Fall is my season. I know everyone says that — basic white girls and their pumpkin spice, as Mom would say with maximum disdain — but fall in Virginia is genuinely beautiful. The leaves turn. The air sharpens. The light goes golden and slanted and everything looks like it's being photographed for a magazine.
I've settled into my non-college life. Bookstore Monday through Friday, drives to Lejeune every other weekend, Mom's kitchen every night in between. It's not what I planned. It's not what Megan planned for me or what ODU planned for me or what the guidance counselor at Granby High planned for me. But it's mine, and it's working, and I'm reading more than I ever read in school because Carla keeps handing me books and saying 'This one. This one is for you.'
This week's Carla book: 'Home Cooking' by Laurie Colwin. I've read Colwin before — her essays in the bookstore last summer — but this collection hit different. She writes about cooking in tiny kitchens, about feeding people on a budget, about the radical act of making dinner every night in a world that's trying to sell you convenience. She writes, 'I am convinced that one of life's most underrated activities is a good supper.' I read that on my lunch break and said 'YES' out loud and a customer looked at me.
Laurie Colwin is my mother in book form. She's the literary version of dinner at 1800. She's the written proof that what Mom does every night — the cooking, the feeding, the quiet insistence that dinner matters — is not small. It's not domestic drudgery. It's the most important thing.
Mom made her autumn chicken — the recipe she transitions to when summer grilling ends and oven season begins. Chicken thighs (bone-in, skin-on, because thighs are cheaper and more flavorful than breasts and Mom will fight about this), roasted on a sheet pan with butternut squash, red onion, and apple slices, glazed with a mixture of maple syrup, Dijon mustard, and apple cider vinegar. The chicken skin gets crispy and caramelized, the squash goes sweet and tender, and the apples melt into something that's almost a sauce.
It tastes like October. It tastes like the first night you turn on the oven after a summer of not using it and the kitchen warms up and the windows fog and you think: yes. This season. This food. This kitchen. This life.
Ryan called at 9 PM. He told me he loves me. He says it every night now, casual and certain, like it's as natural as 'good morning' or 'be safe.' Maybe it is.
Fall. Laurie Colwin. Autumn chicken. Ryan's voice at 9 PM.
This is the life I chose. And it's good.
Mom’s autumn chicken — that maple-Dijon sheet pan with the caramelized squash and the apple slices that melt into sauce — is hers, and I’m not going to pretend I can replicate it yet. But those same flavors that made October feel like a whole philosophy? I can chase them. This salad does exactly that: crisp romaine, warm roasted chicken, sharp cheddar, apple slices that crunch against spiced pecans, all pulled together with a cranberry vinaigrette that tastes like the air smells right now. Laurie Colwin would call it a good supper. I call it proof that fall flavors can show up anywhere you let them.
Romaine Salad with Chicken, Cheddar, Apples, Spiced Pecans and Cranberry Vinaigrette
Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- For the spiced pecans:
- 1 cup pecan halves
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- For the cranberry vinaigrette:
- 1/3 cup cranberry juice (100% juice)
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- For the salad:
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or breasts)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 large heads romaine lettuce, chopped (about 8 cups)
- 1 medium Honeycrisp or Gala apple, cored and thinly sliced
- 4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, cubed or shredded
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries (optional, for extra tartness)
Instructions
- Make the spiced pecans. Preheat oven to 350°F. Toss pecans with melted butter, brown sugar, cayenne, cinnamon, and salt until evenly coated. Spread on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake 10–12 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until fragrant and toasted. Let cool completely — they will crisp up as they cool.
- Cook the chicken. While pecans bake, heat olive oil in a skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat. Season chicken thighs on both sides with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Cook 6–7 minutes per side until cooked through and golden. Remove from heat, rest 5 minutes, then slice thinly against the grain.
- Make the cranberry vinaigrette. Whisk together cranberry juice, apple cider vinegar, honey, and Dijon mustard in a small bowl. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- Assemble the salad. Arrange chopped romaine in a large serving bowl or divide among four plates. Top with sliced chicken, apple slices, cheddar, spiced pecans, and dried cranberries if using.
- Dress and serve. Drizzle cranberry vinaigrette over the salad just before serving. Toss gently or leave undressed for guests to add their own. Serve immediately.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 520 | Protein: 34g | Fat: 34g | Carbs: 24g | Fiber: 5g | Sodium: 430mg
About the cook who shared this
Rachel Abernathy
Week 79 of Rachel’s 30-year story
· San Diego, California
Rachel is a twenty-eight-year-old Marine wife and mom of two who has moved five times in six years and learned to cook a Thanksgiving dinner with half her cookware still in boxes. She married young, survived postpartum depression, and feeds her family of four on a junior Marine's salary with a freezer full of pre-made meals and a crockpot that has never let her down. She writes for the military spouses who are cooking dinner alone in base housing and wondering if they're enough. You are.
