Seasonal Eating Simplified

July 27, 2015 2361

One of the simplest things you can do to improve your health is to eat seasonally. Eat what is grown when it is fresh in your area of the planet. Is sounds incredible simple but for some its not all that simple. After all, with supermarkets we can buy almost anything we want, at any time we want. Mangoes and grapes, fresh for the picking- even in the dead of winter!

The problem with eating whatever we want whenever we want is that we’ve stopped listening to Mother Nature – and she’s one smart lady! Foods that grow in the hot summer months have cooling properties to keep our insides warm in the sweltering heat. You don’t even have to eat them raw to reap the benefits. Blanching your favorite vegetables and then letting them cool down is makes an amazing salad. And for many people cooked foods are so much more healing than raw- all depending on your condition. In the winter there is a bounty of root vegetables that help keep us warm and animal proteins are emphasized in the cooler months rather than in the summer. Think about a hot beef stew and a cold gazpacho. These are perfectly made with seasonal ingredients when they’re made at the right time of the year!

Another thing to keep in mind is what grows where you live. Unless you’re in the tropics, eating mangoes and bananas every single day is not the best idea – pretty sad for me because I LOVE mangoes. Eat what grows where you are! Not listening to Mother Nature can lead to imbalance in the body, and who has time for that?

The easiest way to eat seasonally is to shop at your local farmers market, sign up for a CSA or find a local produce service that delivers fresh produce to your door (there are so many of these nowadays but the key is to make sure that they are LOCAL). Check out my favorite tips on how to shop your local farmers market!

I’ve found that one of the easiest ways to eat locally and not fall into a rut is with some cookbooks that focus on seasonal produce. I also happen to be a little obsessed with cookbooks.

These 3 are by far my favorite so far- if you have any recommendations please let me know! There are some delicious, very simple to prepare meals in here and even better my picky 4 year old loves the recipes too! AND it’s gotten here to try new food, like chickpeas, which she now loves.

Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Express