|
The Joys of Seasonal Eating
 Posted by Michelle Butler Dec 19 2010, 10:12 pm in cooking, eating healthy, food, Michelle Butler, Michelle Mondays, recipes No, this is not another post about how hard it is to control your eating during the holidays. I’m talking about another kind of seasonal eating, the kind that Michael Pollan, Alice Waters and other foodies rave about. It’s the kind I’m slowly learning to appreciate as I continue my journey to become a healthy eater and writer. It is all about eating food that is fresh and in season. In her book The Art of Simple Food, Alice Waters shares her nine principles of good cooking. They are:
Since I’m focusing on eating seasonally in this piece, I’m going to share more of what she has to say about it: Eat seasonally. Choose food in season. Even where the growing season is short, organic gardening and farming can extend it: greens can be grown in cold frames and greenhouses, and there are always local foods that can be stored, dried and canned for the winter months. Eating seasonally inspires your menus, gives you a sense of time and place, and rewards you with the most flavorful food. Her last bit that eating seasonally means you will be eating the most flavorful food is the most powerful, convincing argument for the whole concept to me. A close second, and one that she doesn’t even mention, is that when you eat seasonally, you often pay less for your food. The fruits and vegetables that are most in season are always the ones that will cost the least amount at the grocery store. Saving money always does my frugal, bargain-loving soul good. Eating seasonally is very easy in the spring, summer, and fall, but it is just as tasty and beneficial when it’s 20-something degrees outside. Even in the heart of winter, there are great-tasting seasonal fruits and vegetables to be found in your local market. As you may know from Mary Curry’s weekly posts on vegetables and other sources, now is a good time for beets, many greens such as kale or collard; winter squashes such as acorn, butternut and pumpkin; cauliflower, potatoes (pretty much every kind but “new”), other root vegetables such as carrots, parsnips, turnips, etc.; cabbage, chicories, fennel, and brussels sprouts. It’s also clementine orange time, and I have an almost empty wooden box of them in my refrigerator as I’ve been snacking on them all week. I first started to dabble in winter seasonal eating last year, and I discovered how much I liked kale. One of my favorite soups that feature kale is Caldo Verde – a Portuguese staple. Caldo Verde Grated into the soup, the potato melts, its starch thickening the broth into a creamy winter warmer. POINTS® value 4 per serving – 5 PointsPlus per serving * 1 spray nonstick cooking spray Instructions 1. Spray a large saucepan with nonstick spray; set over medium heat. Add the onion; cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 20 seconds. Serving size: 1 1/2 cups. I often use turkey kiebalsa (polish sausage) in here but have also used italian turkey sausage and regular kiebalsa/sausage. Obviously, the regular sausage ups the points/calories. I’ll also say that I think the kale I get in the winter is the best I get all year long. Who would have ever thought that? Another favorite winter vegetable recipe I discovered courtesy of Weight Watchers last year is roasted fennel and carrots. Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
You won’t be surprised to know that I’ve “modified this recipe” by sprinkling the veggies with freshly squeezed orange juice and zest before I roast them. It also seems to take me closer to 30 or 40 minutes to roast the veggies enough. I absolutely love this dish! Now that I know about the joys and benefits of seasonal cooking, I’m always on the lookout for new ideas. I went to a healthy cooking demonstration at work early last week, and one of the dishes was Not Your Mama’s Brussels Sprouts. My parents have strongly disliked brussels sprouts since they had to eat them all the time when the lived in England in the 60′s, and they passed on their distaste to me. I was so surprised that the Brussels Sprouts were my favorite part of the three dishes the healthy cook made for us. It was so surprisingly good that I wanted to share. Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil (I used less) 1. In large pan, add olive oil, a pinch of salt, and turn the heat to medium-high. It really was yummy. I took some of the extra brussels sprouts home that night and did it again with less oil and some goya seasoning tossed on. I bet you could do a healthy sautee and use a little chicken broth instead of oil as well. I definitely plan to make brussels sprouts this way again. Cutting them up really improved the experience – more like cabbage then. Do you try to eat and cook seasonally? Do you have any suggestions or recipes to share? What do you think of Alice Waters’s nine principles of good cooking?
Comments
15 Responses to “The Joys of Seasonal Eating”Leave a Reply |
The Latest Posts
archives
tags
10 Healthy Guidelines
Anna Sugden
bad habits
calories
clothing
confidence
cookbooks
cooking
eating healthy
Emotional Eating
exercise
Expectations
fear
fitness
food
food diary
goals
guest blogger
health tips
Holidays
inspiration
Inspiration Sunday
Keri Mikulski
Michelle Butler
Michelle Mondays
motivation
non-scale victories
portion control
positive thinking
process
progress
Rachel Graves
recipes
running
Sally Kilpatrick
small changes
stress
Tawny's Thursdays
Tawny Thursday
Tawny Weber
The Biggest Loser
Trish Milburn
walking
weight loss
Writing
feeds
the healthy writers
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
home | about | the writers | resources | blog | contact
©2010 The Healthy Writer Blog. All rights reserved.
Site designed and maintained by Bemis Promotions.
Hi Michelle.
