Apple season is here! Make way for apple pie, apple cider, apple crisp, caramel apples and more. Apples are available year-round in supermarkets, but the experience of your own apple-picking at a local orchard brings a whole new level of excitement to this popular fruit.

There are many varieties of apples, ranging from tart to sweet. Select types based on taste and intended use (snacking, baking, used for applesauce). Talk to your local orchard staff or look for signs nearby with this information. To maximize storage time, store apples in a perforated plastic bag in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator for up to 4-6 weeks. Apples will continue to ripen after harvest, emitting ethylene gas. This gas can cause other nearby foods to ripen faster. Always store apples separate from other produce. If not handled carefully, apples may bruise easily leading to fruit decay. Check apples often for signs of spoilage and throw out the bad apple of the bunch!

Apples are a good source of fiber and will have roughly twice the fiber if eaten with the skins on (4.4 grams) than if peeled (2 grams). Additionally, almost half of an apples vitamin C content is found just beneath the skin, giving you another reason to resist peeling the apple! Head to the orchard or nearby fruit tree and pick a peck of apples, which by the way, is 10-14 pounds of apples.

One-Dish Roasted Potatoes and Apples with Chicken Sausage (Printable PDF)

3 red potatoes or your favorite potato variety (about 1 pound)

1 Tablespoon canola oil

2 red apples (Fuji, Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, Gala, etc.)

1 yellow onion

4 chicken herb link sausages (12 ounces)

2 Tablespoons cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

1 Tablespoon honey

Preheat oven to 425 °F. Cut potatoes into chunks, place in 2-quart baking dish. Drizzle with canola oil. Toss to coat. Roast potatoes in oven for about 20 minutes. While potatoes are roasting, cut apples and onions into chunks, and sausage into 1/2-inch slices. Remove baking dish from oven and reduce heat to 375 °F. Add all remaining ingredients to baking dish and toss. Return baking dish to oven and roast an additional 30 minutes until apples and potatoes are tender.

Yield: 4 servings

Nutrition Facts (per serving): 364 calories, 17 grams fat, 588 milligrams sodium, 39 grams carbohydrate, 5 grams fiber, 15 grams protein

Recipe Source: Produce for Better Health, retrieved from USDA MyPlate Kitchen, https://myplate.gov

Source: Barbara Drake, Ohio State University Extension, Selecting, Storing, and Serving Ohio Apples. https://ohioline.osu.edu/

This blog post first appeared in The Pantagraph on September 8, 2021.