The Temptation of Out-of-Season Fruit

This past weekend, I hosted a Sunday lunch. It was a glorious spring day so we ate outside on the patio.

I made my version of bouillabaisse-cum-chowder and with it, we ate olive bread, cheeses, and a simple green salad.

Dessert was a fruit flan, which I bought at my local Whole Foods.

I deliberated over whether to buy the flan topped with summer berries or a pear and almond flan. Another option was an apple and almond flan.

Last Thursday I wrote about the advantages of eating in-season fruit for health, budget and sustainability. Given that we're just coming out of winter into spring, apples and pears are still the in-season best buys.

Summer fruits, like berries, are available, but they're not in season and so they're expensive, plus they're not as flavorful as they are at the height of their growing season.

I love almonds with pears and or apples so I was leaning toward the responsible choice: in-season fruit flan, especially having written that post just days before.

Then again, I loved the look of the summer-berry flan--such gorgeous colors, so apparently decadent.

And it was the same price as the apple or pear almond flans!

Despite what I know and despite what I've written on the topic of shopping, cooking and eating by the seasons, I chose the out-of-season berry fruit flan.

I'm aware that as I stood in front of the pastry case deliberating, it didn't matter that I knew the more responsible choice was the in-season fruit plan; in that moment, confronted by the colors of the aesthetically-appealing berry-flan versus the less colorful sensible pear flan, I chose the one that looked prettiest, the one that provoked in me a more intense response.

In other words, I made an emotionally driven choice, as we so often do with food. And as soon as we allow our emotions to drive our choice-making, reason, logic, best intentions, even values, fly out the window!

It's important to me to walk my talk, to role model what I write about on this blog, yet I'm human and a messy one at that, which means sometimes I make decisions that are not aligned with my core values.

A Facebook friend commented that she's impressed over my tackling the food and sustainability issue by encouraging awareness around shopping and cooking by the seasons.

"It's hard to avoid the choices tempting us to do otherwise," she said.

Indeed it is.

Regardless, at the end of the day, was I happy with my choice?

You know, the berry flan really did look the prettiest, but as I state above, summer fruits bought out of season have less flavor and they're not succulent, and as a matter of fact, the berries on the flan were not flavorful, nor were they juicy.

Alas, the flan did not live up to its appearance. And I'm glad, because it was a reminder to stick with what I know to be the best choice: buy and eat in-season for flavor, budget, health and sustainability, even when it's tempting to do otherwise.

Emotional Eating

Making a commitment to lose weight is ultimately about changing one's behavior.

And that is as simple or as difficult, as making different choices often.

When I first talked to Sara Sullivan about her weight loss goals, she was aware of the emotional comfort and satisfaction she derives from eating certain foods over others.

In other words, she's aware that from time-to-time, she feeds her emotions, as we all do.

Understanding our emotional patterns around food and eating is enormously helpful when trying to lose weight. When you can catch yourself using food to stuff down fear or sadness, grief or anger, then it's the first step on the path to awareness around choice.

And that choice might be as simple as putting the comfort food back in the pantry or fridge, and feeling the emotion instead of using food to avoid feeling.

I have a sweet tooth, and usually I keep a chocolate treat on hand. It's my comfort food. But when I eat it mindlessly, stuffing one choccie in after another, without awareness of flavor or texture, I'll catch myself and self-query along lines of, "What's going on? Somethings bothering you, what is it?"

It's an incredibly powerful exercise, listening to one's inner voice instead of ignoring it and stuffing it down. That voice has important things to say, insights that will help us on the path to making the changes we need to make around our eating habits and patterns.

That said, next time you engage in a bout of emotional eating ask yourself, "What's going on? What am I feeling or not feeling right now."

Yesterday, I proposed a number of sides and a main-meal idea that Sara could make with some of the groceries she purchased.

Another side idea, which I previously posted on this blog, and which readers have said they love, is Cripsy Kale. It's a fun way to prepare this leafy, somewhat chewy and bitter green, and because it really does come out crispy, it will add texture and interest to any meal.

Sara also bought a bulb of fennel when we shopped together. With the texture and color of celery and a subtle anise flavor, fennel is as versatile as celery. Eat it raw, in soups, or sauteed with other veggies.

Here are a couple ways to prepare fennel with the items Sara purchased.

Fennel Mirepoix
1) Chop a fennel bulb, a large carrot, and one small onion into pieces.
2) Saute in a little butter and oil and then transfer veggies to a casserole dish or Dutch oven, spreading veggies out.
3) Top veggies with either pieces of fish, chicken or pork.
4) Add a slurp of white wine, if you have an open bottle, if not, add a bit of water.
5) Toss in a sprig of tarragon or thyme or sage.
6) Bake in 350-degree oven until protein item is done.

To Serve: Spoon mirepoix of vegetables onto a plate, top with your choice of protein item, and serve with a side of crispy kale.

Fennel Salad
1) Slice fennel bulb into thin strips.
2) Drizzle with rice-wine vinegar.
3) Gently stir in the green olive, caper and lemon-peel tapenade or the deli mix of olives, feta and red peppercorns. (Sara bought these wet items at Whole Foods olive bar.)

To Serve: Try adding this salad atop a serving of the olive-oiled spaghetti squash with a piece of broiled fish, chicken or pork or for a vegetarian meal, place atop a serving of cooked, red quinoa, stirring in a serving of sauteed kale.