Tasty seasonal produce list
Fresh fruits and vegetables are the main things missing in most unhealthy diets. But if eating these items becomes a treat… you’re more likely to stick to it. And when you do, they will start replacing calorie-dense foods in your diet, making it easier to slim down. Listed are the freshest, most in-season produce on the market right now. So grab a pencil and paper and start making your shopping list. Enjoy! 🙂
Apricots: Delicious raw when ripe, but if you have trouble finding perfectly soft apricots, try grilling slightly underripe fruit to bring out the sweetness. Serve with a little plain yogurt and bittersweet chocolate for a great dessert.
Fennel: This earthy plant tastes faintly like licorice, and it’s delicious with seafood. Try tossing it in olive oil and roasting with orange zest and onions for a great side dish.
Jicama: This vegetable tastes a bit like a rm, less-sweet pear… and looks a little like a potato. It’s sturdy, so it’s great for dips like hummus, guacamole, and caramelized onion dip.
Blueberries: Delicious as a quick snack, blueberries Consider tossing them into a salad or even a stir-fry for an addictive punch of sweetness.
Garlic: Available all year round but especially fresh and pungent in the late spring. Look for tight heads of garlic with no soft spots, and the paper outside still intact. And if you see garlic with purple streaks, that’s a good thing! Try roasting your garlic in the oven until golden brown and soft to mellow out the pungent flavor.
Mushrooms: If you see fresh mushrooms, pick them up immediately – when they’re in season, the flavor is incredibly earthy and rich. And any mushroom works beautifully sautéed in a hot pan with olive oil, sea salt, and a little thyme – just make sure the pan is hot and don’t over ll it.
Parsley: More than just garnish on your plate. Parsley (especially ultra- flavorful Italian parsley deserves to be treated like a vegetable in its own right. Finely dice parsley and toss with beans, brown rice, and tomatoes for a flavorful treat, use it to make pestos, or chop it into a salad.
Strawberries: They’re so good on their own that you really don’t need to do a thing to strawberries, but if you end up with an underripe batch, here’s a tip: slice them thin and sprinkle with the juice of an orange and a TINY bit of almond extract to highlight the natural sweetness.
Turnips: This root, gets mistaken for a radish, are earthy and delicious when simply roasted. They’re also a delicious stand-in for potatoes. Just steam them and mash with a little butter.
Mustard Greens: Kale’s peppery cousin, mustard greens are delicious sautéed with garlic, olive oil, and raisins. They also work as wraps, cooked into soups, and thinly sliced into stir-fries.
Rhubarb: This sour stem is unusual, in that it’s mostly used in sweet dishes, and it’s a classic with strawberries. Dessert aside, it’s delicious pickled, roasted with onions and carrots, and shaved thin over a salad with a little goat cheese.
Apples: Apples are just beginning to come into season this month – especially the sweeter varieties, like sugar apples, gala, honeycrisp, and Jonagold. You can definitely bake with apples – and with sweeter varieties, you don’t need to add much sugar – but they’re also wonderful tossed into a salad with bitter greens, like kale or mustard greens.
Artichokes: They’re all over the farmer’s markets here in California, which means they’ll be hitting the rest of the country soon. You can eat whole artichokes by pulling o the petals, and scraping the meat o each one with your teeth… but personally, I like artichoke hearts, the fleshy inner part of the vegetable. They’re good pickled, shaved into salads, or sautéed.
Brussels Sprouts: One of my favorite cruciferous vegetables, brussels sprouts look like mini-cabbages, and they’re easy to cook… just don’t steam them to death or you’ll get that sulfury “fart” flavor. I suggest sautéing or roasting until the edges are crispy and the centers are tender.
Cauliflower: It’s available all year round, but fresh, farmer’s market cauliflower is especially good this time of the year. Not everyone’s a fan of the texture, but there are ways to disguise that, such as roasting until crispy, or mashing like potatoes.
Chard: This leafy green is more tender and less bitter than kale, but still packs a big nutritional punch. Use it sautéed with garlic as a simple side dish, or cut it into ribbons and use in a salad or slaw. Main ingredient in “KracK Juice” See recipe.
