It's October, which means it is officially the season of football, pumpkins & squashes, soups, warming spices like cinnamon & cloves, the color orange & red, apples, and halloween.

But rather than use use any of those as inspiration, I decided to focus on (what I suspect is) an underrated herb ... sage.  

Sage is a perfect pair for many of the foods that are in season right now, so I wanted to celebrate all of the ways it can elevate your weekly meals.

As always, you'll find all of these recipes, and more, on our 
October Mealtime Inspiration Pinterest board. 

... paired with pasta

Aside from these meals all focusing on pasta, you might notice some other similarities between these "paired with pasta" fall recipes. (Can you say squash?!)

• Creamy Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta with Sausage and Spinach is not only beautiful but it also packs a nutritional punch with spinach and. butternut squash. Plus, it has a creamy sauce, which any kid is sure to at least try (if not love).
• These stuffed shells are vegan, but the recipe could easily be adapted with dairy ricotta.
• This recipe had me at browned butter ravioli. This one, which is similar but without walnuts, add fried sage leaves which are just fun!   
• My mother would not like this version which has goat cheese paired with butternut squash and sage, but I'm thinking of substituting feta (or just some parm shavings and giving it a try anyway. 
• Even though it's not pasta, doesn't gnocchi belong in this section anyway? This recipe calls for plain gnocchi in brown butter sage sauce, but you could easily sub in gnocchi made from squash if your heart desired. 

 ... paired with meat

I really should expand my cooking repertoire so there are more recipes for meatless meals. But when you have a husband who can't eat soy, legumes (including lentils and peas), egg, or gluten, a simply prepared meat tends to be the easiest thing to go to. Plus, when he's the one making it I just can't complain. 

• Just in time for Thanksgiving: 3-ingredient Turkey with Orange & Sage.
• ​Apples lend some sweetness (and additional fall feeling) to this Braised Chicken dish (be sure to read some of the comments before making - apparently it needs more salt).       
• Milk braised pork with lemon, served on a bed of fall greens, only takes 20 minutes to prepare (but does have a solid 3 hour cooking time).  
• Simplify dinner and just roast a whole chicken.   
• Meatballs are always a hit. These call for ground chicken, but turkey, pork, or beef would also work (although beef might overpower). This recipe adds orzo, which might make it a win-win for your kiddos. ​

... paired with veggies

Remember when I said there was a common theme besides sage, this section has it: butter and butternut squash. 

• This isn't really pairing with veggies ... it's basically just cooking a vegetable in sage, but ... you know ... same difference :). Butternut Squash Steaks With Brown Butter–Sage Sauce. Yes! 
• My family loves chicken pot pie. This version however is veg-forward and is still delicious! 
• Maybe just for grown-ups, this potato, onion, sage and gruyère tart is heavenly. (I keep hearing the character Anger from Inside Out when he discovered broccoli on pizza: "Way to ruin pizza, San-Fran-stinktown!") 
• This side dish doesn't actually have sage, but it's too beautiful and fall-y not to share.    
• Pumpkin & Sage biscuits. Enough said.

... as a beverage