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SEASONAL TRANSITION: FALL

Cauliflower Tacos with Mole Sauce

SEASONAL TRANSITION: FALL

Hearty Flavors for Fall

After two seasons focusing on refreshing, bright flavors and raw or grilled preparations for hot-weather menus, we’re now shifting into what is often called cooking season. Chefs love the autumn months when they can showcase deeper, more robust flavors and long, slow cooking methods.

This transitional time eases customers’ palates into heartier, bolder flavors, some traditional, some new and adventurous, all craveable.

Salads in particular will move from more delicate lettuces into the robust leaves of kale and collards, even iceberg wedges. These ingredients hold up well to roasted vegetables, creamy dressings, and protein toppers, making them a shoo in for delivery/to-go options as well.

Braising, baking, roasting, and stewing are techniques that come back into play, especially using naturally umami-rich ingredients like mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, and beans for side dishes and mains.

Desserts that combine the familiar with the exotic will sell well, including pies and tarts made with quince, pumpkin panna cotta, and roasted persimmon gelato. Flavors such as molasses, maple, and caramel are great partners for these fall fruits (and many vegetables).

Highlighting classic fall ingredients through this month (and next!) in LTOs or on seasonal menus, will draw in customers craving exciting flavor combinations.

Ready-Set-Serve (RSS) Salads & Blends

  • Heart-Y Blend:
    4/2-lb. pack
  • Super Slaw:
    3/2-lb. packs
  • Hearts & Hearts Blend
    4/2-lb. pack
  • Shredded Kale Mix
    4/1.5 lb. packs
  • Baby Kale Mix
    2/1.5 lb. packs

Markon First Crop (MFC) For Fall

  • MFC Red and Yellow Onions:
    Medium, Jumbo, Colosssal, and Super Colossal bags or cartons
  • MFC Apples:
    Braeburn, Fuji, Gala, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, and Red Delicious varieties in 88- to 38-count sizes
  • MFC Potatoes:
    Burbank and Norkotah varieties in 40- to 140-count packs as well as 10- and 12-ounce sizes

SEASONAL TRANSITION: FALL

Retool your menu with ingredients at peak flavor.

  • Wellness is a top customer priority, so offering plant-based street food options like tacos featuring jackfruit that mimics the texture of pulled pork), is a smart move; fill house-made tortillas with barbecue-sauced jackfruit and RSS Heart-Y Slaw tossed in a vibrant dressing of RSS Avocado Halves, tomatillos, RSS Lime Juice, RSS Peeled Garlic, salt, and cayenne (see page one top photo).
  • Just as rich and packed with umami, but easier on the budget, mushroom pate will satisfy meat-loves and vegans alike. Puree sauteed MFC Mushrooms, MFC Onions, walnuts, and sherry; serve with pickled red onions and crusty bread (see page one middle photo).
  • A favorite bar snack in Puerto Rico and Cuba, stuffed tostones are mini sandwiches comprised of fried plantains, pulled pork, pickled red onions, and gooey cheese (see right/middle photo).
  • Cumin-roasted RSS Cauliflower Florets feature in plant-based hand-held tacos smothered in Oaxacan mold sauce
    (see upper right photo).
  • Give holiday flavors to RSS Brussels Sprout Halves: saute with fresh cranberries and MFC Sage.
  • Add sturdier greens to your fall salad menus like RSS Hearts & Hearts; toss with roasted ruby red and golden baby beets, toasted walnuts, and warm bacon dressing.
  • Lend rich umami and immunity-boosting vitamins to bean, lentil, and barley soups with RSS Kale, MFC Mushrooms, and MFC Grape Tomatoes.
  • Winter squashes are coming into play—they make sweet additions to pasta dishes, meaty stews, grain bowls, vegetable dips, and noodle soups.
  • Traditional fall flavors like cinnamon, cloves, and ginger are great in fruit desserts, but also work in rum and whiskey cocktails, pancakes/waffles, barbecued meats, and vinaigrettes.
  • Comfort foods have been popular throughout the pandemic, but now that the weather is cooling for the second fall, customers will crave familiar dishes made with more global flavors. Examples of this include matzo ball soup made with fresh ginger and dill, shepherd’s pie made with colored carrots and wild mushrooms, or porridge made savory Asian-style with RSS Washed & Trimmed Green Onions, MFC Shiitake Mushrooms, and sesame oil.
  • Filipino foods like sinigang (brothy soup made with pork orfish and tangy-sour tamarind), ube cheese pandesal (vibrant cheese-stuffed rolls made with purple yams), and lumpia (crunchy vegetable-stuffed spring rolls) hit that menu sweet spot of comforting, yet exciting.
  • The licorice-like notes of fennel are strongest over the next few months—highlight its unique flavor in raw/shaved salads, simmered in broth-based soups, and creamy pastas.
  • Desserts focused on apples, pears, pumpkins, and cranberries dominate menus, but don’t forget figs, grapes, persimmons, and pomegranates.

These tacos are a delicious vegetarian option that packs the earthy flavors of cumin-roasted cauliflower, pickled red onions, and Oaxacan mole sauce.

Fall’s Peak Flavors

  • Broccoli: Its earthy notes pair well with pine nuts, Parmesan, onions, garlic, and cream.
  • Cauliflower: This cruciferous vegetable works with raisins, citrus, herbs, curry sauces, lentils, ginger, Mozzarella, and pomegranate seeds.
  • Mushrooms: These varied fungi are some of the most on-trend, healthy ingredients of the 2020s. Pair them with beef, noodles, ancient grains, carrots, spinach, miso, and wine.
  • Brussels Sprouts: Essentially baby cabbages, they are a menu darling and can be served raw/shaved, roasted, sauteed, and grilled. They taste great with bacon, walnuts, fish sauce, honey, winter squash, mustard, or cranberries.

Diners are increasingly hyper-focused on high-protein and plant-based foods. Alongside all of the new-fangled, lab-based, cell-cultured options out there is the humble bean. A staple food for millenia, beans are being re-examined as a healthy, versatile ingredient worthy of menu inclusion.

  • Retro and heirloom recipes—like Southern succotash, French cassoulet, and Cajun red beans and rice—fit the bill for those in search of authenticity.
  • Most world cuisines incorporate some type of bean in their classic dishes. Think feijoada in Brazil, black beans and rice with plantains in Puerto Rico, and garbanzo beans in Israel. Modern interpretations of these recipes are packed with produce and herbs.
  • The creamy texture of mung beans is proving an ideal substitute for those that are eliminating soy from their diets.