Fall Comfort Food with a Twist

A kabocha squash will sit on a cool counter for a month or more and only get sweeter, which makes it the most forgiving vegetable of the season. By October the farm stands along the island roads are full of them, along with crates of apples, bunches of kale that have been through their first cold nights and, in a good wet year, baskets of chanterelles.

Comfort food at this time of year tends to mean cream, cheese and a long nap afterward. We like a lighter version: the same warmth and depth, built mostly from plants, with one unexpected ingredient in each dish to keep things interesting.

What is good right now

• Winter squash. Kabocha, red kuri, butternut and delicata. Delicata and kuri have thin skins you can eat, which saves the peeling.
• Apples. Tart, firm ones hold their shape in a hot pan. Soft ones are for sauce.
• Kale and chard. Kale turns noticeably sweeter after a frost.
• Mushrooms. Chanterelles from a market stall you trust, or brown creminis from the grocer. Never eat a wild mushroom that has not been identified by someone who knows.
• Leeks, onions and garlic, plus the last of the fresh sage, thyme and rosemary.

Roast squash with miso and maple

The twist here is miso. It gives roast squash the salty, savoury edge that would usually come from cheese or bacon.

1. Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Cut a kuri or delicata squash into wedges about as thick as your thumb, seeds scooped out and skin left on.
2. Stir together a spoonful of white miso, a spoonful of maple syrup, two of oil and a splash of cider vinegar. Toss the squash in it.
3. Roast on a lined tray for 30 to 40 minutes, turning once, until the edges are dark and sticky.
4. For the last five minutes, scatter torn kale over the tray with a little more oil so it crisps.

Serve over cooked barley, farro or brown rice, with toasted pumpkin seeds and a squeeze of lemon. If you have the patience, rinse the squash's own seeds, dry them and toast them with salt.

Mushrooms, apple and cider on toast

Apple in a savoury dish sounds odd until you try it. The sharpness cuts through the earthiness of the mushrooms the way lemon would.

Slice a leek and cook it slowly in oil or butter until soft. Turn up the heat, add a couple of big handfuls of sliced mushrooms and leave them alone until they brown; stirring too soon makes them steam. Add one firm apple cut into small cubes, a few thyme leaves, salt and plenty of pepper. After a couple of minutes pour in a good splash of dry cider or apple juice and let it bubble down to a glaze. A spoonful of grainy mustard at the end pulls it together.

Pile it onto thick toast, or stir it through pasta or soft polenta. For something more filling, add a tin of white beans along with the cider and let them warm through.

Small habits that help

Roast two trays of vegetables while the oven is on and keep the second for lunches. Save leek tops, mushroom stems and onion ends in a bag in the freezer, then simmer them into stock once the bag is full. Keep a jar of something sharp on hand, such as pickled onions or sauerkraut, because rich autumn food needs a bit of acid beside it.

The tools matter less than people think. A heavy pot, a wooden spoon and a stack of linen tea towels do most of the work, and things of that kind are covered in the home pages. There are more seasonal notes in the Journal.

Leftover squash, mashed with a fork and spread on toast with chili flakes, is breakfast the next morning.