Posted by Janis Jibrin on Fri, Oct 23, 2009
Before I even had time to miss the peaches, blueberries and other summer fruit that had become my breakfast and snacking staples for the past few months, in came the wonderful fall fruit offerings. When you think of fruit, fall probably isn't the first season that comes to mind, but you'd be surprised by how many flavorful choices you have: Apples, pears, citrus, and grapes are all at their peak right now.
You can count on these fresh picks to deliver loads of flavor—whether you're adding them to salads, snacking on them right out of the crisper, or incorporating them into your recipes. Plus, they also can help keep you healthy. Take a look below to see what each offers.
Apples: They're a good source of a beneficial compound called quercetin, which helps fight cancer. Quercetin seems to have both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Not to mention, apples are high in fiber. You'll get three grams for a medium, 75-calorie apple.
Pears: Eat the skin, not only for its fiber (six grams for a medium pear), but also because USDA research shows that the different varieties of pears contain different types of antioxidants in their skins.
Grapefruit: Just ½ grapefruit (40 calories) covers about half
your vitamin C requirement for the day, and if you're eating a red or
pink variety, you'll also score 30 percent of your day's vitamin A
needs. Grapefruit's two main bioflavonoids are naringin and naringenin,
antioxidants that help prevent chronic disease. (Remember, grapefruit
can interfere with a variety of medications, so check with your doctor
to make sure it's OK to eat it.)
Grapes: You've likely heard about the phytonutrients (resveratrol, in particular) in red wine. That compound, of course, comes from grapes. And it's not just red grapes: Grapes of all colors are rich in resveratrol, an antioxidant that promotes heart health and also helps stave off cancer. Red and black grapes get their color from anthocyanins, another beneficial antioxidant.
Oranges: For just 60 calories, an orange delivers 93 percent the daily value (DV) for vitamin C, three grams of fiber, and 10 percent of the DV for folate, a B vitamin that helps fight cancer and birth defects. Oranges also contain powerful antioxidants called citrus bioflavonoids.
For more health-eating tips, check out TheBestLife.com.
Posted by Sidra Forman on Wed, Sep 23, 2009
Although it's officially fall, many of the summer crops I planted in my garden continue to produce. Right now, I'm getting more tomatoes than I got in the middle of the summer. (In most parts of the country local tomatoes are available until the first frost of the season.) Mid-summer, I usually eat tomatoes raw in a salad, on their own, chopped with onions and herbs as a condiment, and mixed in with whole grains and beans. But as the season changes, I find the idea of cooked tomatoes much more appealing.
There are a variety of ways to cook them, but these are a couple of my favorites. You can then serve them as a side dish to meat, fish, poultry and other veggies or on their own. If you have any herbs in your garden, try adding those as well. Basil, oregano, Italian parsley, sage and rosemary all taste delicious with both of these preparations.
Roasted: Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cut tomatoes in half and slice onions. Coat both with vegetable oil cooking spray and season with salt and pepper. Place tomatoes cut-side down on a baking sheet and cook for 20 minutes. (Green tomatoes are delicious prepared exactly the same way, especially if you add a few cloves of garlic.)
Stewed: Place quartered and cored tomatoes, chopped onion, diced garlic and chopped rosemary in a pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until tomatoes become soft, about 15 minutes.
Posted by Sidra Forman on Thu, Sep 10, 2009
Although there's still another two weeks until fall officially arrives, the cooler weather we've been having is giving us a preview of the coming season. Ironically, many of my summer crops are just beginning to bear fruit, thanks in large part to the cool start to summer. It looks like there will be more tomatoes, cucumbers and summer squash over the next two months than I got all summer.
Over the last week, I started replacing some of the early summer crops, such as shelling beans, French beans and heat-loving lettuces with fall crops. I planted cabbage and sorrel, both of which I started in small containers about a month ago when I had no room to put them in the ground. From seed this week, I started beets, carrots, arugula, spinach (I'm hoping it's cool enough for germination; spinach does not like the heat), mixed greens, kale and a new batch of chard. All winter greens do great if you plant them from seed in the next week or so. Other plants that thrive with early fall sowing are peas, radishes and bunching onions. Most of the seeds we planted today came from Johnny's Seeds.
Start planting now and you should be able to enjoy your garden through November. In fact, last year we enjoyed fall vegetables as well as tomatoes from my garden on Thanksgiving. There is still a lot of farming left this year—and hopefully a healthy harvest to enjoy.
For more on healthy-eating, check out TheBestLife.com.