Pumpkins are native to the Americas, with seeds going back 9,000 years discovered in Mexico. They were a versatile item, used not only for food and medicine, but as containers when hollowed out and dried. They were one of the foods that the early European settlers, thanks to the natives who showed them the way, were able to survive on, given their nutrient content and the fact that they kept well, without rotting, for many months (having grown them myself, I can attest to this fact!). This is the main reason the pumpkin is so closely identified with the Fall harvest and with Thanksgiving.

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Pasta gets a lot of mixed reviews. The low-carb diet proponents will tell you that pasta is the worst thing you could ever put in your mouth and will cause huge sugar cravings that will make you not only fat but diabetic. The high-carb diet proponents will tell you that pasta is a wonderful source of energy and helps maintain a healthy weight. The pasta companies will defend their product, of course, so they are hardly a source of unbiased, scientific information. Then there are those sources of unbiased, scientific information that couldn’t explain anything in layman’s terms if they tried.

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This is a particularly tasty version of the pumpkin bread that pops up virtually everywhere this time of year.

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Most recipes for Eggplant Parmesan bury this healthy vegetable under so many layers of cheese and rich tomato sauce that you might as well be eating a Personal Pan Pizza. Can you even find the eggplant in there? Do you even know what eggplant tastes like?

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Many of the foods we consume today were introduced to the early European explorers and later settlers by the native inhabitants they soon displaced.

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This spicy sauce hails from Argentina and is an excellent way to perk up an otherwise uninspired bowl of brown rice.

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I’ve never been a pancake fan – sweet breakfasts weren’t my thing, especially anything involving maple syrup. But these are pancakes like no other. Neither they nor the sauce that goes over them are overly sweet. You actually taste pumpkin and blueberry, not sugar and sugar. The whole grain flour makes them very filling, so you don’t have a sugar crash mid-morning.

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I was an adult before I grew to appreciate the sweet potato. My mother used to eat it mashed with margarine and brown sugar, which horrified me to no end (I don’t have much of a sweet tooth unless dark chocolate is involved). Combined with savory ingredients, however, I discovered that this nutrient-packed vegetable is absolutely delicious.

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If you are a reasonably healthy person and you eat a well-balanced, healthy diet full of whole grains, lean protein, and a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, there really is no reason to take vitamin/mineral supplements.

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This was one of my favorite vegetarian recipes when I was in my teens. Mom didn’t make it often because of the time involved with prepping the grape leaves, then stuffing and rolling them – but I couldn’t really blame her. She worked part time and had me and my two younger brothers to deal with plus a household to run. So, it was quite a treat when she did make them.

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