my part of the world.  My onions have reached a flavor that infuses every dish with a spicy sweetness, and garlic is abounding from all sources.  I have already received 11 varieties of garlic this early fall from farmers in the area.  Each variety has a different flavor to enjoy.  My absolute favorite fall veggies, though, are the squash.  I love butternut, acorn, and pumpkin, which are the usual ones.  I also love banana, delicata, carnival, and sweet dumpling.  I love pumpkin soup, butternut squash ravioli, and acorn squash cassoulet simmered all afternoon over a low heat.  

Tonight, I satisfied my craving with a hearty fall veggie lasagna.  I used a recipe from Keith Snow, author of Harvest Eating Cookbook.  It's not for the weak cook, as it requires a lot of steaming, slicing, dicing and shredding and a homemade white sauce that is heavenly to taste.  But, since I love to cook, this recipe is one of my fall favorites.  It has lasagna noodles layered with steamed kale (another favorite of mine), thin sweet potato slices, leeks, garlic, and onion.  Layer that with the cream sauce, fresh mozzarella, and some grated Gruyere cheese and you've got ooey-gooey deliciousness!  Alayna happily munched through most of her bowl.  Jeremy ate all but a few bites of kale (really, I just don't understand how anyone can not love kale like I do!?).  I happily ate those last few bites for him.  Kira plowed through all the noodles and sighed happily with each bite.  She isn't the biggest veggie fan, but she had no trouble with the sweet potato and kale tossed with cheese!  I had an extra large helping, making up for my delicious, yet not hearty salad I had for lunch.

If you want a GREAT resource for local, seasonal food recipes, I highly recommend getting this book.  I use it more than all the rest, and it even highlights the season with symbols for each recipe (just in case you are new to the seasonal food plan).  

Here's the video for the recipe, and I'll try to highlight more fall recipes to come!

http://www.harvesteating.com/2010/01/harvest-eating-fall-winter-lasagna/