Tag Archives: Seasonal Cooking

The Benefits of Seasonal Eating

I am thrilled to be welcoming Stefanie Davis of Simple Acres Blog to talk about the Benefits of Seasonal Eating. Just last week, you received some of my thoughts on the subject and we are so lucky to have this perspective by a Mom of three cuties, Registered Dietician, farm wife + blogger. Please welcome Stefanie! 

garden growing

The season is upon us! The sun is out, the birds are singing and the soil is crying for some lovin’! Green thumbs….your gardens are calling you! If you are a gardening newbie like me it can seem overwhelming, so start simple. The picture above is of our growing garden. We just started with corn at first and slowly have added tomatoes and cucumbers! Ever since I was a child I thought being able “to eat off the land” was…well, magical! As an adult there is actually some truth to the positive nostalgia home grown, IN SEASON foods can offer. Whether you plant a garden or choose to just arrange your menu around seasonal foods and buy it, below is list of a few benefits to motivate you.

5 Reasons Seasonal Eating Is Worth the Effort

  1. Fresh and full of flavor! Often local and farmer markets will have picked their produce within 24 hours of your purchase which allows them to be at peak ripeness. I wonder how long that produce from another country has been “in-waiting” through the shipping and storing process? I can guarantee more than 24 hours!
  2. More nutrient rich! Nutrient value decreases when produce is stored for lengthy time frames. Fresh, seasonal foods offer more nutrients thus more benefit to your health and disease prevention.
  3. Safer food supply! The more steps there are between you and your food’s source the more chances there are for contamination.
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  5. Good for the environment and local economy! Supporting local farmers is an economical plus. Reduction in the pollution created from production & shipping allows you to be the earth loving tree hugger you have always yearned to be! (hehe…if you already are you will be even better at it)
  6. More cost effective! Food is easier to grow and generally offers more abundant crops thus the prices will naturally be lower for the foods in season. If you garden….it almost feels like FREE FOOD (minus the seeds, fertilizer and sweat).

I want to encourage you towards Finding Your Healthiest You! Read my health articles herehere, and here for more tips and tools for success.

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Hi there, I’m Stefanie from Simple Acres blog. I am a wife to a hard workin’ man, mommy to 3 “littles”, 10 year Registered Dietitian, writer, artist and hopeful inspirer! My passion is to bring the journey of simplicity to others through focusing on the things that really matter….the ones you love, the dreams you BELIEVE, and living in the moment with true JOY! As a RD I believe in  body love and acceptance, intuitive eating and savoring and nourishing the body with wholesome foods! I’m excited to be able to  grace the pages of Lilly’s Table and look forward to joining you more as your new personal Dietitian! Please come visit me at Simple Acres and come to know me more personally on my facebook fan page, instagram and twitter! Dovidenia. XO

Cooking the Season into Asparagus Soup

asparagussoupCook seasonally. Eat consciously. Live well.

This has been the slogan for Lilly’s Table since its inception. Honestly, it is a personal mantra for me as well. However, I feel I don’t actually talk about what it really means, why it is important, essential, why I cannot live without it.

‘Healthy eating’ has become this very distorted, confusing, pretty much diluted phrase in my humble opinion. As a personal chef, I interviewed every client prior to cooking for them, I always asked “What is your definition of healthy eating?” It was as unique, beautiful and convoluted as each lovely client. Several of my clients had a balanced sense of what they needed for themselves and their family, even if I struggled to agree. Occasionally, I was jealous of how my clients ate better than me. Sometimes my client’s definition of healthy took both of us on a journey of insanity that looks a bit like the health food industry today– those were exhausting lessons to learn.

It seems, in this information age with it’s plethora of food products, as soon as we are comfortable with one philosophy of eating, the next comes our way. I am specifically referring to the demonizing of macronutrients. The fat-free craze of my teenage years lead to an obsession with white rolls, soda, fat-free yogurts, red vines, and fruit amongst my ballet dancing peers. Today’s fear of carbs has lead to a surge of fat consumption, only the ‘good fats’ mind you. I must say I am happy to be able to indulge in butter & avocados with unleashed abandonment, but what is happening to our bodies as we tip the scales of our plates in these confusing directions.

What are we doing, people!?

We spend so much time considering what we are “supposed” to be eating that we ignore the foods that are truly capable of bringing us joy.

