Seasonal Eating

summereating
Photo owned by www.shelleygoldbeck.com

A healthy way to live is to eat “in season”.

That means eating foods that are at their peak of flavour and nutrients. This often happens only once per year, for a very short time, especially if eating locally is the goal.

Eating in season is also economical. Whatever is in season is usually cheaper than it will be any other time of the year.

In my opinion, food eaten in season tastes better. It’s usually fresher and more nutritious.

The best season of our food year is imminent. It starts with spring baby lettuce, baby spinach leaves, green onions and crisp, tangy radishes. All these are easy to grow at home. They like cool weather and can be seeded in Calgary anytime after mid-April.

If you’re really lucky, you have an asparagus patch. Their tender shoots magically appear overnight. Raw, they remind me of fresh raw peas. Lightly steamed until al dente and brushed with a teaspoon of butter or olive oil, they have their own unique flavour. Very yummy!

I get really excited about spring fruits. Early rhubarb always reminds me of my grandma, who made rhubarb “pudding”, a yellow cake batter poured over a pan of chopped rhubarb, baked and served warm with ice-cream.

Strawberries in June embody the spirit of summer! A touch of honey. A bit of cream. Fit for a queen!

The first cherries arrive in June. When their skins are crunchy and their flesh, sweet and juicy, I can eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and I often do!

Picking berries was an integral part of my childhood summers. My siblings and I would mount our bikes or horses with our ice-cream pails and larger buckets. We headed home when the buckets were full. It could take all day: we spent more than half our time cramming berries into our mouths!

When the first peas are ready, I am at peace in the garden, splitting the warm pods to discover the sweet treasures inside. The best carrots are the true babies, (not the peeled to shape varieties) pulled, wiped on my pants, and crunched, soil granules and all, right there in the garden.

And potatoes! New potatoes stolen from the periphery of the plant are creamy and sweet. If I never ate another mature potato I wouldn’t care but new potatoes are a completely different animal!

In the old neighbourhood where I live many yards have raspberry patches. Kids love to stick a berry on each of their ten little fingers, wiggle them around, and then devour them one by one.

As summer wanes plums and peaches come into season. More feasting on fruit. And what to do with all that zucchini? (I like them baby so I don’t have that problem).

Alas! Our season is short! By fall, some vegetables are just coming into their prime. The brassicas like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, all like cool weather. Turnips and parsnips are sweeter if they’ve experienced frost.

Eating in season will bolster the total nutrients you take in, reduce your carbon footprint since it’s easier to eat locally, and likely give your pocketbook a break. I highly recommend it.

Chocomole – Chocolate Avocado Pudding

chocmoleMy family is deeply affected by certain foods. We have gluten sensitivity, diary allergies, and we are careful about processed food including anything with sugar in it.

As a result birthday parties and other family celebrations require careful planning. We can’t just buy a cake and our traditional family recipes need to be significantly modified.

We are learning to think about food differently. Why do we need cake to celebrate? Shouldn’t we celebrate with the nutrition of whole real food?

Last evening we celebrated my daughter’s birthday with a family dinner. I was charged with bringing dessert.

As I have avoided sugar since the Christmas chocolate and goodies ran out in early January, I wasn’t thrilled about bringing a cake, imposing that unhealthy item on my health-conscious family. Even a gluten-free dairy-free cake needs sugar to make it palatable.

I had read about making chocolate pudding out of avocado and I wanted to try it for the party. I found numerous recipes online and I decided to create my own using those recipes as a guideline.

I have to say, I really outdid myself. My youngest grandtoy, J____, licked her bowl clean and then eyed the two extra servings on the platter. When Mommy said no, J____ was choked.  Peace was restored when I told her I had brought the extras so she and her sister could take them for lunch the next day.

Chocomole is creamy (because of all of that healthy avocado fat). The maple syrup sweetens it without all the harmful effects of white sugar. The antioxidants of the dark chocolate are preserved because they’re not heated.

In my opinion Chocomole is better than conventional chocolate pudding: no “cow” aftertaste and mucous buildup in my throat that I usually get when I eat dairy products.

I’ve been thinking about how I can use avocado to make other “puddings”. (If you have ideas, do share!)

Nobody would ever guess that this dessert is actually good for them. I urge you to try it for yourself.

Bon appetit!

Avocado sliced in halfMy Chocolate Avocado Pudding “Chocomole”

adapted by Shelley Goldbeck from four recipes

  • 4 avocados, ripe and soft
  • ½ cup coconut milk (or almond/rice milk)
  • 1 ounce of dark chocolate (72% or higher), high quality, dairy-free, melted
  • 2 heaping Tbsp. high quality cocoa powder or to taste (you may use all cocoa if you don’t have
    • dark chocolate squares)
  • 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • pinch Himalayan sea salt
  • ¼ to ¾ cup maple syrup, to taste. (Or honey or agave; I expect you would need less of these).
  • (I add sweetener last, in increments, to avoid making it too sweet).

Portions depend on the size of the avocados.  I used medium.  Process until smooth, occasionally scraping down sides. Taste and add more cocoa powder, required. Add more sweetener, to taste, and milk, if you’d like it looser. Divide between serving cups and serve immediately, or refrigerate until ready to serve. Keeps in fridge 24 hours. Make 8 to 10 ½ cup servings.

Garnish with fresh berries or toasted almonds.