By Jennifer Whitmire, MS, MEd, MH, CHES, NEP
Autumn always reminds me to slow down. The air gets crisp, the light softens, and my body naturally craves grounding foods.
If summer was light and raw, fall is about warmth and depth—meals that make you feel rooted. This roasted root bowl does exactly that. It’s hearty, colorful, and packed with minerals that help your body adapt to seasonal change.
Roasted Root & Kale Bowl with Garlic-Tahini Sauce
Ingredients (serves 1-2)
- 1 cup diced turnips
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup diced parsnips or rutabaga
- Sea salt and pepper
- 3 cups chopped kale or beet greens
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
Garlic-Tahini Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons tahini
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 Tablespoon apple-cider vinegar
- 2–3 Tablespoons water to thin
- Pinch salt
Directions
Roast roots on a parchment paper-lined sheet at 400 °F for 25–30 minutes, tossing once, until golden.
Massage kale with lemon juice until softened.
Whisk sauce ingredients.
Combine roots and greens, drizzle with sauce, and finish with fresh herbs if desired.
Root vegetables are earth medicine. Their slow-burning carbohydrates feed you steadily without spiking blood sugar. The fiber feeds gut bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids that help regulate immunity and hormones.
Garlic and tahini add sulfur and calcium for detox and adrenal support, and kale adds magnesium and chlorophyll to calm the nervous system.
This bowl gives your body exactly what fall demands: grounding energy, immune balance, and a gentle detox from summer excess.
The Mind–Body Connection
In Chinese medicine, autumn relates to the lung and large intestine, release and renewal. Eating from the ground helps you let go of what no longer serves you and prepare for the stillness ahead.
That’s what we practice inside The Culinary Healing Circle each season, real food in season for healing.
Join the Circle and learn to cook with the seasons for hormone, gut, and immune balance.
Wholistic Jen 
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