Autumn, with its sunny days and perfect temperatures, is our favourite time of year. An intense metamorphosis in nature and within us occurs. Trees change from the colour green to burnt orange, amber and sienna. The temperature cools and we layer in beautiful soft, warming fabrics. We crave for cups of tea and soup that will warm our heart and being. Autumn is the season of harvest, gathering the fruition of spring and summer. Preserving and fermenting natures bounty is in order. It’s a time to execute the goals we planned for the year and to instil a daily discipline of meditation and physical exercise, creating a more resilient and open mind and body.
Make tea, soups, casseroles and slow cooked foods in autumn to warm and strengthen the constitution.
Replace cold morning juices and smoothies with nourishing bone stock-based cups of broths or Asian style vegetable soups. A delicious example is chicken soup with bok choy, broccoli and seaweed, served with chopped parsley and lime juice. Add a raw egg to the hot soup to gently poach after cooking.
Replace fruit salad with a medley of warming, poached seasonal fruit. Poach quince, pears, apples and plums chopped in quarters. Cover in water and add cinnamon quills, clove buds, cardamom pods and vanilla bean powder and simmer until soft. Serve with fresh lemon zest, activated nuts and seeds and fresh mandarin pieces.
Replace cold cereal with warming porridge. Simply soak whole quinoa or oats in water with a sprinkle of natural salt over night in a small cooking pot. Add more water or milk the next day and cook on the stove, slowly stirring to prevent porridge from sticking to the base. Serve with poached fruit and extra cinnamon.
Replace raw salads with cooked salads. Roast vegetables like pumpkin and beetroot, and add steamed broccoli. Toss with fresh pomegranate seeds and blanched or activated almonds. Make a salad dressing of apple cider vinegar and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and warming spices such as cinnamon, ginger, chilli and paprika.
Autumn Fruit
Apple
Avocado
Bananas
Custard apple
Dragonfruit
Fig
Fingerlime
Kiwifruit
Grape
Grapefruit
Lemon
Lime
Mandarin
Mangosteen
Nashi
Orange
Papaw
Papaya
Passionfruit
Pineapple
Pear
Persimmon
Pomegranate
Prickly pear
Quince
Rambutan
Rhubarb
Rockmelon
Tamarillo
Tomato
Watermelon
Autumn Vegetables
Asian vegetables
Beans
Butter beans
Beetroot
Broccoli
Broccolini
Brown onions
Brussels sprouts
Button squash
Cabbage
Capsicum
Carrot
Cauliflower
Cavolo nero
Celery
Chilli
Choko
Cucumber
Eggplant
Fennel
Horseradish
Jerusalem artichoke
Kohlrabi
Lettuce
Leeks
Mushrooms
Olives
Okra
Parsnip
Potatoes
Pumpkin
Radicchio
Radish
Silverbeet
Snake bean
Snowpeas
Spinach
Sugar snap peas
Sweet corn
Sweet potato
Walnuts
Wild mushrooms
Zucchini
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