What’s In Season In September?
September, the perfect blend of fall and summer, offers a delightful variety of fruits and vegetables to inspire you in the kitchen. Here’s a list to help you keep track of all the wonderful options you can play with this month:
1- Eggplant:
Eggplants, also known as aubergines, belong to the nightshade family of plants and are used in many different dishes around the world. Although often considered a vegetable, they’re technically a fruit, as they grow from a flowering plant and contain seeds.
Eggplants are a nutrient-rich food that contains fiber, vitamins, and minerals and in addition they’re high number of antioxidants, the substances that help protect your body from damage caused by harmful substances known as free radicals, and thanks to their antioxidant content, some studies suggest that eggplants may help reduce the risk of heart disease.
Eggplant is incredibly versatile and can be easily incorporated into your diet.It can be baked, roasted, grilled or sautéed and enjoyed with a drizzle of olive oil and a quick dash of seasoning. It can also be used as a low-calorie replacement for many high-calorie ingredients.
2-Pears:
Pears are sweet, delicious, they’ve been enjoyed since ancient times and they offer many health benefits.
Highly nutritious, Pears come in many different varieties. Bartlett, Bosc, and D’Anjou pears are among the most popular ones. They’re a rich source of important minerals, such as copper and potassium. Copper plays a role in immunity, cholesterol metabolism, and nerve function, whereas potassium aids muscle contractions and heart function.
What’s more, these fruits are an excellent source of polyphenol antioxidants, which protect against oxidative damage. Be sure to eat the whole pear, as the peel boasts up to six times more polyphenols than the flesh.
Eaten whole — with a handful of nuts if you choose — they make a great snack. It’s also easy to add them to your favorite dishes, such as oatmeal, salads, and smoothies.
Popular cooking methods include roasting and poaching. They pair nicely with spices like cinnamon and nutmeg and ingredients like lemon and chocolate.
However you choose to eat them, remember to include the skin to get the most nutrients.
3-Grapes:
People have cultivated grapes for thousands of years. They make a quick and delicious snack you can enjoy at home or on the go and you can find them in various colors, including green, red, black, yellow, and pink. They come in multiple forms, too, from raisins to jellies to juice. Seeded and seedless varieties also exist. Grapes offer a wealth of health benefits, primarily due to their high nutrient and antioxidant contents.They may benefit the eye, heart, bones, and more.
Grapes are a rich source of copper and vitamin K. Copper is an essential mineral involved in energy production, while vitamin K is vital for blood clotting and healthy bones. They also provide good amounts of B vitamins like thiamine, riboflavin, and B6. Both thiamine and riboflavin are needed for growth and development, while B6 is mainly required for protein metabolism.
Several compounds in grapes may protect against harmful microorganisms and Plant compounds in grapes may affect aging and lifespan.
Grapes are delicious, versatile, and easy to incorporate into your daily diet. Here are a few ways to enjoy them:
Eat grapes by themselves as a morning or afternoon snack.
Blend with spinach, cucumber, banana, kale, and mint for a nutrient-rich smoothie.
Serve on top of your favorite yogurt with crushed nuts and a drizzle of honey.
Enjoy frozen grapes as a refreshing summer treat.
Toss chopped grapes on your salad of choice.
Pair with sliced apples, strawberries, and dark chocolate for a sweet but healthy dessert.
Drink 100% grape juice.
4- Figs:
Figs have long been used as a home remedy or an alternative treatment for digestive problems like constipation. Figs and their leaves are packed with nutrients and offer a variety of potential health benefits. They may promote healthy digestion, decrease your risk of heart disease, and help you manage your blood sugar levels.They may improve blood pressure and blood fat levels, which can help improve your vascular health and decrease your risk of heart disease.
There are a number of ways to add figs to your diet, each with its own potential benefits. Here are the four main ways you can include figs in your diet:
Fresh: Fresh figs are low in calories and make for a great snack, and they’re an excellent addition to salads or desserts. You can also make fig jam or preserves with fresh figs.
Dried: Dried figs are high in sugar and calories, so they should be eaten in moderation. They may be more effective at treating constipation than fresh figs.
Fig leaves: Although they may be difficult to find outside of specialty grocers, fig leaves are nutritious and can be used in a variety of ways. They’re often used the same way grape leaves are, as a wrap for dishes containing rice or other fillings.
