There’s a reason coconut trees don’t grow in Brooklyn. Coconuts and other tropical fruits are very cooling and, therefore, best eaten in the tropics. In northern climates, stick to tree fruits, like apples and pears, and temperate-climate vegetables, like broccoli and carrots.
We all know the seasonal routine. Summer, fall, winter, and spring are in predictable order. But how do we apply that lovely rotation of seasons into optimum health? Look at the impact of the seasons on our food sources and you will begin to see the reasons that certain foods grow at certain times of year in the region where we live. For example, spring discharges winter, summer adjusts for heat, fall starts the storage process, and winter uses stored nutrients until the process begins again. Eating the proper foods in season adjusts us to temperature changes no matter where we live. Listed here are the best seasonal foods for temperate climates.
S P R I N G
Try tender early spring vegetables: peas, chives, scallions, tender greens, asparagus and celery
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Cooking methods should be quick boiled, raw, or quick steamed
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Serve food chilled or room temperature
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Eat less food
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Use less salt
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Season foods with vinegar, lemon, fresh ginger, mint, parsley and fresh herbs
S U M M E R
Light clear soups with fresh peas or celery
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Steamed or quick boiled vegetables at room temperature
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Chilled grain salads with corn and summer vegetables
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Pressed salads with cabbage, daikon, cucumbers, celery
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Spring rolls filled with raw or quickly cooked vegetables
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Chilled pasta with seasonal vegetables
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Fresh seasonal fruit and berries
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Sea vegetables and cucumbers are especially cooling
F A L L
In colder weather, serve foods that store warmth—especially root vegetables
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Cooking methods should be slow-simmer, pressure cooked, or sautéed
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Serve food warm
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Eat hardier meals
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Use a little more sea salt, miso, or tamari
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Season with scallions, ginger, or dried herbs
W I N T E R
Soups! Hardy vegetable, grain and bean soup
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Stronger steamed greens like collards, kale and green cabbage
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Winter squashes like butternut, kabocha, acorn, hubbard, delicata, and buttercup
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Sweet baked vegetables, including carrots, leeks, parsnips, onion, rutabaga
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Sautéed carrots, parsnips, rutabaga, and or burdock root*
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Stewed fruits like apples or pears
* Burdock is loaded with minerals, cleanses blood, and increases vitality