By Haven Logan

Variety’s the very spice of life.

-- William Cowper, The Task, Book II

Our desire for variety motivates us to explore and certainly makes life more exciting, despite sometimes getting us into trouble. Just as spices add flavor and interest to your food, variety in food choices will help you to maintain a healthy lifestyle by avoiding boredom. You may be thinking that too many choices and too much variety will add stress to your life. And, who needs more stress? Part of the reason we establish habits, such as choosing the same foods over and over, is that it seems easier and safer. But the problem with not being curious enough to explore change and add variety to your diet is that you stop paying attention. You do things by rote, limiting your nutritional variety, and you also tend to disregard portion size as you unconsciously over-eat familiar foods. Here are three fairly easy ways you can add variety to your diet.

# 1 - By Eating Seasonally and Locally

One simple way you can incorporate variety into your diet is by experimenting with eating seasonal fruits and vegetables and choosing locally grown foods. One taste of a home or locally grown organic tomato is all it takes to convince most of us that what we get from the average grocery store is at best an imitation of what Mother Nature intended tomatoes to be.

If you have never visited the local farmers market then you are missing out on a fun and satisfying culinary experience. Most of the foods you will find there are grown by local small farmers, so the vegetables and fruits are fresh, some picked the same day they go on sale. Most of the sellers are happy to talk about their produce and other wares, and their stories are usually engaging. So, when you go home and are make that delicious and healthy stir-fry or salad, it is like inviting the farmers into your home.

If you plant and grow your own fruits and vegetables, eating locally and seasonally is already an integral part of your life. Adding variety for you may mean branching out into new varietals or new produce choices. For those readers who do not garden, now may be the time to give it a try! Start small, perhaps with container tomatoes or a small herb plot. Once you have the satisfaction of tasting a soup you flavored with fresh, homegrown vegetables and herbs, I suspect you will be hooked and will plan a more ambitious garden the next year. Gardening also is a great way to get the whole family involved in paying more attention to food and diet, and to healthy choices.

For more information on farmers markets and eating seasonally visit www.seasonalchef.com. To find farmers markets any where in the United States go to the Agricultural Marketing Service of the United States Department of Agriculture at www.ams.usda.gov. Learn more about preserving our open-pollinated heirloom vegetables, fruits, and nuts at www.seedsavers.org.

# 2 – By Trying New Foods and Recipes at Home

Another way to expand your choices is to be more inventive in your own kitchen. Experimentation can be as simple as selecting one food and trying a different variation of it each week. Instead of always eating the same style of bread, go to a bakery and choose a novel flavored loaf. Or perhaps take a few moments the next time you are in a grocery store with an olive bar to sample a variety. You might not have time in your life right now for gourmet cooking, but you could become an expert in certain types of foods that you love. Exploration can be broad across categories or it can go deeply into one area.

Culinary exploration can also take place from the most unlikely of places — your own couch or arm chair. Your local public broadcasting station and the cable Food Network feature the nation’s premier chefs, who provide instruction on preparing everything from roasts to crème bruleé. Then there are the multitude of cookbooks, magazines, and cooking websites to peruse. Perhaps try one new recipe each week. If you decide to move beyond your armchair, you may want to take a cooking class. This can be a delightful way to meet new people, increase your cooking skills, and broaden your family’s dietary choices.

# 3 – By Eating in Restaurants

There is no easier path to culinary variety than eating in a restaurant. It used to be that you had to live in a metropolitan area to experience unusual cuisine, such as Thai, Caribbean, or Vietnamese. But today, in cities and towns large and small, there is an abundance of dining choices. In dining out to add variety to your culinary life, all it takes is the curiosity to try something new. No matter where you live and how numerous your restaurant choices, you probably tend to frequent the same two or three restaurants and get in a culinary rut by ordering the same few dishes. Widen your food horizons by experimenting with new types of cuisine and expand your palate by trying unfamiliar dishes.

No matter how you add variety to your life, above all do not let anything stop your culinary exploration. Let each season open a new door of discovery. If you like to cook, there are endless opportunities to increase your repertoire. If cooking is not for you, focus on finding new foods and expanding your appreciation. When you are paying close attention to what you taste, you are less likely to overeat and more likely to truly enjoy your food.