Feels like fall

It's starting to really feel like fall here in Austin. Cooler nights and crisp clear days. We've even had some good thunder storms roll through! I'm mourning the end of the long days summer, the end of the hot nights perfect for eating watermelon on the porch, the end of fresh berries, and the last of the afternoons spent swimming and lounging at Barton Springs.

Saying goodbye to watermelon is harder for me than I can say. I find some consolation in the abundance of gorgeous winter squash, another of my very favorite foods!

As the weather changes the seasonal produce transitions from the water filled fruiting plants of summer (think cucumber, zucchini, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, strawberries, blueberries, watermelon, etc.) to the roots and hardier veggies of autumn (like carrots, winter squash, sweet potatoes, beets, cabbage, kale, etc.) Eating with the seasons is somewhat intuitive, but it can also take practice. In this globalized food system we've gotten used to having anything at any time. It is not uncommon in our grocery stores to see apples all summer, and tomatoes, asparagus, and even berries through the winter. So it takes conscious attention to eat seasonally.

In Chinese medicine autumn is the time of the metal element. Paul Pitchford writes that "Fall is the season of harvest, a time to pull inward and gather together on all levels...Everything in nature contracts and moves its essence inward and downward" (Healing with Whole Foods, p. 346) In this abundant yet contracting season Pitchford recommends that we eat heartier foods, cook with less water, and at lower heat for longer periods of time like baking.

Here in Texas where its still quite warm and sunny I still tend to eat lots of raw foods, salads, and smoothies through the fall. I do find myself baking more often and relishing the delicious caramel flavors of roasted squash, warming soups and cooked grains. Here's a bit of what I've been cooking up lately...

This dinner tasted like Thanksgiving had come early! And it's plated on my grandma's fancy china. 

Massaged kale + halved and roasted sweet dumpling squash + herbed millet pilaf with peas and cauliflower + carrot avocado glaze + pomegranate

The best batch of saurkraut I think I've ever made. Yes, I write love notes on my kraut.

Made with red and green cabbage, red onion, daikon, salt, cumin and caraway seeds

Napa cabbage boats + chickpea and parsley mash + shredded lettuce and carrot + a delicious red pepper tahini sauce + kraut on the side

simple breakfast of cinnamon apple slices + almond pulp cookies

Sprouted mung dal with sweet potato & cauliflower + carrot avocado cream sauce + flash steamed kale tossed in cilantro lime dressing

My post-yoga/pre-work breakfast to go: overnight white chia & oats in almond milk + dried super berries & cashews + cinnamon apples

When your smoothie matches your outfit you know its a good day! Banana raspberry chai smoothie + white chia soaked in almond milk with maca and mesquite + coconut flakes +goji berries

Another chia parfait! This time the smoothie was young coconut + pear + spinach + spirulina +date. Topped with toasted coconut

Butter lettuce, spinach & homegrown arugula + cucumber + carrot + chickpeas + pomegranate + parsley and olives. With a delicious orange carrot tahini dressing inspired by Earthyfeast

Purple cabbage & baby bok choi slaw + golden beet + caramelized onion + sauteed tempeh + green olives + ginger orange tahini dressing

Another post-yoga/pre-work breakfast to go: sprouted whole wheat sourdough + avocado + dual color kraut + vegan ceasar dressing + cilantro

Collard wraps with roasted kabocha squash, lettuce ribbons & cilantro + vegan ceasar style dressing + rainbow kraut

roasted turban squash, cauliflower & kabocha squash in coconut oil

roasted kabocha squash, cauliflower & white bean soup + massaged kale salad with lemon tahini turmeric dressing + sprouted whole wheat sourdough bread

 

oatmeal + carrot + dried fig & date + ground flax + vitamineral earth + a sprinkling of bee pollen & hemp seeds + homemade pepita milk