HEALTHY AUTUMN FOODS TO LOOK OUT FOR

It’s pretty much always better to eat food that’s in-season. For your wallet, it’s a lot cheaper. For your health, it’s generally a lot better. In-season foods are abundant and don’t have to be shipped in from far away, ensuring freshness and minimising the chance of preservatives. So now that we’ve shuffled out of summer and are heading into winter, here are some healthy autumn foods you can enjoy over the next few months.

Firstly, here are just a few of the awesome foods in season this autumn:

• apple


• blackberry


• butternut squash


• Brussels sprouts


• cabbage (savoy and spring green)


• carrot


• cauliflower


• celery


• kale


• leek


• onion


• parsnip


• pear


• potato


• pumpkin


• purple sprouting broccoli


• spinach


• turnip

And many, many more.

As you can see there are a lot of root vegetables coming out to play this time of year. All of these foods are super healthy — and yes, that includes potato. If you eat reasonable amounts and don’t deep fry it every time you eat it, it’s actually a wonderful addition to a healthy diet.

So now we’ve got an idea of what’s in season, what foods should we make? Below we’ve got some great recipes you can try out using in-season healthy autumn foods.

ROASTED VEGGIES WITH GREEN TAHINI SAUCE

From www.delish.com

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 c. semi-pearled farro


• 2 c. butternut squash, cubed


• 2 c. baby bello mushrooms, quartered


• 2 c. Brussels sprouts, quartered or halved


• 6 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided


• kosher salt


• Black pepper


• 3 tbsp. lemon juice


• 1 small garlic clove, minced


• 2 tbsp. tahini


• 1/4 c. parsley leaves

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 220C/425F. Cover two baking sheets with aluminium foil.


2. Place farro in large saucepan and cover with cold water. Soak for 15 minutes, drain, return to pan, and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and let simmer for 15 minutes. Drain and spread out on a paper-lined baking sheet to cool.


3. Arrange vegetables on baking sheets and drizzle with half the olive oil. Season and toss to coat. Roast for about 18 minutes, or until golden and tender. Remove from the oven.


4. While the vegetables are roasting, combine lemon juice, garlic, tahini, parsley, and remaining olive oil in a food processor or blender. Add 3 tablespoons of water to thin the mixture and season with salt and pepper.


5. In a large bowl, toss farro and roasted vegetables. Serve into bowls and drizzle with tahini.

This roasted salad is full of in-season produce like Brussel sprouts and butternut squash. It’s super simple to make an excellent way to get a good dose of healthy autumn foods.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND QUINOA SALAD

From www.joyfulhealthyeats.com

INGREDIENTS

• 2½ cups butternut squash, cut into 1cm cubes (about 1 half butternut squash)


• 1½ cups red onion, cut into 1cm cubes


• 2 tablespoons olive oil


• 1 teaspoon sea salt


• 1 cup uncooked quinoa


• 2 cups water


• ⅓ cup dried cherries


• ¼ cup pepitas


• ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped


• 2 oz. crumbed goat cheese


• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar


• 2 tablespoons olive oil


• 1½ teaspoons raw honey


• dash of ground cinnamon


• salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 200C/400F


2. Add butternut squash and red onion to baking sheet. Season with olive oil and 1 teaspoon of sea salt. Toss to coat.


3. Bake for 20 minutes.


4. While the squash bakes, add quinoa and water to a small saucepan. Stir and bring mixture to a boil. Cover and reduce to simmer for 15 minutes, or until the liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat, let the quinoa sit for 2 minutes then fluff with a fork.


5. To make the dressing: mix the apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons of olive, raw honey, and ground cinnamon in a small bowl. Add salt to taste.


6. In a large bowl, add the squash, onion, quinio, dried cherries, pepitas, parsley, goat cheese, and dressing. Toss to mix together and serve.

Another roasted salad making the most of the in-season butternut squash. Don’t worry though! Not all of our healthy autumn foods are salads. Here’s some meals for the omnivores out there:

ONE-POT APPLE AND CHICKEN

From www.myrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided


• 4 (4-oz.) skinless, boneless chicken thighs


• 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided


• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided


• 1/2 cup unsalted chicken stock (such as Swanson)


• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard


• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage


• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary


• 2 medium apples, thinly sliced


• 1 small red onion, thinly vertically sliced

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 3/8 teaspoon salt and 3/8 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until chicken is done. Remove from pan.


2. Combine stock and mustard, stirring with a whisk. Add remaining oil to pan; swirl. Add remaining salt, pepper, sage, rosemary, apple, and onion to pan; cook 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in stock mixture. Return chicken to pan; cook 3 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half.

How easy is that? This recipe is fast, simple, and only uses a single dish! This would go well with one of the salads listed above as a complete meal for 4-6 people.

We’ve got meat, we’ve got salad, time to finish it off with something for dessert.

PUMPKIN, DATE AND ALMOND LOAF

From www.foodmatters.com

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups raw grated pumpkin


• 1 cup dates, chopped


• 2 Cups almond meal


• 3 eggs


• 1/4 cup coconut oil


• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon


• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger


• Pumpkin seeds to garnish

Optional:

• Honey


• Cashews

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat your oven to 150C/300F degrees fan forced or 170C/340F degrees no fan.


2. Combine pumpkin, eggs, coconut oil, cinnamon, ginger and dates. Add almond meal and mix through.


3. Pour into a loaf tin lined with baking paper and sprinkle pumpkin seeds on the top.


4. Bake for 1 hour or until cooked through. Remove from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.


5. Spread with organic butter to serve.


6. Optional: Instead of butter, glaze the loaf with honey and sprinkle with cashew nuts.

This loaf is excellent for people on gluten-free diets. It even becomes dairy free as well if you glaze with honey instead of butter at the end. Like the other recipes it’s simple and takes advantage of healthy autumn foods springing up around us.

We hope this has given you some ideas! Cooking in-season foods is cheaper, can be healthier, and makes life super simple if you prefer organic produce. Happy, healthy eating!