Here's our guide to the fall harvest. Find out about the fruit that's in season now — from grapefruit to clementines — with our guide from FoodFit founder and CEO Ellen Haas' book, Great Adventures in Food: Fresh Ways to Celebrate Every Meal (St. Martin's Press, 2000). We'll tell you what to look for at the market, how to store the fruit at home, and how to cook it, along with great recipes.

Apples
Bananas
Clementines
Cranberries
Grapes
Grapefruit
Kiwi
Kumquat
Oranges
Pears
Persimmons
Pomegranates
Quinces
Satsuma Mandarin Oranges
Tangerines

---

Apples

Nutritional Information:
Excellent source of fiber and a good source of vitamin C.

What to Look For:
Pick very firm apples with no bruises or broken skin.

Easy Storage and Preparation:
Store apples at room temperature for up to a week or up to six weeks in the refrigerator. When serving apple slices, remove core and rub the cut surface with lemon juice to prevent discoloration.

Best Uses:
Raw apples are wonderful sliced and added to salads. They also add crunch to rice and other grain dishes. Cooked apples are homey and delicious in cakes, pies or tarts, or as part of a sauce with poultry and pork.

Sample Recipe:
Sautéed Apples

---

Bananas

Nutritional Information:
Excellent source of vitamin B-6 and a good source of fiber, potassium and vitamin C

What to Look For:
Bananas are ripe when the skin is a rich yellow color with a few brown specks.

Easy Storage and Preparation:
Store at room temperature so that fruit will continue to ripen for about a week. You can freeze overripe bananas for later use in breads and muffins.

Best Uses:
Spritz the banana with lemon juice after slicing to prevent discoloration. Use overripe bananas in banana bread or muffins. Brush bananas with orange juice and broil for a fantastic dessert.

Sample Recipe:
Banana Fruit Smoothie
Sliced Bananas with Butterscotch Pudding

---

Clementines

Nutritional Information:
Excellent source of vitamin C and a good source of fiber and folate.

What to Look For:
Pick ones that are heavy for their size.

Easy Storage and Preparation:
They will keep for up to a month in the refrigerator.

Best Uses:
Excellent in green salads. They complement poultry dishes as well.

Sample Recipe:
Pan-roasted Scallops With Mandarins and Chickpeas

---

Cranberries

Nutritional Information:
Excellent source of vitamin C and a good source of fiber.

What to Look For
Look for cranberries that are shiny and not shriveled. A brown or a deep red color signals freshness. A good, fresh berry should be hard and bounce if dropped on a hard surface.

Easy Storage and Preparation:
They'll keep for up to two weeks in the refrigerator. Sort and rinse cranberries in cold water before using.

Best Uses:
Cranberries are unpleasantly tart on their own, but they're excellent for flavoring a sauce, adding to stuffing or in cakes and breads.

Sample Recipe:
Wild Rice With Dried Cranberries and Walnuts

---

Grapes (Red)

Nutritional Information:
Excellent source of vitamin C.

What to Look For:
Select firm, plump grapes. Color varies according to variety.

Easy Storage and Preparation:
For easy snacking, wash thoroughly and store in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Best Uses:
Toss grapes into salads or serve them along with cheese and nuts.

Sample Recipe:
Muesli With Red and Green Grapes

---

Grapefruit

Nutritional Information:
Excellent source of vitamin C and fiber and a good source of folate.

What to Look For:
Pick grapefruits that are heavy for their size, firm and thin-skinned. Skin color varies from yellow to ruby red.

Easy Storage and Preparation:
They'll keep at room temperature for a week to 10 days or two to three weeks in the refrigerator.

Best Uses:
Add raw grapefruit to green salads, or in fruit salsas. Good with fish.

Sample Recipe:
Caramelized Grapefruit

---

Kiwi

Nutritional Information:
Excellent source of vitamin C and a good source of fiber.

What to Look For:
Pick a kiwi that yields to slight pressure but doesn't have soft spots.

Easy Storage and Preparation:
They should be stored at room temperature for three to five days to ripen. Refrigerate ripe kiwis in a plastic bag for two to three weeks.

Best Uses:
The entire fruit is edible, including the skin. Like papayas, kiwis are also great meat tenderizers. Spread the green flesh over your meat before cooking to tenderize and add a tangy flavor. The same trait that softens meat also prevents gelatin from setting; so use another fruit in your Jell-O. Use raw atop a fruit tart or in fruit salads. Kiwis also make an unusual accompaniment to ham.

Sample Recipe:
Watercress and Endive With Winter Fruits

---

Kumquat

Nutritional Information:
Good source of vitamins A and C.

What to Look For:
Choose thin-skinned, orange fruit about 1.5 inches long. Fruits with green leaves still attached are freshest.