I’ve been trying to stay seasonal with the vegetables in the Saturday blog. I find that vegetables seem to appeal to me in season. I’m not sure why, it just feels right.
Ironically, twice this week dinner was centered around salads. That felt too summery to me, but since I’m trying to get in more of those veggies, I made the salads anyway.
You recipes sound delicious. Now I just have to find some time to cook more.
That’s so interesting that veggies just appeal to you in season. I wonder if you picked up seasonal identification for veggies growing up. I did some.
As you know, I’m really a fan of marathon cooking sessions and freezing stuff for later meals.
Interesting post, Michelle. Ever since we moved back home, we’ve had an allotment – a vegetable patch – and hubby has been growing his own veg. We’ve also planted fruit trees in our garden and created a herb garden.
We saw a program on the BBC and in it the lady presenter, Alis Fowler, was trying to take something from her garden every day of the year and keep her garden looking good. So, we took on her challenge and have been trying to eat something we’ve grown every day. It’s actually easier than you think, but by making the commitment you focus on eating what you produce – which is good all round. I certainly believe it’s healthier – plus it’s good exercise *g*
We also compost – it’s amazing how two people can create enough for two large compost bins to be in play year round (that includes garden waste)!
The key with sprouts is not to overcook them. Hubby has developed some awesome recipes for them (inspired by a meal we had at one of Tom Colicchio’s restaurants) including chopped with apples and sauteed in butter, chopped with chestnuts and served with low fat cream. Sprouts also make a great soup!
I did think of you when I read principle #4 – plant a garden! You do make it sound like fun.
I’ve learn a decent amount about eating seasonally on my vacations to England. I always love going to tour some old estate (Chatsworth, etc.), and lots of them have garden shops and garden tours and presentations on eating seasonally. I’ve learned that brussels sprouts grows year long.
My parents did say the brussels sprouts were overcooked in the 60′s, but they’re still not interested in eating a lot more brussels sprouts. Of course, my dad still refuses to eat ham because he said he had it every day when he was stationed in Vietnam.
That’s interesting about your dad, mine’s the same about anything with saccharine in it (something to do with the after-taste), powdered milk and eggs and Spam – because of the war in Europe.
I hate the taste of UHT milk from our days in Afghanistan.
I bet they’d love the Sprout soup – especially if you called it something else *g*. Mine’s a variant on leek and potato soup that has added sliced sprouts.
My dad loves cabbage, so if it was called potato, leek and cabbage soup, he’d be keen to try it.
Specific food/dishes can bring back strong memories, can’t it? Everyone talks about comfort food – but not so much of the food with bad memories.
Growing up, we ate seasonally in the summer when the garden was in, then the winter was full of either hearty meals like chili and spaghetti or meals that featured veggies and fruits we canned or froze the summer before.
My challenge is trying new veggies. I’m excited to try some of the new squashes because I’m getting a taste for them. Carrots aren’t my favorite–unless raw and dipped in hummus. I can’t seem to muster enthusiasm for brussel sprouts, though–thanks for the recipe, and I will try to find the courage to try it.
The general concept of eating seasonally is dead on, though. During the summer, I would always lose weight–and we fried more foods than we should have, too!
My two favorite things to eat straight out of out teeny garden are tomatoes and cucumbers, but I’ve not tried anything other than the summer garden. We’ve been fascinated with greenhouses, and I think if we ever move to the country, we’ll build one.
I’m not a fan of Brussels sprouts, but that recipe sounds tasty. Will have to try.
You gardeners are so ahead of me!
It might be fun to see if you could expand your summer garden to a fall one – or more of a year-round one like Anna is doing.
Like I said to Sally, please let me know if you try the brussels sprouts recipe. It really was yummy.
If you like it, you could plant some – that would give you a year-round garden with just one plant.
My mother always says it’s easiest to diet in the summer because there are so many, yummy fruits and veggies – you almost don’t want to eat anything else. I think part of the dietary strength of eating fruits and veggies is that they are so much healthier than what they replace. They make you feel full and stay full in a much healthier way than refined carbs, etc.
I do think there are always going to be some fruits or veggies or whatever food that we just don’t like. I’m not sure if I’m every going to be a fan of peas – or liver. If you like cabbage, you may like the brussels sprouts recipe above. Let me know if you try it!
I’m late to posting, but wanted to let you know I appreciated the recipes. I’m definitely going to try to roasted fennel and carrot recipe. And I *love* brussel sprouts. I’ve never tried them this way, but I think I’ll give it a try. Maybe someday I’ll find a way to serve them that my husband will eat. I have converted him to broccoli and cauliflower…so it’s possible.
You definitely win the brussels sprouts fan award!
It is good to know that there are people who love brussels sprouts. I’m definitely more of a fan when they are chopped up. Good luck with your husband!
Let me know if you like the fennel and carrot recipe. i find it a terribly delicious delicious. In fact, last week I followed a recipe for a chicken breast baked in foil with fennel, carrots and oranges. The same cookbook as a similar recipe for cod too. Pretty easy and yummy.
[...] Continue to follow Michael Pollan (Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants) and Alice Waters’s eating advice. [...]
[...] [...]
[...] Michelle posted her Caldo Verde Soup recipe here. [...]