Recipes! Baked Apples With Honey, Nuts and Tahini; Sweet and Spicy Pepper Pasta; Spicy Peanut Noodles With Cucumbers and Chicken

What to cook during the week ahead, from Post Food editors.

Early on in my relationship with my then-boyfriend, now-husband, I remember my eyes nearly popping out of my head, cartoon-style, when I witnessed him sprinkle a generous dose of sugar on a bowl of strawberries. Granted, these were probably disappointing grocery store berries, but still! It felt excessive. Now that we're older and more health-conscious, not to mention avid consumers of farmers market fruit, things are a bit different.

That being said, I cook and bake with sugar often, using it where it most counts. And I'm not averse to pairing sweeteners with fruit either, in the right context. One of my favorites: Apples and honey, a classic combination popular during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, which begins Wednesday night.

I grew up dipping wedges of juicy fruit into the golden elixir with reckless abandon on this special occasion. Ellie Krieger, too, has a spot of nostalgia for the autumn staple. Her Baked Apples With Honey, Nuts and Tahini are a simple, elegant and light dessert. They're gently sweet and punctuated with crunchy texture and toasted flavors from walnuts and sesame seeds. Serve them at Rosh Hashanah or any time you want a crowd-pleasing fall treat. One reader already did just that: "I had company coming for dinner yesterday and needed a simple dessert. Taking a chance, I made this, following the recipe exactly. It was excellent! I was dubious about the amount of sesame flavor, but it all worked really well together. We and our guests were impressed!"

In Sweet and Spicy Pepper Pasta, Daniela Galarza teases out the sweetness of red bell peppers — botanically a fruit! — and sets it against the backdrop of the sharpness of garlic, fennel seeds, oregano and an optional hot pepper. It captures the essence of stuffed peppers in a less-taxing, family-friendly format.

Aaron Hutcherson's Spicy Peanut Noodles With Cucumbers and Chicken is another zesty option from this week. Inspired by the TikTok-famous salads, this 25-minute meal uses a whole cucumber (yes, also technically a fruit) and tosses it with rice vermicelli coated in a peanut and chili crisp sauce. The noodles are merely soaked in hot water, so if you start with precooked chicken, such as from a rotisserie bird, it's a no-cook dinner.

What else about cooking is on your mind these days? Have you already started to think ahead to the holidays? (We certainly have!) Aaron and I will be taking all your food-related questions in our live weekly chat Wednesday at noon Eastern. You can send them along now and then return next week once we kick things off.

Until next time, be well and happy cooking.