Goodbye, summer; hello, autumn. It really did sneak up on us, huh? I’m ready to be able to close my windows at night, and bundle up instead. I know it’s still September, but we’ll be carving pumpkins and drinking hot cocoa in no time. In the meantime, it’s time to think about all the warm and delicious foods that we tend to eat when the air becomes chilly. That’s right. I’m talkin’ about comfort food.
In plain English, a chapati, roti or fulka is pan-roasted unleavened bread. It has been made the same way for hundreds of years and is easy to make, good to eat, full of health benefits and goes with just about everything. Made out of whole wheat flour, a chapati can be made even more nutritious by adding different kinds of flours to the wheat flour dough like gram, soya, millet, barley, sorghum and rye.
Time for some hearty vegetable soup! Its thick and creamy consistency provides a comforting antidote to those first chilly days as we move into fall. Simple and easy, you only need one pot to cook enough soup for the whole family and you can even make the most of extra veggies or herbs that you have laying around the house! The wonderful mix of both richly developed and subtle flavors is what sets this dish apart.
*Serves 4
Ingredients
2 Large Carrots
1 Celery Stalk
1 Small Onion
1 Medium Zucchini
Make the most of apple season this fall with my easy homemade applesauce! You can enjoy this recipe on its own, with pancakes or in other main dishes. If you like baking, applesauce can also be used as a healthy vegan alternative to eggs, butter or oil. I’m a big fan of cinnamon, but feel free to get playful with different spice combinations or leave them out altogether to experience the pure apple flavor.
*Makes about 2.5 cups*
Ingredients
There are a lot of Puerto Rican recipes you will find that call for these two common spice mixes: Sazon and Adobo.
Depending on your geographical location it may or may not be hard for you to find certain ethnic foods in the grocery store. Moving away from the bigger cities made it hard to find a lot of the traditional foods and spices used in cooking traditional Puerto Rican meals, so I learned how to create them myself.
Sazon
Tomato season is officially in full bloom, and apart from making salsas, pasta sauces and BLTs, bruschetta is another great way to serve up this year’s bounty. This recipe is essentially like a Caprese salad on a crostini, which makes for a delicious afternoon snack or appetizer before any summer meal.
Hummus is a great, healthy alternative to many dips high in fat and low in nutritional value. Expensive in the store, it is far easier to make than most realize, and the beautiful aspect to making it from home is that you can create and combine as many flavors as you’d like and cater to your favorite variations! Generally what I like to do is make one large basic batch with simple spices and then separate this into several smaller batches with different variations. Spices and small flavorful additions go a long way and you create endless assortments branching from this basic recipe.
While there are several healthy pasta varieties that are making a comeback, one of the healthiest alternatives to date is spaghetti squash. In fact, 1 cup of spaghetti squash noodles only has 42 calories, compared to about 200 calories for 1 cup of traditional pasta, according to the USDA National Nutrient Database.
Garlic and honey are both individually renowned for their medicinal properties, a few of which include antibacterial components as well as components that increase health. Garlic and honey are both very well-known for being great ancient medicines Ancient cultures and traditions have used both garlic and honey as staples to holistic healing. Turns out, they can be even more powerful together. When combined, garlic and honey can pack some serious healing power into even just a little spoonful.
This sandwich is a staple that is so easy to make and perfect to cool off with in the middle of a hot day. The hummus adds a bit of protein and creaminess to complement the crisp and cool veggies, while also giving you an opportunity to experiment with different flavors.