Savor the overlap from summer to fall

Cooking in early fall can be confusing. Farmers markets and grocery stores are caught between two seasons: The last of the summer harvest is still perfectly ripe, while fall’s first crops are already inching their way into the produce section. Do you keep leaning on summer salads and grilled vegetables, or start roasting squash and baking casseroles?

Luckily, you don’t have to choose; this is one of the most flexible times of the year in the kitchen. Summer produce, like tomatoes and eggplant, can shift easily into cold-weather preparations — roasting, baking, stewing — while apples and winter squash can be treated lightly so they don’t feel too heavy on a warm fall day. The four recipes featured in today’s column do just that.

Garlic and Cherry Tomato Baked Chicken: By late September, w