Butternut Squash Soup

Squash of all varieties are ubiquitous throughout the fall season. It can sometimes be hard to know what do with all these gigantic vegetable specimens. As the cold days start to roll in, using the squash to make a soup can be a great way to warm up your tummy. Simply delicious... and healthy too!

Curried Squash and Yam Soup
-1 large butternut squash (Approx. 6-7 cups when cooked)

-3 large sweet potatoes (about 3 cups when cooked)

-2 tsp olive oil

-1 cup onion, chopped

-1/2 cup celery, chopped

-Salt and pepper, to taste

-3 medium garlic cloves, minced

-1 tsp curry powder

-1/2 tsp coriander powder

- 1/2 tsp cinnamon (to taste)
-Dash of nutmeg

-4 cups vegetable stock

-1 cup water

-2-3 tsp freshly grated ginger

Preheat oven to 400 F. Bake squash and sweet potatoes whole for 60 minutes, or until soft when poked with a fork. While the squash and sweet potatoes are cooking, chop/prepare the remaining ingredients. Once done and cool enough to handle, remove the peels, seeds, and any stringy remnants from the squash/sweet potatoes and chop into slices. In a large pot heat olive oil. Add the onion, celery, salt, pepper, garlic, curry powder, coriander, and cinnamon, and cook over medium heat. Cover and let cook for approx. 8 minutes. If the onions begin to stick, add a splash of water. Add the stock and water, the squash and sweet potato slices, and ginger. Simmer for 5 minutes. In batches, transfer to a blender and puree until smooth. Return to pan, bring mixture to a boil, and then reduce the heat, cover and let simmer for 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

-Can be topped with a dollop of yogurt/ sour cream and/or a sprig of parsley. Take advantage of all the squash this fall, and get your cooking on!

Fall Is Beautiful

Prudently Pick Your Potato

When it comes to potatoes, not every one is created equal. Sweet potatoes by far outshine regular potatoes when it comes to your health. In fact, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), those orange, candy-like potatoes rank #1 among all other vegetables.

One of the main differences between sweet and regular potatoes is that sweet potatoes have a low glycemic index rating. This means that they are digested slowly, allowing blood sugar to rise at a gradual rate. This makes the consumer feel fuller for a longer period of time. Potatoes on the other hand have a high glycemic rating, causing the blood sugar to spike upon eating them. High glycemic foods can be taxing on the body, whereas low glycemic foods help maintain steady energy levels. Low glycemic index foods promote weight loss, a decreased sensitivity to insulin, a decrased risk of heart disease, and lower cholestorol levels.

Sweet potatoes are about twice as high in dietary fiber as a typical Russet white potato. So although they seem very sweet and sugary, the fiber slows the release of the sugar preventing any harmful spike in blood sugar.

Both types of potatoes contain substantial amounts of nutrients. However, sweet potatoes are more concentrated with antioxidants, such as vitamin A containing twice the daily recommendation of the vitamin. They also have plenty of vitamin C, manganese, iron, vitamin B6, and potassium. Both the vitamin A & C within sweet potatoes help to get rid of cancerous free radical molecules which damage cells and cell membranes.

Another distinct difference is regular potatoes are part of the nightshade family. Vegetables that fall under the nightshade family, which include green peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes, are often associated with triggering arthritis flare-ups. Nightshades also contain alkaloids of which can trigger allergy-like symptoms. For those with arthritis, many nutrtionist recommend staying away from nightshade vegetables all together, making sweet potatoes a better choice.

Regular potatoes are also often prepared in ways that contain a lot of fat and calories, such as greasy french fries, buttery mashed potatoes, mayonnaise-y potato salad, and addictive potato chips. While all of these are certainly tasty, they pretty much all contain a lot of fat and salt, making it an addictive combination which can often lead to overeating. If you are going to eat regular potatoes, make it simple by steaming them and adding a little olive oil, S&P.

Sweet potatoes are extremely easy to prepare considering they just taste naturally delicious. Simply wrap a sweet potato in aluminum foil, and bake at 375 degrees for 45-60 minutes. Once the potato is soft enough to mash, remove from the oven. Add a little salt and maybe a dab of butter or drizzle of olive oil and enjoy. I can eat sweet potatoes like this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And make extra because they're even good left over without even having to heat them up. However, to reheat them, simply nuke them in the microwave for a minute or so.

You can also chop sweet potatoes into cubes, place them on an aluminum lined baking sheet, and top them with a little cinammon and maple syrup and let them caramelize in the oven.

