My Fall Grain Bowl Blueprint

I LOVE eating in the fall. I love the collisions of late summer ingredients (the juicy, sweet, tart, and tender) and the early fall ingredients (cozy, warming, grounding.) I love the way they play on my plate, and in our meals. If fall is the most sartorial season, it’s also the most delicious.

There are combinations you can make when favoring seasonal and local produce during this time of year that make zero sense at any other time. Plums with beets and grapes? Amazing! Apples with pumpkins? Divine! Following these “blueprints” that nature draws for us is the most direct path towards amazing, inspiring meals…and also to the balance that we need to thrive through this seasonal change. Put another way, if you’re still eating the same thing that you ate all summer long, you’re doing something wrong my friends.

To make following this guidance, I’m pleased to give you my Fall Grain Bowl Blueprint – a little map outlining the best and most balancing that fall has to offer.

Respect the (internal) rhythms

Did you know that our metabolism changes with the seasons? That certain seasons, our bodies need more carbohydrates than in others? In some seasons, we’re more proficient at digesting fats and proteins than others? And seasons when we distinctly have low digestive fire and are best served holding back on these grounding foods?

As fall sets in, the air cools and dries, naturally increasing Vata dosha—the subtle energy of movement and change, comprised of wind and ether energies. Digestive fire (agni) can fluctuate: some people feel bloating, irregular appetite, or slower digestion. Metabolism may slow slightly at first, and the body craves warm, grounding foods to balance dryness and support energy. But, as the season stabilizes, our metabolism revs as energy is drawn away from the extremities and into the core of the body where it will stay through the winter, working on keeping us warm. Through these colder months, our bodies need and can process fats and proteins better than other times of year. And, our bodies need them more – to regenerate, recover and prepare to burst out strong in the spring.

The more we align with this system-wide mission through our food choices, the healthier, more comfortable and stronger we’ll be through these cold months. If we ignore the rhythm, this is when stuff starts happening. If you keep up your daily salad habit, stick ice cubes in your drinks, indulge in ice cream at bedtime and more, allergies, illness, fatigue and digestive distres are on the menu for you. But if you lean into the principles displayed by this divine grain bowl, you’re good to go.

What kinds of proteins are best through the fall?

I’m so glad you asked! ; )

Because metabolism takes that little “dip” in the early fall before rebounding in ones own time, it’s important to keep proteins light and easy to digest. Plant based proteins are a wonderful choice this time of year for that reason, but eggs, poultry and fish are great choices too. We want these foods to have some fat in them or to be accompanied by fat. Red meats and cheese are harder to digest, so these are idea to steer clear of.

Warm, moist, dense + nourishing

SO, let’s build you a perfect fall meal. This bowl embodies the qualities that balance the qualities of vata dosha – the bioenergy doing the “pushing” through the fall.

Vata is cold, rough, dry, mobile and subtle.

This bowl is warm, smooth + easy, moist + oily, dense and grounding as the blueprint or recipe is written. But, if you change the way that you prepare the ingredients below (say you get lazy and don’t steam the carrots, eat the greens raw, don’t add both dressing and ghee or oil (YES YOU NEED BOTH!) or omit the protein or the grains….then you change the entire balance here. You don’t reap those benefits, and in fact you only contribute to imbalance. So while this is roadmap to a perfect fall meal is wide open for your personal interpretations, there are a few “rules” that make it work:

1. Cook your veggies and your greens. The only exception here is spinach that might get wilted by the other hot ingredients on your plate. Otherwise, yes cook them all.
2. Add grains: your body needs carbs to make this transition. Don’t skip them. That’s like trying to drive your car without gas. Who does that?
3. Pick a great protein: eggs and poultry are my fall go to’s. I can feel in my body when I need them. If you’re on the fence, a hearty serving of plant-based protein will do.
4. Oil it up: the best way for us to build strength is with softness, and the best way for us to soften our internal structures so they can do their jobs properly is with OIL and FAT. When I say I want you to put a healthy drizzle of ghee AND a dressing on top, I’m not kidding. Trust. You’ll feel better, your body will thank you, and you’ll never go back. OH! And, stop adding the fat again in the spring when metabolism shifts again!

This fall grainbowl blueprint

Is delicious, fast, easy, and so nourishing. It’s both the best way to use up leftovers AND the best way to design your meals so that you have leftovers to make lunch (or dinner) with. You’ll see that I have two favorite dressings below – try them both and see what you like better, and if you have one that you love making more do that! This bowl can be so so many things, different for me each time I make it or use it, and certainly different for you as well. But what I really hope it is is a peek into the ways that we want to build meals differently through the seasons to help our bodies to heal, and thrive. Enjoy this one and make it your own!