It’s the season for sweets, including pumpkin pie, but professional cook, Nancy Mehagian shares a side dish recipe for Japanese pumpkin that’s fast, healthy and delicious. Nancy has been a massage therapist and Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner in Los Angeles for nearly 30 years. She is the author of the culinary memoir, “Siren’s Feast, an Edible Odyssey”.

Natto is a traditional Japanese food. It’s fermented soybeans that are rich in vegetable protein. Typically eaten with rice, natto has a mild cheese-like flavor and can be an acquired taste. It has a sort of sticky paste on its surface and once it is stirred, the paste increases its volume becoming even stickier. You will find that the paste pulls apart in such a way that resembles a web. This is another characteristic that sometimes turns people off. Still, the benefits make it worth exploring, and according to The New York Times, it’s catching on. If you’re the adventurous type or enjoy uncommon textures in your food, definitely try Natto! You can even make it yourself (video) if you want.

As more and more of us focus on healthy lifestyles and locally sourced ingredients, the public outcry for non GMO foods gets louder. Of course, we’d all love to have a great garden planted with heirloom seeds, but that’s not always possible. Fortunately, the resources for shopping and avoiding GMO products are growing.

Moringa (Moringa oleifera) is the latest, hottest craze in superfoods. It’s been touted on Dr. Oz, written about by Dr. Andrew Weil, and The Huffington Post, and featured in several health newsletters. The leaves, fruits and bark of this tree can be taken as a powder or a tea, and often offer the best nutritional supplement available in the Southeast Asian and African countries where it is grown.

A perfect accompaniment to any dish, I call my greens “nutritional dynamite.” For this dish, I prefer black kale, red Russian kale or collard greens. Feel free to mix and match. 2 bunches greens, washed well, chopped and steamed until tender. (If you don’t already own a stainless steel steamer basket, please buy this essential kitchen item.)

Long used in Africa, and touted for its reputed medicinal properties, redbush tea has been the subject of increased research over the last few decades. As we read on www.livestrong.com: “Redbush tea is a beverage brewed from the dried leaves of the rooibos plant, a low-growing shrub native to South Africa and known scientifically as Aspalathus linearis. The herbal tea gets its name from the English translation of rooibos, which means “red bush” in Afrikaans.

Red maca is a root vegetable grown in the Peruvian Andes. Nicknamed the “Peruvian Ginseng,” it was sacred to the Incas and has been used as a food and medicinal herb in South America for over 2,000 years. Maca is loaded with a high amount of plant-based nutrients, including amino acids, desirable fatty acids, fiber, calcium, magnesium, and more – causing nutrition gurus such as David Wolfe (video) to count it as one of his go to “super foods.”

Are you familiar with Lion’s Mane Mushrooms? They have become the hot item for healthy eating. Vegetarians love them for their high protein content, while doctors and naturopaths go to them for their many healing qualities. Known by a variety of different names, such as bearded tooth mushroom, satyr’s beard, hedgehog mushroom, pom pom mushroom, or yamabushitake – the mushroom is often used as a meat substitute, since many say that they taste like shrimp or lobster when properly cooked.

This is a quick and simple side dish to make for warm summer evenings, as it only requires the briefest time on the stove top. Even better, there’s no need to stress about measuring ingredients – you can let the daily harvest from your home garden, or your favorite farmer’s market be your guide, as well as the number of people you expect to feed. Likewise, you can adjust the basic recipe to your own tastes. Any leftovers can be reheated, served cold, or at room temperature – you can even add some sliced, fresh tomatoes, toss it with your favorite vinaigrette and turn it into a summer salad!