An Autumn Palette of Fruits and Vegetables
The September equinox has passed and the ushering in of a new season means a fresh batch of fruits and vegetables. Cheaper prices and better flavor are just two reasons to buy the colorful array of fruits and vegetable available this fall. Take a festive approach to grocery shopping and look for these autumn-colored, in-season produce.
Orange
Butternut Squash – Served mashed, pureed, or roasted, this thick-skinned vegetable packs more than triple a day’s worth of Vitamin A in a one cup serving, and has a good amount of Vitamin C and potassium as well.
Sweet Potatoes – One cup provides more than a fifth of the recommended daily intake of both fiber and potassium. Substitute regular French fries for baked sweet potato fries for more flavor.
Persimmons – Add this mildly sweet fruit to your diet this fall. It can be eaten raw after removing the top and seeds, or used to make jam.
Yellow
Pears - Though high in sugar, pears are a good source of fiber. The Bartlett variety is the juiciest and softest eaten raw.
Bell Peppers – Green, yellow and red sweet peppers are readily available year round, but now is their harvest time. High in Vitamin C and potassium, these are enjoyed raw with veggie dip or in salads, or cooked for a colorful stir fry.
Rutabagas – A relatively rare find in most diets, this root vegetable is also known as yellow turnip. Its greens are edible boiled, but it is usually eaten mashed, baked, or in chunks added to soups, stews, and casseroles.
Red
Apples – Gala and Red Delicious are just two of the varieties of apples available. In addition to eating them raw, apple pies, applesauce, and apple juice are common ways to get your apple fix.
Pomegranates – With its short harvest season of about two months, fresh pomegranates may be hard to come by. One fruit has over 25 grams of naturally occurring sugar, but the antioxidant properties it carries makes the seed- picking worthwhile. Then of course, many people just go for the pomegranate juice that’s available year round.
Figs – A good source of fiber, figs are a soft, tasty treat. Because they are easily split and don’t keep long, eat figs the day you buy them.
Green
Spinach – One cup of this popular leafy green boiled has Vitamin A and C, calcium, and iron. It also has over 5 grams of protein. Add raw spinach to salads, or have a handful from a bag like chips.
Zucchini – This easily grown, versatile fruit may look like a cucumber, but is rarely eaten raw. Instead its usually served as a vegetable, steamed, grilled, baked, sautéed, or fried.
Artichokes – The produce from the second crop in the fall yields a smaller variety of this vegetable. Cooking artichokes is a daunting task for many, but its nutritional value and nutty taste make for some much added flair in any meal.
Your thoughts…
What in-season fruits and vegetables are you looking forward to having this fall?
Comments
I agree Honey Crisp apples are the best apples!
I am also looking forward to acorn squash.
We've enjoyed a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes this year. Now we're starting in on our acorn squash and bell peppers. Yesterday I went to an orchard and bought 10 pounds of gala apples. Fresh cold cooked apples for breakfast this morning: a little bit of molasses poured in as the apple chunks boiled, ginger and cinnamon. I removed the seeds and core but kept the skins. An autumn treat for sure- no wax on these apples!
Pumpkin risotto! Made with fresh and canned pumpkin it is the hit of the season for me and the start of the autumn holidays :-)
Definite thumbs up on Honey Crisp!!
and if you do use canned pumpkin stick with Libby's!
I love it all.... something new I would like to try is spaghetti squash.
Happy Healthy Eating!
Acorn squash is probably my favorite fall veggie...roasted and mashed...mmmmm. I usually roast the seeds as well for a snack.
Squash/Pumpkin, Apples, Cherry Tomatoes (Fresh from our family garden), Zucchini, and lots of root vegetables and onions because I LOVE them and this is the season for roasted root vegetables!
I have been on a sweet potato, purple potato, papaya and banana kick for at least 2 years but used to eat mega amounts of apples.In the fall I get more into apples when they are warmed because it seems less harsh on my tummy. I lovelovelove butternut squash, I love zucchini grilled too- really any kind of squash is fabulous! Love figs and pears only if they are dried but tend to stay away from them because they are REAL sugary. Fall is wonderful for making stews, stewed fruit, warm apple with cinnamon and stevia, and I adore artichokes but have to learn how to make them fresh.
O YEA-Pumpkin!!! I make a "dessert" with tofu, Sugar free Jello vanilla pudding mix and pumpkin- yummmmmy!
