Fun Foods for Fall

Fall is a great season to incorporate some fun and healthy foods into everyday meals. Here are some different options of foods that could be great healthy alternatives. 

The first fall food is pumpkin. Pumpkin has fiber and vitamin A, which is great for the skin and eyes. Pumpkin curry soup is one of the many meals that can be made with pumpkin.  Everyone is always looking for something to warm up with in the fall, so making pumpkin curry soup would be a great option! 

Another food is beets. Beets have naturally occurring nitrates and could possibly help to support a healthy blood pressure. Beets can be roasted, steamed, or even put in a salad. An interesting fact about beets is that their leaves are edible too! Therefore, beet leaves could be cooked in ways similar to spinach.  

Sweet potatoes could also be incorporated into fall meals. Sweet potatoes have more fiber and vitamin A than white potatoes. These could possibly be a good start to the day as part of a breakfast dish. Adding a poached egg and sliced avocado to a leftover baked sweet potato in the morning might be an interesting change-up to normal breakfast food!

As an alternative to pasta, spaghetti squash could be used as a fun fall food. A recipe for this can be very simple, as well. Just putting it in the oven and adding pesto or marinara sauce could be a great side dish!

Another food that could be good for fall is kale. Kale is loaded with vitamins A, C, and K, as well as manganese. Kale can be used in salads, or it could even be used in soup for a nice warm meal!

Fall is the peak-time for when pears are most delicious. Pears can be a good source of fiber. They can be eaten raw, grilled, or even pureed into soup or a smoothie.

Okra is another food that could be good to use in some fall meals. Okra is high in vitamin K and C. It is also low in calories and a good source of fiber and folate. Okra could be incorporated into curries and stews. 

Another great fall food is parsnips. Some of the nutrients in parsnips include fiber, vitamin C, and folate. For a great fall meal, parsnips could be roasted or pureed into soup!

One last fall food is cranberries. One health benefit of cranberries is that they can prevent harmful bacteria from sticking to the bladder wall. Both fresh and dried cranberries are paired well with a lot of different meats or salads. 

For more information and recipes for these fall foods, go to: 

https://www.eatright.org/food/nutrition/healthy-eating/9-fall-produce-picks-to-add-to-your-plate