Fall is Here at the Farmer’s Market!

Pumpkin!

So it is finally starting to cool off here in Los Angeles and fall produce is starting to make its grand entrance at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market! I went gourd crazy and got 2 pumpkins, a butternut squash, and an acorn squash! I had to show restraint because I still wanted more. I also picked up some pears, apples, asian pears, and I think the final watermelon, tomatoes, and some corn. 

Tomatoes & Corn

Adjusting to seasonal eating was a bit of a challenge at first but now I truly enjoy it. Everything tastes fresher and I highly anticipate the “coming” of certain favorites! Just look at these beautiful apples and squash!

Apples

 Since I’ve been going to the Farmer’s Market every Sunday for almost a year now I eat better, spend less money on groceries, and truly believe that I get some of the freshest LOCAL produce around! And I’ve learned so many tips from the growers and have tried new things that I might not have without the recommendations from certain vendors.

FM Haul!

Any trip to the FM would not be complete without stopping by the C’est La V booth! Check out these lovely mini cranberry orange scones:

Cranberry Orange Mini Scones

With it being VeganMoFo and all I’m sure by seeing everything I got you can start to guess the things I might be preparing this week. Somehow I think there is going to be some serious squash items abound!

Til tomorrow…

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Farmer’s Market & Grilling Sundays!

Every Sunday I head over to the Hollywood Farmer’s Market to load up on fresh, locally grown fruits & veggies for the week. I not only save money, but I find that I am highly disappointed if I shop at any grocery store. The quality and taste is far superior! Check out this week’s haul:

FM Haul!

I got  all of this beautiful produce for $22.50! But wait there’s more:

Shitake!

Those shitake mushrooms are simply beautiful! Oh and I also got some okra:

Okra

Can you believe I got all this stuff for such little money! My new obsession are these japanese eggplants. Not only are they pretty but oh so delicious. They are not bitter at all and their texture is just divine! The grower I get them from told me they will be in season for the next month or two and I plan to eat as many as I can til then!

japanese eggplant

I couldn’t resist getting these white pattypan squashes because they were so attractive (OMG I find vegetables attractive…):

Pattypan Squash

I finally busted out the Weber last weekend and plan to regularly grill every Sunday for the summer. Nothing beats drinking a few cold ones and driving your neighbors crazy because you’re only grilling veggies and fruit! All of the veggies are grilled with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. Here is that lovely japanese eggplant:

grilled eggplant

Grilled Okra (which by the way tastes delicious when grilled):

grilled okra

Cherry tomatoes and assorted mushroom skewers (my two vices – I could eat these for days!):

Tomatoes and Mushrooms!

I also grilled an avocado. Yes, an avocado! Grilled avocado tastes quiet earthy and nutty and is just absolutely amazing! If you’ve never had one, I highly recommend it! Once its cooled scoop it out with some chips or spread it on bread…

Grilled Avocado!

And last but not least I also grilled some Tofurky Beer Brats because as you well know us vegans need our protein 🙂

Tofurky Beer Brat

This was my first time having one of these and it was pretty tasty!

I am totally set for the week now with a ton of great tasting grilled veggies that I can make sandwiches with, make a pizza or pasta, or just eat right out of the fridge cuz they’re just that damn tasty! My goal is to post once a week about my Sunday farmer’s market haul and grilling extraveganza so I hope you enjoyed this post!

  

Vegan Pancakes, Oh My!

So today for breakfast I made pancakes from Vegan With A Vengeance. I followed the basic recipe and then decided to add some chocolate chips at the end because it was just that kinda day!

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Slathered them in Earth Balance and some agave – YUM!! I made only half the recipe because I was eating alone and I got 3 nice sized pancakes but they were so good I wish I would have made more!

For dinner I made roasted sunshine squash soup. Sunshine squash is also called orange kabocha. I got it from the Hollywood Farmers’ Market which if you’ve never been, you must go. Its open year round and it is one of the biggest in Los Angeles! So for the soup I roasted the squash (split in half) in a 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes. Took it out and let it cool. In a large saucepan I added a little oil, 1 diced onion, couple cloves of garlic minced, half of a red bell pepper diced, and some grated ginger. Once sauteed, I added some veggie stock and some water (I didn’t measure!) and brought that to a boil. I added a pinch of salt & pepper, some chili powder and some nutmeg. Once it was boiling I added the squash, turned the heat down and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. I tasted it for seasoning and then stuck in the handy dandy stick blender and pureed until smooth.

Roasted Sunshine Squash Soup

Can you see that color – now I see why its called sunshine! And the squash is very sweet, smooth, and not stringy. I need to go scout some more of these babies out at the FM on Sunday!