It happens reliably, when the first nip of fall is in the air. And it’s been happening reliably for decades, back to when I lived in Chicago and even in New York City. When the temperature drops, out come the recipe books, the cutting boards, and the pots and pans.

Salads, my go-to meal of choice, don’t appeal when the temperature plummets. This year, thanks to a recent meal at True Foods Kitchen, I’m looking for ways to recreate some of those scrumptious dishes: ancient grain bowls and roasted cauliflower with dates and pistachios.

Lately I feel like I’ve been suspended between the food of my youth, baked chicken and spaghetti and other plain fare, and some new cuisine in the making, some other way to eat, which is more plant- and grain-based, though not without the occasional bit of chicken or beef or fish.

I don’t have a lot of time for cooking, so that makes it difficult to prepare the sort of recipes I’ve just been reading. But maybe I’ll tackle a couple anyway. After all, the light is low and nights are dipping into the 30s.

It’s time.