Food As Medicine

 As the weather turns cooler and dryness of autumn ensues the shift in out bodies is looking for a foods that begin to stick to our bones and support storage of energy for the winter months.

Longer cooking methods that simmer ingredients low and slow and incorporate pungent and acrid flavors to stimulate our inner dispersing of energy blend well with this season. Think stews and crock pot recipes that fill the house with the aromas of spices and seasonings warming us from within.

The acrid flavor combines a bit of bitter, spicy and pungent together. This season is a perfect time to layer your cooking in stages and add dimensions of flavors that will secure a sense of satisfaction inner support. Extra garlic, ginger and onion are a simple way to increase these flavors and have to added benefit of being anti microbial, antiviral and immune boosting.

I love to make spice blends like chai, curry and chili bases to have on hand and am sure to stock up on seasonal veggies that are perfect for roasting to add into dishes that create depth and a rooting sense of inner grounding.

This month we featured the flavor of ginger as a spicy and pungent addition to all kinds of dishes and drinks sure to warm up your inner fire and keep you warm moving into the winter. Learn about this plant ally and some creative ways to incorporate it to your daily recipes here 

Pungent Or Acrid Flavors for fall Cooking:

Black pepper
Chive cinnamon bark
Cinnamon
Clove
Parsley
Dill seeds
Fennel
Garlic
Ginger (dried or fresh)
Grapefruit peel
Green onion (leaf and white head)
Green pepper
Kohlrabi
Kumquat
Leaf mustard
Leek
Marjoram
Nutmeg
Peppermint
Radish
Red pepper
Rosemary
Soybean oil
Spearmint
Star anise
Sweet basil
White pepper
Wine

Check out this catalog of seasonal recipes that will keep you inside this fall cultivating nourishment and inner fortification