Healthy fall recipes to help with better eating

Guest Commentary:

I love fall. It is a wonderful time of year to celebrate and embrace change in our lives and nature. Just as the trees begin to transform with orange, red, yellow leaves and the weather cools down a bit, we also start to prepare ourselves. Harvesting the rest of your garden, preparing wood for the winter, or pulling the sweaters out for easier access on cool mornings. Perhaps you have started changing your eating habits from berries and greens to squashes and pumpkins, or at least pumpkin flavored everything.  

Eating seasonal fruits and vegetables is a wonderful way to add variety to your diet, enjoy the bounty of your garden, and save a little money on groceries because in-season produce is generally cheaper. If that is not reason enough for you to go buy and make some of these food items, then let’s discuss other reasons why they are good for you.

Squash includes many varieties, including spaghetti squash, pumpkins, butternut squash, acorn squash and on and on. They include a huge amount of vitamin A, as well as significant amounts of vitamins C, E, B6, niacin, thiamin, pantothenic acid, and folate. In terms of minerals, squash contain magnesium, potassium, manganese, copper, phosphorous, calcium, and iron.

Apples are a super convenient food. Just grab and go. Even though you can buy apples all year long, they are best from September to November. There are many varieties of apples and eating the entire apple provides a good source of vitamin-C and beta-carotene, B-complex vitamins such as riboflavin, thiamin, and pyridoxine, rich in antioxidant phyto-nutrients flavonoids and polyphenolics, and the fruit is rich in dietary fiber.  

Brussels sprouts are a member of the cabbage family and grow on a stalk about 1-2 inches in size. They contain excellent levels of vitamin C and vitamin K, with more moderate amounts of B vitamins, such as folic acid and vitamin B6.  These little guys are not just for holiday meals.  I personally love to saute them with bacon and garlic as a side dish.  

There are many more fruits and veggies that I could share with you but now let’s get cooking. I included recipes for each food item we discussed above. Remember to enjoy all foods in moderation.  Happy cooking and baking.

Pumpkin Spice Cookies:

Preheat oven to 350° F. Coat baking sheets with cooking spray.  Whisk 1 ? cup all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda, ½ tsp salt, 1tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp ginger, ¼ tsp allspice and ¼ tsp nutmeg in a large bowl. Whisk 2 eggs, ¾ cup brown sugar (or ? cup Stevia), ¾ cup pumpkin puree, ¼ cup oil and ¼ cup molasses in a second bowl until well combined. Stir the wet ingredients and 1 cup raisins into the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined.  Drop the batter by level tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets, spacing the cookies about 1-2 inches apart.  Bake the cookies until firm to the touch and lightly golden on top, 10 to 12 minutes. 

Beet & Apple Salad:

Toss 2 thinly sliced apples, 4 thinly sliced celery stalks (with leaves) and 1 minced shallot in a bowl with the juice of 1 lemon. Peel 1 beet, then slice into matchsticks and add to the bowl. Toss in 1 tsp sugar, 3 tbsp chopped walnuts, 3 tbsp olive oil, and salt and pepper. Let stand 10 minutes.

Roasted Brussels sprouts and grapes:

Heat oven to 375° F. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss 1 ½ Brussels sprouts and 1 lb. grapes with the 3 tbsp oil, 2 sliced garlic cloves, ½ tbsp thyme, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.  Turn the Brussels sprouts cut-side down and roast until golden brown and tender, 20 to 25 minutes.