National Fig Week: November 1 - 7

The first week of November is National Fig Week and it's a great time to try new recipes for the upcoming holidays. Figs can add flavor, nutrition and variety to many meal plans.

Figs are rich in dietary fiber, potassium and manganese. One eight-ounce serving of fresh figs contains only 167 calories. While California figs are in-season June through September, European figs have a season that runs through the fall. Dried figs are available year-round.

The potassium in figs is great for helping to lower high blood pressure and the fiber in figs makes them a great snack food for those who want to lose weight.

Gluten-Free "Fig Newtons"

Elana Amsterdam has created a plethora of delicious and simple gluten-free recipes. Among those is this recipe for gluten-free "fig newtons". She uses the same basic ingredients in many of her recipes, so buying them allows home cooks to create many of her great dishes.

She has other fig recipes on her website, including Fig Tapenade with Walnut Crackers and Rosemary Fig Crackers. These recipes are also gluten-free.

Fig Candy - Chocolate Covered Figs

Over on Candy Addict, the chocolate covered fig product Figamajigs is reviewed.These candies are available in California, Trader Joe's and for online ordering.

Fig and Lemon Chicken

Figs are not just for sweet treats. This recipe for Fig and Lemon Chicken has been rated with four stars on allrecipes.com. The total time needed to create this dish is one hour, with 50 minutes of that being devoted to cooking time.

Grilled Fig Salad

Whole Foods Market offers this recipe for Grilled Fig Salad http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/540 that is easy to make, vegetarian and gluten-free. One serving of this salad contains 210 calories.

Cooking with the Kids: Orange Pancakes with Figs

This UK recipe is a simple one for kids to make with adult supervision. The measurements are metric, but they can easily be converted here.

Enjoy Fig Week

Whether store-bought or homemade, snacked on as-is or included in recipes, figs can be enjoyed all week long in a variety of ways. How do you like your figs? Share your fig faves in the comments section.

Sources:

November Food Holidays. http://www.thenibble.com/fun/more/facts/holidays-november.asp

Figs. The World's Healthiest Foods. http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=24