For T-day, a harvest of tastes

IT’S the Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving and I bet I know where you’re going. Trust me, you won’t be alone. Traditionally, this is one of the busiest days of the year for farmers markets -- so much so that last week the farmers were warning their good customers to arrive early to be sure they could get what they want.

It’s no wonder the markets will be packed today -- even setting aside Thursday’s big dinner. The reason is simple: There’s so much good stuff. It doesn’t matter whether you’re shopping at the queen bee in Santa Monica, the scrappy little downtown market next to the Central Library or any of the more than a dozen other markets in Southern California, the farm stands are overflowing.

Our late-starting summer has turned out to be slow to finish. And along with those warm temperatures, you can still find September-quality tomatoes, peppers and summer squash. Last week one farm stand had 15 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, and the ones I sampled were almost as sweet and tart as they were two months ago.

But for Thanksgiving, let’s stay in an autumnal mood. One of my fall favorites is roasted vegetables. They have a homely reputation, but also have their own quiet beauty.

Just think about golden, white and orange carrots; red, white and purple potatoes; gnarled sunchokes; and slim pale parsnips. Now picture them caramelized and burnished in a hot oven.

Whichever you choose to serve alongside the turkey, the technique is the same. Blanch the vegetables in boiling, salted water until they are quite tender but not falling apart. This will range from eight to 10 minutes for carrots, 15 to 18 minutes for potatoes, and can be done a day in advance. If you’re doing an assortment of roots, cook separately to make sure each is done perfectly.

When you’re almost ready to serve, heat a skillet with butter until it’s sizzling and add the blanched vegetables. Toss to coat, add some minced shallots and maybe a little thyme, and put the skillet in the oven to finish cooking for about 20 minutes. Stir once or twice to get everything evenly browned. If you’re a non-gravy person, use the pan juices from the turkey instead.

Those same root vegetables can also be braised: Cook them in a covered skillet with a little water and a little more butter until they’re tender, then remove the lid and increase the heat to high to evaporate the liquid and brown them. This intensifies the flavor.

Winter squashes -- tawny butternuts, speckled buttercups and green and orange kabocha that look like rustic pottery -- are almost irresistible now. Different types of squash have slightly different flavors and textures, but you can cut them in half, roast them in a 400-degree oven, and when tender, scrape them from their shells and puree them just as you would root vegetables.

There are many kinds of cooking greens too: chards with their rainbow-colored stems, deeply cupped, brilliant green cabbage, frilly pale mustard greens, kale with flesh leaves so dark green they’re almost black, and one of my fall favorites, Brussels sprouts (see recipe, Page 3).

Braise kale, chard, mustards or spinach quickly in a covered pan, then remove the lid to evaporate the liquid. Meatier greens such as kale and chard can also get the roasting pan treatment: Wash them well and, without drying them, toss them in the hot pan. Toss and scrape with a wooden spoon. The water left on the leaves will deglaze the pan nicely and the greens will soften and absorb all of that flavor.

Maybe you want something crisp to counter the sweet potatoes and dressing. Green beans -- whether they’re green, yellow or even purple -- are looking great now. They can be blanched ahead of time, then dressed with olive oil and lemon just before serving. Prepare broccoli and cauliflower florets the same way.

Crisp, tart pickles are just the thing to serve with such a heavy meal. It’s easy to do: Make a brine by boiling equal parts water and vinegar with a generous amount of salt, black peppercorns, coriander seed, fennel seed and whatever else seems appropriate. Remove from the heat and let the flavors steep a couple of minutes. Then pour the brine over cut-up onions, cauliflower, green beans and turnips. Cover tightly and refrigerate. They’ll be ready by Thursday’s dinner.

Desserts can be just as simple. I’m having a hard time resisting persimmons, with their shiny, saturated orange skin.

One of my favorite fall desserts is made with the flat, little Fuyus that can be eaten when they’re crisp. Muddle some fresh mint, a little sugar and lemon or lime juice in the bottom of a big bowl. Add the persimmons, cut into bite-sized pieces. Toss to coat lightly with the dressing, and the dessert is ready to go. It’s sweet, it’s tart, it’s crisp and it’s complex. It’s just what you want.

If you still need something creamy and sweet, you can use the larger, acorn-shaped Hachiya persimmons. Cut them in quarters from tip to calyx and fill the center with bourbon-scented whipped cream. Sprinkle with toasted walnuts. Be sure to buy persimmons that are already ripe; you can soften hard Hachiyas by freezing them overnight and then thawing them, but they won’t develop the same luscious sweetness.

Dates are also terrific at this time of year. They’ve lost that incredible moistness some of them have when they’re freshly harvested, but as they’ve dried their sugars have concentrated and they’ve gained a slight chewiness.

Citrus is just entering its high season. The first seedless mandarins are in the market -- mostly Satsumas -- and you can make a terrific light dessert by warming honey with lavender or rosemary leaves and pouring that over a plate of mandarins that you’ve peeled and pulled into sections.

Spectacular flavor and less than 15 minutes’ preparation. Thanksgiving doesn’t get any sweeter than that.

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russ.parsons@latimes.com