National Honey Month in September offers inspiration for culinary creativity, exploring local flavors and celebrating the far-reaching impact of honey’s creators.

Honey has been used for food, medicine and more by cultures around the world throughout history, with an 8,000-year-old cave painting in Spain depicting honey harvesting. The natural sweeter is known to soothe sore throats and boost energy and contains a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and antioxidants, according to the National Honey Board.

Honeybees are among our planet’s most important animals as they pollinate a third of the food we eat.

Virginia honey is as varied as the state’s flowers, boasting unique flavors like wildflower, thistle and locust. More than 250,000 pounds of honey from roughly 7,000 honeybee colonies are produced annually in the state, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Celebrate our mighty honeybees by featuring locally sourced honey in vibrant fall dishes—like this honey grilled chicken or kale and apple salad.

Find Virginia honey near you by visiting the Virginia Grown website.

Honey Grilled Chicken

3 pounds fresh chicken parts, drained and patted dry

For marinade:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
juice of 1 orange, zest reserved for basting sauce

For basting sauce:

½ cup ketchup
½ cup honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons hot chili sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced, or 1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped, for garnish
reserved zest from 1 orange

In a plastic zipper bag, add the chicken pieces, olive oil, salt, pepper and orange juice. Toss and refrigerate.

In a small saucepan, combine all the basting sauce ingredients except the cilantro, and cook on low for 15 minutes. Reserve half of the sauce for garnishing.

Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high, and cook the chicken pieces on all sides for about 5 minutes per side. With a basting brush, coat one side of the chicken with sauce, and cook for 2 minutes. Turn the chicken and baste the other side, and continue cooking until the chicken is completely cooked through.

Remove the chicken from the grill and drizzle with the reserved sauce and cilantro.

Kale and Apple Salad with Honey Dijon Dressing

For salad:

1 bunch kale, washed and stems removed, or 14 ounces baby kale
juice of 1 lemon, zest reserved for dressing
1 teaspoon salt
1 apple, cored and thinly sliced
1 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
½ cup dried cherries
¼ cup grated parmesan

For vinaigrette:

1/3 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped finely
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
reserved zest from 1 lemon

Chop kale leaves into bite-size pieces. In a large bowl, toss together the kale, lemon juice and salt. Using your hands, massage the kale leaves a bit to soften them, and let sit for 15 minutes to an hour. 

While the kale is softening, whisk together the vinaigrette or shake all ingredients together in a jar, and set aside.

Add the apple slices, walnuts, dried cherries, parmesan and vinaigrette to the kale, toss to combine and serve.

—Recipes courtesy of the National Honey Board.