As you might know from our second book club book, I’ve been very interested in the idea of cycle syncing lately. It’s really fun to play around with adapting different areas of life to the cyclical nature of women’s hormones. Especially when it comes to food! So I thought I’d pop on and show you an example of a meal I created for the Luteal Phase.

In the Luteal Phase, you want your foods to be rich in B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, and fiber. Combined, these can: 1) stave off sugar cravings, 2) mitigate fluid retention, and 3) help your liver and large intestine flush estrogen through the bowel. In addition, roasting or baking veggies increases their sugar concentration which gives you a healthier and natural source of sugars. This will help with the dip in estrogen in the second half of this phase.

With this in mind, I decided to throw together a salad that combined leafy greens, apples, chickpeas, and roasted butternut squash. Here’s how to make it!

What you’ll need:

Salad components —

1 small butternut squash, cubed (you’ll also need olive oil and S+P for roasting)

leafy greens

1 can of chickpeas

1 cup feta cheese

1 Granny Smith apple, diced

Sprinkle of fresh dill

Dressing components–

2 Tbsps olive oil

2 Tbsps balsamic vinegar

And how it all comes together:

– Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Toss your cubed butternut squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for about 30 minutes, tossing halfway through. Remove and let cool.

– Whisk together the dressing components with a bit of fresh dill.

-Toss salad components in the dressing and top with more fresh dill. Enjoy!

It might sound super simple, but I can’t recommend this combination of ingredients enough. This salad is my new favorite lunch!! : )

To learn more about how to cycle sync, check out THIS BOOK and all the book club posts —

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