Delicata Squash: Some of the first of the fall/winter squash, these small, ribbed squash are delicious sautéed or roasted – I’m partial to roast delicata squash in salads. Since the skin is so thin, you can even eat the skin rather than spending time peeling it.
Ginger: Another one you can and all year, but in late summer/early fall, ginger is especially potent and pungent. Look for ginger roots with thin, almost wet-looking translucent skin for the most flavor.
Grapes: If you see grapes at your local farm stand or farmer’s market, stop and get them – because they’re NEVER more flavorful than they are right now, especially sweeter varieties like moscato. Use them as a snack, or try tossing them into your favorite salad for a sweet kick.
Pears: Pears are just starting to come into season, especially fragrant Bartlett pears, often described as having the ideal pear flavor. Look for golden yellow skin if you want a sweet pear, or green skin for a tart, crunchy fruit. And remember – pears must ripen at room temperature!
Prune Plums: These dark purple, oval-shaped plums have a soft, almost jelly-like skin and delicate fresh – they’re best eaten raw, or slow roasted, and they make a very favorful jam.
Wow! That’s a lot of tasty, nutritious food. And now, we need to put it to good use… as FUEL.
Essential Holiday Spices
Whenever I think of holiday foods, I think of spices…
The irresistible warm aromas of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and so on…
There’s something very soothing and comforting about a house filled with these enticing smells, isn’t there?
And they do more than just smell good — and taste great…
They also have some pretty amazing health benefits.
First, I need to point out one problem…
During holiday season, these spices are often stuffed into sugary, unhealthy foods like cookies and pies…
However, they don’t have to be!
Let me show how to enjoy three of the most popular holiday spices… without falling off the health wagon. And some wonderful health benefits you can enjoy along the way!
Cinnamon
Cinnamon has been linked to better heart health, reduced blood pressure, lower blood sugar levels, a healthier immune system, and improved cognitive function.
And it’s a great way to add flavor and a little sweetness to foods without the calories.
You can sprinkle some on baked sweet potatoes — which are excellent sources of fiber, vitamin C, potassium, and beta-carotene.
Now, a lot of baked pears recipes call for brown sugar, but you don’t need it. Cinnamon plays up the natural sweetness of the pear!
Simply core and slice some pears into sections, put it into a shallow baking dish, sprinkle on some cinnamon, and bake it at 350ºF for 15 minutes.
You can also cook the pears in your microwave in a just a few minutes.
Bonus: To make your pear dessert richer, add a spoonful of Greek yogurt
Nutmeg
Nutmeg has been used to preserve cognitive function, improve blood circulation, aid in digestion, and help with bone and tissue growth.
And in the kitchen, nutmeg is wonderful on healthy veggies like cauliflower, cabbage, and broccoli…
Especially if you usually have a hard time eating these veggies!
You can steam, roast, or stir-fry your veggies, then sprinkle on some nutmeg before serving. Instantly delicious!
I also like a little nutmeg on my oatmeal, along with a few raisins and some nuts — like almonds or walnuts.
Try a bowl this way and you won’t need to add sugar. It’s delicious, and you’ll get the protein, fiber, heart health, and cholesterol benefits of the oats.
Ginger
Ginger has countless uses in traditional medicine…
Some include reducing nausea, easing muscle aches and joint pain, lowering blood sugar, regulating cholesterol, relieving indigestion, and improving brain function.
And it’s got just as many uses in the kitchen. It goes perfectly with just about every kind of food — from appetizers to desserts.
When cooking with ginger, you can use either fresh ginger or ginger spice.
For example, one of my favorite ways to enjoy ginger spice is sprinkled on sliced pears or peaches, as a healthy dessert.
And ginger is a wonderful complement to poultry and fish entrees, too — especially in yummy stir-fries.
You can cook fresh ginger into the stir-fry, or have a shaker of ginger spice on your table so you can ‘gingerize’ to your personal Taste.
Don’t be afraid to experiment!
Don’t hesitate to try cinnamon, nutmeg, or ginger on some of your own favorite dishes.
You’ll be amazed at how many foods can be transformed with just a little spicing up.