September 23, 2016
As the seasons change over from the amazing summer sunshine to the equally, in my book, bright Autumn light, our bodies turn to craving autumnal coloured produce, from the vibrant deep orange and quirky shaped pumpkins, to the golden beets and dark greens of Cavolo Nero and Savoy cabbage.
Soups hit the spot, as do trays of roasted vegetables which I love, not only served piping hot with a generous dollop of home-made hummus and creamy avocado as a simple supper, but also served cooler alongside a torn buffalo mozzarella, drizzled with a new season olive oil.
If you haven't tried buffalo mozzarella or burrata alongside roasted beetroot and butternut squash, you're missing out, as the combined sweetness of the roasted veg goes so well with the creamy cheese, especially if you sprinkle some crunchy Maldon style sea salt on top.
I wish we would all stop hitting out at salt as a generic "let's pick on the next ingredient" in the food we eat and make us all feel bad for eating it. The salt police seem to have missed the fact that there is a big difference between having a diet which is so full of processed high-salt foods and very little else, and an eating style which incorporates a little good quality salt (I like sea salt), used selectively and wisely to bring out the flavour and create a dish which satiates our taste buds.
If we insist on lambasting and criminalising all salt in our food we will end up producing food with no flavour which fails to satiate our palette and, lo and behold, we end up eating far too much as we chase our 'I've had enough to eat' light bulb to be ignited. Obesity replaces the salt, which to me makes no sense.
Flavour is such an important element of eating so let this be the season when you're not afraid to season the produce which we find so appealing and enjoy the foods our body needs us to crave as the light dips and the log fire basket needs replenishing once more.
