Fall Fondue Recipe with Organic Veggies from Simply Fresh

This girl loves her veggies.  So, imagine my delight when this arrived on my doorstep from Simply Fresh:

My excitement was comparable to telling a 10-year-old they could go on a Toys R Us shopping spree.  Yes, I was that excited.

Upon delivery of my Simply Fresh box o’ veggies, I promptly began dreaming of all of the veggie-licious meals in my future: Asparagus in Brown Butter, Celery Salad with Mushrooms and Parm, maybe a Fall Salad with butter lettuce and pear?  Or how about a soup with Swiss Chard and Butternut Squash?  As you can tell, I could go on and on…

Simply Fresh is a subscription service of organic fruits, veggies along with some grocery items.  They’re delivered to your door step on a date selected by you.  They have a huge selection and several offerings are local.  I’ve done something similar in the past… earlier this year I was part of a CSA.  Although I enjoyed most of what I was given, I have to admit… the offering got a bit monotonous.  Simply Fresh, however has a huge selection of produce along with breads, meats and even fresh from the farm eggs!

I received my Simply Fresh box on Friday, the day before I was hosting a Fondue Dinner Party for my neighborhood.  Seeing all of the colorful veggies sprawled out over my counter got my brain turning… all of those veggies would be great dipped in cheese.  DIPPED. IN. CHEESE.  Yep, I needed to come up with a Fall Fondue recipe!

I set to work.

First step: Selecting the veggies from my delivery to include in my cheese fest.  I picked: Brussels Sprouts, the artichoke, butternut squash, green beans, apples, and pears.

Then I prepped them:

Brussels Sprouts: Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Place one pound of Brussels sprouts in a baking pan along with a drizzle of olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.  Roast at 450 degrees until bright green and the outer leaves become slightly charred approximately 25 minutes.  Flip once during cooking process.

Artichoke: Bring salted water to a boil in a large pot.  Trim off the tip of teach artichoke.  Add artichoke(s) and a splash of lemon juice.  Boil approximately 20 minutes, or until leaves can be easily pulled off.  Remove from water and allow to cool enough to handle.  Remove leaves carefully and arrange on platter, reserving artichoke heart for another use.

To eat, dip the base of each leaf in cheesey fondue and scrape out the meat (and cheese of course!) with your teeth.

Butternut Squash: Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Peel butternut squash, remove seeds, then cut into chunks.  Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and garam masala (my spice of choice for roasting slightly sweet veggies).  Roast for 20 – 25  minutes, stirring once or twice.

Green Beans: Bring a large pot of salted water to a rapid boil.  Drop in one pound of green beans and cook approximately 8 minutes until tender, but still bright green.  Drain in colander and rinse with cool water to stop the cooking process.

Apples and Pears:  Remove fruit from core and cut into chunks.  Toss with a splash of lemon juice to prevent browning.

Bread: cut into chunks for dipping.

Cheesey Fall Fondue, Serves 6-8 as an appetizer

Ingredients:
1 garlic clove, minced
1  lemon
1 cup white wine
16 ounces shredded gruyere or a preferred melting cheese
4 tsp cornstarch
2 tb. Kirschwasser (or water)
Ground Pepper and Fresh nutmeg

Directions: In fondue pot on medium-heat setting, add garlic clove, juice from one lemon and white wine.  Bring to a gentle boil and reduce heat to low.  Add cheese by the handfuls, stirring constantly.  Meanwhile, stir together the Kirschwasser and cornstarch until thoroughly mixed, then add to the cheese mixture and stir until you reach a smooth consistency.  Stir in ground pepper and freshly grated nutmeg to taste.  Adjust the heat setting to keep the fondue smooth, but not boiling.  Serve with veggies, fruits and bread.

*I was not compensated for this post, however I was given a box of produce from Simply Fresh to facilitate my review.  All opinions are my own.