Six Vegetables to Bring Home This Fall
How to Enjoy In-Season Produce During the Harvest Season
Sep 28, 2009
Fall is harvest time and there’s no better time than now to try new tastes and textures than now. Put a twist on an old dish by substituting one vegetable for another, eat an old favourite raw rather than cooked, or find an unusual variety of an old standby at a local market and bring it home for the whole family to try.
The Canada Food Guide recommends eating between 7 -10 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Look for vegetables with bright colours, because these are rich in antioxidants which help to fight disease. The Canada Food Guide recommends at least one serving of orange and dark green vegetables each day. But forget about the standard romaine grown on large commercial farms and shipped thousands of miles to the local chain grocer. Head for the local farmer’s market or farm gate for really fresh produce and unique varieties that seldom make it to the large grocery stores.
This fall, give these often overlooked veggies a try.
- Beets. Look for chiogga beets with alternating bands of red and white that look like a bull’s eye when sliced. Fresh beets are crisp and sweet and add a wonderful rich flavour to salads when shredded and sprinkled on top. They’re also great served as sticks. Beets are high in iron and vitamin A.
- Squash. Deep orange squash like butternut and acorn squash are rich in beta carotene. Try lightly sautéing or steaming small cubes of squash and adding to a stir fry to serve over brown and wild rice.
- Swish chard. Look for bright lights swiss chard that teams deep green leaves with rainbow bright stems in colours of fluorescent pink, orange, and yellow. When young, this beautiful chard adds an explosion of colour and nutrients to salads.
- Zucchini. Young zucchini can be sliced and eaten raw just as cucumbers are. Or briefly marinate in a mixture of soy sauce (or Bragg Liquid Aminos), crushed garlic and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Then, place in a food dehydrator till crisp. Use these zucchini chips in place of taco chips or potato chips and serve with guacamole or hummus.
- Tomatoes. Now’s the time to search out the delectable heritage varieties of tomatoes. Look for vine ripened varieties in yellow, red, purple and orange. Toss together some freshly chopped tomatoes and cucumbers, basil, sliced black olives, diced garlic, virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon to serve over pasta, salad or a crusty loaf of French bread.
- Turnips. High in fibre, vitamins and minerals, turnips are a member of the cancer-fighting cruciferous vegetable family. With a cabbage-like flavour, used in place of cabbage in coleslaw, turnips add a sharpness that mixes well with sweet, grated carrots. Or slice thinly and alternate with potato slices for a nutrient rich twist on scalloped potatoes.
Fall is the time to take advantage of the harvest season to experiment with some new and exciting vegetable varieties at the peak of freshness. Reap the benefits of great nutrition this fall.