I believe in the philosophy of listening to your inner desires and cravings. This doesn’t mean, as I gleefully subscribed to in college, eating a bag of cheetos just because that sounded yum, not to mention brainlessly easy to grab. But, rather getting a bit quieter with yourself and listening to the place where we all came from, a place that will always nourish us, goodness grown from this beautiful planet.

Recently, I watched this fabulous Netflix series ‘Chef’s Table’. If you are a food geek on any level, I recommend this show. The author of The Third Plate, which was my favorite food book in 2014, is featured in the second episode. Dan Barber’s drive as a chef is to find produce that tastes better & better and that serves the planet as well. Within the search for deliciousness, the nutrients follow. Healthy food can actually be that simple.

In general, I think a lot of people agree that a vine ripened fresh-from-the-garden tomato is just about heaven. And that a store bought version in December is a pale, pathetic impostor. Personally, I have avoided purchasing an out of season tomato for years. There are just too many other plants that taste great when tomatoes are not at their prime… such as dark leafy greens, citrus, avocados and more.

One of my dearest friends and a farmer in Tucson, told me how she has a similar relationship with carrots as I do with tomatoes. She said she has not bought carrots from the store for years. Her husband and her actually grow these carrots that revile candy, so I quickly understood her sentiment as we munched on their goodness and further discussed the possibilities for the leafy carrot tops as well (Pesto? Carrot Top Carrots?). Flavorless baby carrots will never, ever compete.

What if as a collective force we demanded more from our food? What if, instead of looking for out of season shippable year round produce that we proclaim to be so easy on our time & wallets, we demanded vegetables grown closer to home? Vegetables that were breed and selected for their ability to taste as deep and authentically good as their name implies.

Now. That may seem a tall order, but there is an easy way to make this happen.

Simply eat with the seasons. This means waiting for tomatoes. This means gorging on cold weather vegetables in winter. This means coming together to celebrate when food is delicious & abundant, not just shippable & available.

Through Lilly’s Table, we have been committed to the seasonal + follow your taste buds movement for several years. And we are continuing the journey by making it simpler and easier to think about cooking seasonally, eating consciously, and living well.

In the comments below, tell me why you love eating seasonally or where you struggle. It is a balancing act, but the health of our food system, our bodies, our community and our planet collectively depend on the choices we make about what we cook & consume.
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To celebrate the ease & simplicity of cooking seasonally, I want to share a soup with you that is as easy as a smoothie, that I make year round simply by changing the shining star ingredient. Since I am writing this in spring, I am sharing our asparagus version. Asparagus holds a beautiful spring memory for me as my sweet father would forage asparagus on the side of the road when I was a child. He would arrive home with a big bundle wrapped in his burlap bag. More recently I found out that this habit of his started after reading the book Stalking the Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons.

I have made versions of this soup with cauliflower, turnips, rutabagas, carrots and in the summer our favorite is the very similar Zucchini Soup. A dollop of something creamy is always welcome on these simple pureed soups whether that creaminess is a Homemade Creme Fraiche, store-bought sour cream, a whipped nut cream or the scrapped off fat from the top of coconut milk. Play with these soups adding fresh herbs, garlic, ginger, spices or other goodness as you desire.

Asparagus Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 onion, minced
1 pound asparagus
1 lemon
2 cups broth, such as chicken or vegetable
1 teaspoon salt, more to taste
1 pinch black pepper, to taste

In a saucepan over medium heat, drizzle in half of the olive oil. As soon as it shimmers, add the minced onions and sauté until just translucent, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, break the tough stems off of the asparagus. Chop into pieces reserving a few of the pretty tips for garnish.

Add in a splash of the olive oil and sauté the asparagus lightly with the onions until it is a brilliant green. Pour in the lemon juice. Transfer to a blender, pour in the broth and blend until smooth. If you want it even smoother, pour through a wire mesh sieve or strainer.

While you blend the soup, lightly saute any asparagus tips in a splash of olive oil, just until bright green.

For hot soup, return the soup to the pot and bring up to a simmer. Taste. Season with the salt and pepper.

For chilled soup, season with salt and pepper. Place in the freezer for 20 minutes, stirring periodically. Alternatively, prepare a large bowl of ice water. Place the smaller bowl with the asparagus soup in the ice bath, stir periodically until chilled. If you are making well in advance it can also chill out in the fridge for 4-6 hours.