What Are You Eating? Fall Food Fun!

Fall is my favorite time of the year for so many reasons.  The air is cool and crisp.  The colors are spectacular.  The sun’s light plays out so beautifully in the morning and the evening.  The smell of burning leaves is starting to infuse the air.  And, the fall selection of harvested food is scrumptious!!

Here are my Fall Food Favorites

Tomatoes: The tomato crops are slowing down but tomatoes still are my most favorite food.  They are so versatile.  They play a cameo role in a multitude of recipes and they are perfect as a stand alone star as well.  My favorite snack is sliced tomatoes and sliced cucumbers with a pinch of salt…how easy is that?

Root Vegetables: The root vegetables just speak Fall to me.  They are hardy, full of flavor and fill you up.  The root vegetables that are my favorites are beets, turnips and parsnips.  I am not a huge lover of carrots when they are raw but, throw them in a vegetable stew and I am all over them.  One of the easiest and tastiest dishes to throw together is sliced up root vegetables (and you can certainly add other vegetables like mushrooms, onions and peppers) on a baking sheet with a little flavored olive oil drizzled over them and bake them to the consistency you like.  SO delicious…and SO easy!

Tubers: The tuber that we are most familiar with is the potato.  While potatoes are made available to us all year round, I love incorporating them in my meals when the weather gets cooler.  Creating a vegetable ka-bob with red and golden potatoes as well as chunks of sweet potatoes interspersed with mushrooms, onions and tomatoes is a real treat.  Grilling ka-bobs is fun, easy, healthy and can really be done year round.

Bulbs:  While many people think that onions are part of the tuber family, the truth is that onions and leeks and garlic are all members of the bulb family.  These delicious vegetables create such intense and aromatic flavoring to meals.  Garlic and onions play a major role in most of my meals as accents. And, science has determined that onions and garlic have compelling health benefits to boot!

Mushrooms:  And then, there are my all time favorite…the mushroom.  Mushrooms are a class all by themselves as they are not actually plant or animal.  They have the distinction of having their very own classification…fungi.  Mushrooms are thought to have the ability to improve our immune system.  I incorporate mushrooms in most of my meals, raw or cooked.  They add such a delicious flavor to most dishes.

Fruits: It’s apple season and I couldn’t be happier.  I have a couple of great apple trees that provide me with enough apples to make applesauce or to eat as a snack with peanut butter.  Pears are also one of my favorite fruits this time of year.  There is no reason not to include sliced apples or pears in the ka-bob you might be grilling.  I also add apples or pears to many of my leaf salads to add some flavor and texture.

As many of you know, I have been on the  30 Day Vegan Challenge.  As of  the end of this week, I will have accomplished the 30 days and I have to say, I have no intention of stopping now.  I have found that not only do I love the meals that I am preparing but I feel great.  I have found many wonderful online resources and “met” many people on social media that are helpful in all things vegan.  I have reintroduced myself to healthy foods that I had previously turned my nose to and I realize what I was missing.  I thought that giving up cheese was going to be my most difficult obstacle and it turns out I was wrong.  Not only are there soy and rice milk cheese substitutes that work very well in sandwiches and melting but, I am not craving the cheese like I thought I would.  I have learned that creating a vegan lifestyle is not about “diet”.  It is about awareness and compassion.  And the menu possibilities are endless.

My philosophy in my healthcare life as both a nurse and then as a dentist has been to approach our health holistically.  In keeping with that philosophy, it is important to understand that what we put inside of us will profoundly affect our oral and systemic health.  Eating healthy and mindfully improves among many other things  the health of your gums, your teeth and your bones…something that makes a great deal of sense to me.

If you have any questions about how your diet impacts your oral health, please feel free to email me and I would be happy to answer your concerns.

And remember, as always…we LOVE making you smile!