Easy Storage and Preparation:
Keeps at room temperature for several days.

Best Uses:
Eat raw (a very refreshing treat after rich meals); or cut it in half, seed and purée, then add to a sauce for dessert or poultry.

Sample Recipe:
Avocado, Kumquat and Grapefruit Salad With Bibb Lettuce and Watercress

---

Oranges

Nutritional Information:
Excellent source of vitamin C and fiber and good source of folate.

What to Look For:
Look for firm, thin-skinned oranges for juicing and thick-skinned oranges for eating.

Easy Storage and Preparation:
Store at room temperature for up to one week, or even longer in the refrigerator.

Best Uses:
If grating the zest, avoid the white pith, which tends to be bitter. Raw orange slices make a wonderful addition to salads. Oranges complement the flavors of onions, olives and cucumbers.

Sample Recipe:
Allen Susser's Red Snapper With Orange-Mango Salsa

---

Pears

Nutritional Information:
Good source of vitamin C and fiber.

What to Look For:
Pears should yield to very slight pressure. Color varies according to variety.

Easy Storage and Preparation:
Store at room temperature to soften slightly, then refrigerate for one to two days when ripe.

Best Uses:
When serving sliced, rub the cut surface with lemon juice to prevent discoloration. Slice raw pears into salads. Cooked pears are delicious in cakes and tarts. Serve alongside cheese or game.

Sample Recipe:
Pears Poached in Syrup

---

Persimmons

Nutritional Information:
Excellent source of vitamin C.

What to Look For:
Select one with soft, deep red-orange skin, with no yellow areas. Hard persimmons are too tart to eat; try ripening in a paper bag with a banana or an apple. Pick a persimmon that is very soft if you want to eat it immediately.

Easy Storage and Preparation:
Store in the refrigerator. They are best if used within two days.

Best Uses:
Peel before using raw. Add sliced persimmons to fruit salads or green salads. Or, for a simple cooked side dish, cut persimmons in half, keeping the peel, and cook quickly under the broiler.

Sample Recipe:
Broiled Persimmons

---

Pomegranates

Nutritional Information:
Good source of vitamin C and iron.

What to Look For:
Select one that feels heavy for its size and very plump. The top should be slightly soft when pressed and the skin should shine, not appear dry and dull.

Easy Storage and Preparation:
If refrigerated, they will keep for two weeks.

Best Uses:
Use the juice to flavor drinks, fruit soups, dessert creams and custards. Add the seeds to green salads. Can also be cooked into marmalade.

Sample Recipe:
Watercress and Pomegranate Salad

---

Quinces

Nutritional Information:
Excellent source of vitamin C, fiber and riboflavin.

What to Look For:
These fruits are known as golden apples, although their taste is a cross between an apple and a pear. There are two varieties: perfumed and pineapple. The perfumed quince is shaped a bit like a football while the pineapple quince is rounder and more pear-shaped. Both will turn from green to yellow when ripe.

Easy Storage and Preparation:
Look for firm yellow fruit and avoid ones that are too soft or have spots of mold. Quinces bruise easily but the marks don't affect the quality or taste. Store them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for several weeks. Peel quinces before using.

Best Uses:
Quinces are best cooked. They are often used in jams — the flesh turns a beautiful purple color, becoming softer and sweeter once cooked. Quinces are a favorite for baking and preserving because of the sweet-sour flavor and high levels of pectin.

---

Satsuma Oranges

Nutritional Information:
Excellent source of vitamin C and a good source of fiber and folate.

What to Look For:
Pick ones that are heavy for their size. Its nickname is "Emerald Green" because of its greenish-orange color.

Easy Storage and Preparation:
They will keep at room temperature for several days and a week or more if refrigerated.

Best Uses:
Loose skin allows them to be peeled easily. Sweet and seedless, they're great in fruit and green salads and good with poultry.

Sample Recipe:
Allen Susser's Orange-Mango Salsa

---

Tangerine

Nutritional Information:
Excellent source of vitamin C and a good source of fiber and folate.

What to Look For:
Select ones that are heavy for their size, free of bruises and brown spots. Color is not always an indicator, since some dark areas can be a sign of good, strong flavor.

Easy Storage and Preparation:
They will keep at room temperature for several days and a week or more if refrigerated.

Best Uses:
Loose skin allows tangerines to be peeled easily. Their tart flesh adds flavor to fruit or green salads but watch out for seeds. Good with poultry.

Sample Recipe:
Alice Waters' Orange Juice

---

NOTE: An excellent source contains more than 20 percent of the Daily Value for that nutrient. A good source contains between 10 and 19 percent of the Daily Value.

Source: Copyright © 2000 by Ellen Haas.
From the book "Great Adventures in Food" By Ellen Haas.
Used with permission of St. Martin's Press, LLC.