Fig leaf tea: Fig leaf tea is made from dried fig leaves. You can make it yourself or purchase premade fig leaf teas online or in specialty stores.
5- Pomegranate:
Best known for the vibrantly colored juice, Pomegranate has a lot more to offer. Low in calories and fat but high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals, benefits include antioxidants, heart health, urinary health, exercise endurance, and more.
Eating pomegranates may help prevent the inflammation associated with chronic inflammatory conditions and can support the health of your gut microbiome, which plays a key role in many aspects of health.
6- Parsnip:
Parsnips are a delicious type of root vegetable that has been cultivated and enjoyed around the world for thousands of years. Closely related to other vegetables like carrots and parsley roots, parsnips have long, cream-colored tuberous roots with a sweet, slightly nutty flavor. In addition to bringing a unique taste to your dishes, parsnips are incredibly nutritious and have been associated with many health benefits. They’re rich in several important nutrients and antioxidants that may improve immunity, enhance digestive health, and aid weight loss.
Parsnips can be mashed, roasted, sautéed, boiled, baked, grilled, or fried and add a rich flavor to many dishes, working especially well in soups, stews, casseroles, gratins, and purees.They can also be easily swapped in for nearly any other root vegetables in your favorite recipes, including carrots, potatoes, turnips, and rutabagas.
Here are a few interesting ways to add parsnips to your diet:
Combine parsnips with mushrooms and lentils for a vegetarian shepherd’s pie.
Mash parsnips and mix with lemon and herbs.
Prepare a parsnip gratin with ingredients like vegan feta, turmeric, and cumin.
Bake sliced parsnips in the oven to make vegetable crisps.
Toss with olive oil and spices and roast alongside carrots.
7- Tomato:
Despite botanically being a fruit, Tomatoes are generally eaten and prepared like a vegetable.They are a great source of vitamin C, potassium, folate, and vitamin K. Usually red when mature, tomatoes can also come in a variety of colors, including yellow, orange, green, and purple. Tomatoes are the major dietary source of the antioxidant lycopene, which has been linked to many health benefits, including reduced risk of heart disease and cancer.
8- Spinach:
Spinach belongs to the amaranth family and is related to beets and quinoa. What’s more, it’s considered very healthy, as it’s loaded with nutrients and antioxidants. Eating spinach may benefit eye health, reduce oxidative stress, help prevent cancer, and reduce blood pressure levels. Most of the carbs in spinach consist of fiber, which is incredibly healthy. Spinach is an excellent source of many vitamins and minerals, including vitamin A, C, K1, Folic Acid, Calcium and Iron.There are many ways to prepare spinach. You can eat it cooked or raw. It’s delicious either on its own or in other dishes.
9- Bell Pepper:
Related to chili peppers, tomatoes, and breadfruit, all native to Central and South America, Bell Peppers, also called sweet peppers or capsicums, come in various colors, such as red, yellow, orange, and green which are unripe.
They’re loaded with various vitamins and minerals such as C, B6, K1, Potassium, Folate, E and A. You can eat them raw as snacks or in salads as well as roasted and barbecued.
10- Zucchini:
Zucchini, also known as courgette, is a summer squash alongside spaghetti squash, and cucumbers.While squashes originated in the Americas, this particular variety was first developed in the early 1800s in Italy. Zucchini has been used in folk medicine to treat colds, aches, and various health conditions. Although often considered a vegetable, it’s botanically classified as a fruit. Zucchini contains many nutrients. As a result, including it in your diet may have a variety of health benefits.
Zucchini is rich in antioxidants, may promote digestion in several ways, and may help lower your blood sugar.
Incredibly versatile, Zucchini can be eaten raw or cooked. Here are some ways to incorporate it into your meals:
Add it raw to salads.
Stew it with other summer fruits and vegetables to make ratatouille.
Stuff with rice, lentils, or other vegetables, then bake it.
For a mild stir-fry, add olive oil and sauté it.
Steam it, then blend it into soups.
Serve it as a side, grilled or sautéed with a little garlic and oil.
Try it breaded and fried.
Spiralize it into spaghetti- or linguine-like noodles, or slice it to replace lasagna sheets.
Bake it into breads, pancakes, muffins, or cakes.
In some cultures, the zucchini flower is considered a delicacy. You can either deep-fry it or sprinkle it raw atop salads, soups, and stews.
Swing by your local farmers market, pick up some seasonal goodness and make yourself some delicious and nutritious food.
Much love,
Nousha