Mangos are a wonderful fruit, great for diets!! They are loaded with vitaminC and betacaratene!!! I eat them all the time.(have a mango tree in yard!!)
apples and onions -- excellent side dish for pork and nice replacement for apple sauce. saute them together and onions bring a natural sweetness to the dish.
Original Post by: floridapaulineO YEA-Pumpkin!!! I make a "dessert" with tofu, Sugar free Jello vanilla pudding mix and pumpkin- yummmmmy!
Recipe??? 
Easy!! I just take 1 container of Nayasoy light silken tofu, a can of pumpkin, a box of Jello brand sugar free vanilla or cheesecake pudding mix- (you can use any thing here to replace the mix, it is up to you) st evia or Truvia to taste Mixing it is probably best with an electric mixer. The organic market I sampled it from last Thanksgiving had a variation but Idont remeber thier recipie.
Another tasty idea is to mix oatmeal and pumpkin!!
Spaghetti Squash is great. Very easy to cook and lovely texture. I replace for pasta quite often or steamed mixed veggies (peas, carrots, broccoli etc.) Also great with a mixture of nuts sprinkled on top.
Apples (or any fresh fruit) paired with very vanilla yogurt is a favorite of mine and my kids. We especially love the Jazz and Honeycrisp apples with the yogurt.
A crock pot with dried fruits like figs, prunes, apricots, apples, pears- and cinnamon- mmmm!! My mom would make this around holidays- fabulous! Hoew can anyone forget about CRANBERRIES??!?!?! Fo
Floridapauline, please,please,please I NEED the recipe for your crock pot fruit "chili" I too live in Florida, and even though it's hot as hell, I still use my crock pot every week to cook beans and stuff.
Floridapauline, I would love it as well. Sounds like it would be a simple great dessert or snack with possibly angel food cake or some vanilla yogurt drizzled over it.
It is relatively easy, I actually dont have an "exact" recipie except to do this- gather all the dried fruit of your choice, put in a pot with some water, a bit of apple juice,(1/2 cup-1 cup) few teaspoons of lemon juice- or you can use cranberry, prune juice, what ever you like or a 1/4 cup each of apple and prune is good- then turn on pot to a med- low setting and simmer until the fruit is really soft. Add cinnamon, dash ginger and vola!!!
I have another "recipie" - chop up apples, dates, figs and dried cherries, put in hot oatmeal- (I use gluten free hot cereal mix) and mix in 1-2 Tbs nut butter of choice- peanut, soy nut, Peanut Wonder, Almond, and a little maple syrup- I use Walden Farms, lol Let me just say this- hot oatmeal with melted peanut butter is ridiculously fabulous! You could also add Grape nuts, which I cant have because of the darn Gluten thing :(
Thanks very much floridapauline. I will try this weekend since the temperture is dropping up here in Canada.
:D Another yummy- purple potatoes, Korean yam, Boniato yam, carrots, beets, turnips,butternut squash all chopped well and put in crock pot with water, season of choice, not too much- simmer till potatoes and turnipsare soft. You can add anytrhing else if desired like xtra lean beef or chicken- vegetarian here :)
pumpkin, warm, with peanut butter and apples...hehehehe !!!!
one more then off to workout- butternut squash, pumpkin pureed, as base, then add with small chunks of peeled yams, squash and zucchini. Bring to simmer- soup!!! I had abeet soup the other day at a restaurant and it was divine...!
The side effects of allergy medications keep some people from using them. Natural remedies can be a great alternative, but some are more effective than others.
american
apples
asian
beans
beef
blog
bmi
breakfast
calcium
calories
cheese
chicken
chocolate
coffee
confidence
cooking
dessert
diabetes
diet
dieting
dietsinreview
dinner
eggs
emotionaleating
exercise
family
fiber
fish
fitness
fruit
goals
healthyeating
hunger
hungrygirl
inspiration
italian
mediterranean
mexican
mindset
motivation
nuts
obesity
party
pasta
portioncontrol
potatoes
protein
quinoa
recipe
recipes
salad
self-esteem
sleep
snack
snacks
soup
spinach
stress
successstory
sugar
support
tbl
thebiggestloser
tips
tomatoes
turkey
tv
vegan
vegetable
vegetables
vegetarian
water
weightloss
workout
yogurt
HONEY CRISP APPLES!!!! These are the sweetest, juiciest apples in the world!! They have a very short harvest period, so they are expensive and sometimes hard to find, but, YUMMO!!!!