Jessie Snyder
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Instagram: @_faringwell | faring-well.com
Eat seasonally: gut health
Eating the most delicious food year-round is going one step further than eating seasonally. It’s embracing local ingredients, whether they be produce, fresh bread, pasta, fermented foods, etc. I started really noting the benefits of this once I embraced it wholeheartedly.
How food has impacted your life + health
Eating a fiber-rich plant-based diet literally cured my gut health issues and I couldn’t be more thankful. It’s changed the way I perceive and value everything I put into my body, and it really helped me develop a positive relationship with my kitchen and feeding others.
Eat local
This may sound a tad simple, but fresh local produce tastes better. I think we far too often settle for out-of-season fruits and vegetables to base our meals off of instead of embracing the local crops in season at that time.
Roast squash whole!
I recommend roasting mainly sugar pumpkins, red kuri and kabocha squashes. I peel and deseed afterward in a much more finger-friendly way, rather than yielding that scary knife with my clumsy hands beforehand.
Chanterelle and Wild Rice Soup
Serves 4-6 as a main
INGREDIENTS
4 cups filtered water (or vegetable broth)
1 oz dried chanterelle mushrooms
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup diced yellow onion
½ cup thinly sliced leeks
1 cup celery, finely chopped
1 tbsp dried thyme
3 cups cooked wild & basmati rice, mixed
2 cups cooked chickpeas (or butter beans)
1 cup chestnuts, pre-steamed & quartered
2 tbsp lemon juice
Sea salt & fresh black pepper
Chopped flat-leaf parsley
METHOD
To a large stock pot on the stove, add the water/broth, dried mushrooms, garlic, onion, leeks, celery and thyme. Cover and bring to a simmer. Let cook for 20 minutes, then remove the lid, scoop the mushrooms onto a plate and set aside. Add the cooked rice, chickpeas and chestnuts, then season with salt. Bring back up to a simmer and let cook uncovered for another 20 minutes. Chop the chanterelle mushrooms and return to the pot along with the lemon juice and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Stir, taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Ladle into serving bowls and top with chopped fresh parsley.