Category Archives: Farmers Market

Eat Local

nola eat local
Every June, here in New Orleans, we have the Eat Local Challenge. Participants agree to eat food that grown or caught within a 200 mile radius of New Orleans. This year we decided to give it a try.

For people who eat very few packaged foods this would seem like an easy task. I went into it confident that it would not be a problem. On day three we ran out of coffee. . .oops! It was either cheat or go without coffee. . .any guesses on what happened here? A couple of days later I was in Costco and headed for the produce section intent on getting avocados and onions. I got them in the cart and then remembered the challenge. . . (more…)

Posted in additive-free food, Farmers Market, fresh veggies, New Orleans, processed food, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Leave a comment

Grilling Veggies

Sgrillince we have a “primitive” kitchen at the moment, we invested in a propane gas grill. Two advantages – it is a great cooking surface and it is outside. The outside part keeps the heat out of the house; something to consider in this climate!

A few years ago we grilled a lot. Part of it was because of the heat in Palm Springs and part of it was because I banned meat from the kitchen. There is something about the smell, the blood and the mess. . . But meat was not the only thing we grilled. We regularly grilled onions, corn, eggplant and a variety of other veggies.

When we moved to Prescott and David became vegan we decided not to buy a replacement for the one we left in Palm Springs. He didn’t think it was worth the money if he wasn’t going to be eating meat.  I knew I missed grilled vegetables, but until we got this new grill I didn’t realize how much!

foilWe have been haunting the Farmers Markets. Two or three days a week we come home with a bag of fresh fruit and veggies.. Over the last two weeks we have grilled corn, potatoes, onions, eggplant, summer squash, cauliflower, beets, carrots and tomatoes. We have been going through lots of foil sheets !

Grilling veggies is really easy to do and really tasty! One of those fun things to experiment with.

Here is how we do it:

  1. Wash the vegetables and trim if necessary. Remember for potatoes, whole beets and other large veggies to poke a couple of holes in the surface
  2. Layout several pieces (4-6) of foil on the counter
  3. Drizzle a little olive oil on the middle part of the foil and salt it lightly
  4. Add herbs to taste; examples include:
    • Garlic for eggplant
    • Rosemary for carrots
    • Tarragon for squash
  5. Place veggies evenly in the middle of the foil
  6. Use your hand a sprinkle a little water on top of the veggies
  7. Wrap tightly in little packets (if the foil breaks just add a second sheet
  8. Place on the grill and when the veggies are about 1/2 done turn them over and continue cooking
  9. Cooking times will vary but for most veggies about minutes is perfect; for onions, potatoes and whole beets it is closer to 50 minutes.

Summer is a great time to experiment and find your favorite grilling veggies. Don’t forget to try out different herbs they have a way of making a “plain” veggie a whole new taste treat.

Posted in Farmers Market, fresh veggies, plant based diet, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

We Made It to New Orleans . . .

My head is still spinning – over the last two months we packed up our home in Prescott, drove ourselves and the three cats 1650 miles across company and have more or less moved into to our new home. What an incredible amount of experience crammed into a few weeks!

raw kitchenThe kitchen in our house was gutted . Once escrow closed  Meggan installed a utility sink in the kitchen. She says it is hard to clean and paint without water!

We got here and walked into an exquisitely painted but very bare kitchen – the only item in it was the lonely little utility sink.

We think that the kitchen is the most important room in the house so we started there; literally started from the ground up. We were told that there was a lovely long-leaf pine floor under the tile debris. Which is why David spent the first day we were here sanding of the glue and junk off the floor. When he was done we saw that there was indeed beautiful wood. Beautiful wood badly in need of repair and loving care.  Decided to delay immediate work and instead lay down cheap vinyl to protect the from any further damage. We will tackle this in the fall when it gets a little cooler!

Once we had a decision on the floor we moved in a fridge, a toaster oven, microwave and electric frying pan. Went out and got a gas grill and on the way home stopped at Farmer’s Market. While there we scored some corn, tomatoes, onions and greens.  Later that afternoon we had our first home cooked meal in a couple of weeks:  roasted corn on the cob along with grilled onions and tomatoes. I don’t think I have ever enjoyed a meal more!

camp kitchenWe were in business. Although I have to say that cooking with no counter space is a trick. David set up a rolling island, a couple of folding tables and put together a rolling storage rack. We gleefully refer to the process as camping in our own house. Very comfortable camping all things considered!

While we camped for the next couple of days, we feasted on a big salad made from fresh greens, tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers. Grilled and enjoyed eggplant, squash, tomatoes, carrots and potatoes. Even if we were camping it still felt downright luxurious to eat simple, home prepared fresh veggies.

At the end of the first week we had the most exciting day of all — the day we got a real gas stove and range!! I immediately made pasta sauce, started soaking black beans and dug out some rice.

The other exciting thing was the gift of a triple bowl 44 inch sink. Now all we need is something to put it on. That is next weeks project: find kitchen cabinets and the counter top to get installed asap.  Did I mention that in the meantime we are just happy to be eating real food again?

farmersOne of the wonderful things about New Orleans at this time of year are all the Farmer’s Markets. You can find ones on Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. We are taking full advantage!  Today we got 10 lbs of “seconds” tomatoes and a bunch of peppers and onions so tomorrow we make salsa!

Life should be calming down a bit in the next couple of weeks. I will finally get to start posting on a regular basis. I have missed writing more than I thought possible. So watch for new posts. Lots of nutrition news, garden updates, cooking tips and our other NOLA adventures.

And there, my friends, you have it – the NOLA adventure update! Stayed tuned!

Posted in Farmers Market, fresh veggies, garden, New Orleans, salsa, tomatoes, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment