Fall Foods

There are few things better than cooking the first Fall Food meal of the season.  Stews and Stuffed Acorn Squash are wintery staples around my house.  

In the Chinese medical world, it comes as no surprise that many people start craving certain foods during certain seasons.  Those who do crave with the seasons are merely listening to their bodies and going with the flow of human evolution; eat foods when they're naturally available.

Some tips for eating in the Fall and Winter are:

• Eat foods that have been warmed. I know it's tempting to eat that raw salad, but try to avoid it during the cooler months - they're difficult to digest and can cause symptoms such as gas and bloating.
• Eat foods that are "in season."  Apples, Pears, Winter Squashes, etc. are all foods that will help strengthen our bodies for the upcoming winter.
• Stews are your best friend.  The foods in stews have already been cooked, making it super easy to digest, plus there's nothing better to warm you up on those cooler nights than a steamy bowl of soup. Num!

Here is a basic, easy recipe for Stuffed Acorn Squash (and don't forget to get creative and add your own ingredients to the filling!)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds with a spoon (you can save the seeds and toast them, or feed them to your dog if you have one - they'll thank you!)
3. Place the halves of squash cut side up in a baking pan filled with 1/2" of water and bake for about 1 hour, or until the flesh is easily pricked with a fork.
4. While the squash is baking, prepare the filling
5. Boil rice as per instructions.
6. Once rice is cooked, add desired ingredients.  Our last stuffed acorn squash was made with a bunch of stuff we found in our refrigerator that needed to be used before it went bad - andouille sausage, mushrooms, spinach and cheese.
7. I like to scoop some of the flesh of the squash out and mix it with the filling, then put the filling mix back in the squash.
8. Top the whole thing with cheese and place in the oven until the cheese is melty.
9. Enjoy this tasty and healthy meal!

What are your favorite Fall Foods recipes?