Or to make savory sweet potato fries, check out this recipe from Women's Health magazine:
Spicy Sweet Potato Sticks
Peel 1 sweet potato and cut lengthwise into 3 or 4 pieces, then cut each piece lengthwise into finger-size slices. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a bowl and toss with potato to coat. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and 1 tablespoon chili powder blend, paprika, or chipotle steak seasoning. Toss again to coat. Spread potato sticks evenly on a baking sheet and roast at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes, turning them once halfway through. Makes 1 serving.

Peaches...MMMmmm

It's peach season!! Lucky for me, I live only a few minutes away from a fruit orchard. That being said, I just got back from picking a basket full of softball-size peaches (and ate a basket full while doing so). Peaches are one of nature's many candies...they're so naturally sweet, and juicy, and delicious, and oh-so yummy...and paired with a bowl of vanilla ice-cream, they're extra "oh-so yummy" and sweet.

Take advantage of these summer treasures now because once they go out of season, you can rarely ever find peaches that get anywhere close to the taste of fresh ones. Like many fruits, peaches are super versatile. For a treat, pair them with ice cream, use them in a pie or tart, or cover them with brown sugar and cinnamon and put them on the grill. For a healthier treat, you can pair peaches with yogurt, cook them in oatmeal, or mix them with blueberries for the perfect fruit salad. My favorite is to just wash them, chop them up, put them in a bowl, and enjoy them plain...Mmmm.

Peaches are rich in cancer-fighting lutein and lycopene (the nutrients found in tomatoes). They are also a good source of potassium and are high in vitamins A & C. Peaches are full of fiber and full of water, making them a lo-cal food. While they do contain some sugar, it is all natural and this helps to give them their remarkable sweet taste.

Plan a time to go out and get to a local orchard. Maybe make it a date with someone special. Picking peaches under the sun in the beautiful countryside can definitely be an ideal, romanticized opportunity. Or, take the little kids you babysit, your nieces or nephews, or any other little kids you are close with. Picking fruit is a fun experience, especially when you get to watch smiling little kids while doing it. Kids love eating fruit, and to them, an orchard will look like a never-ending heaven of sweetness. Or go to an orchard by yourself, enjoy your quiet surroundings, and use the time to go within yourself or observe the beautiful nature that surrounds you. Maybe use the peach-picking as a sort of meditative practice.

Whatever you decide, get out there, get picking (and eating), and have fun!

Blueberries!!!

Mourning over MJ?...well I've got some pretty outstanding news to cheer you up and get that smile back on your face. Get ready for what I'm about to tell you next.........
Blueberry season has arrived!! And you know what that means: pick-your-own ripe, juicy, blueicious blueberries...Mmmm...summer can't get much better than the sweet, delicious (and nutritious) fruits it births.

Blueberries are the superheroes of fruit, often boasting of their various cancer-preventing properties. Blueberries are rich in maganese, fiber, and an assortment of antioxidants such as Vitamins C & E. They have been said to slow aging, help prevent heart disease, cancer, diseases of the eye, and dementia, to name a few. Blueberries are low in calories, high in nutrients, and high in fiber, so they move right through you.

Besides all of their numerous health benefits, bluberries just down right taste good! And they can be added to almost anything (okay, well maybe not anything, but a lot of things!). For breakfast, try throwing them in a smoothie, oatmeal, pancakes, or a fruit salad. For lunch, add them to your yogurt or just eat them plain as a snack. And for dinner, try adding some to your salads and pair with a goat cheese and a fruity vinagrette. They are also great for desserts, such as pies, tarts, chocolate and cream bowls, and muffins. I always make blueberry buckle when blueberry season rolls around. It's a sweet, irresistable treat that can be eaten for breakfast, dessert, or as a snack anytime in between. Blueberries can be cooked and made into a sauce to be poured over ice cream, but are also great just simply picked, washed, and thrown into a nice bowl of cold ice cream (try no-fat vanilla frozen yogurt).

It's definitely worth making the trip out to a pick-your-own place. The mouth-watering taste of blueberries picked right off the bush is a taste that can be found nor fulfilled anywhere else. Plus, when I go to pick-your-own places, while I'm filling up my basket I almost always gourge myself on nature's blue candy until my stomach's at its fullest capactiy- for FREE. Not only am I getting as many blueberries as I can eat in a day for free, the one's you pick are also sold at a much cheaper rate than those in the grocery store. If there aren't any fruit orchards near enough for your convenience or you simply don't have the time to go pick, be sure to try and purchase blueberries from a locally grown shop or farmer's market. The taste will by far beat that of blueberries purchased in any nearby grocery store.

So get out there. Get picking. Get eating. Get nutrient-boosting your body. And get into having some fun, enjoying one of summer's best offerings.