Vegetarian Family

A Peek @ Food We Eat & Things We Do!

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Farmer's Market & Vegan Grub

Liv and I went to the farmer's market while Abi napped and Art worked with a band in the studio. It was fun with just the two of us, and we wandered over to the artists' area. The market has a wonderful, free art program for kids and this week the 3-5 year olds could choose between ice painting (paint with salt), or clay painting. Liv chose the later, and here you can see a great beginning to her fish composition.




There are several artistic vendors at the market, and my favorite is always the mosaics.











I saw the sign "Zucchini Artichoke" and saw neither zucchini nor artichoke, so I asked about this strange looking veggie. She told me that it cooks like a squash, but tastes just like an artichoke. Say what? Ease of squash...taste of artichoke? Count me in. Here she is showing me how to prepare it: Cut the neck into "carrot stick" pieces, Hollow out the seeds and dice the round part. Steam. We dipped ours in fresh lemon juice and Earth Balance. It really did taste like an artichoke! But it had a squash texture.


The sign reads:

RENT A TREE
We Care For Your Tree &
You Get To Pick
CHERRIES * PEACHES * APPLES
$75.00 - $100.00







Zucchini Artichoke

Baby New Potatoes
Swiss Chard
Kermit Squash
Yellow Squash
Summer Squash
Leek
Kale

No lettuce again. Not because of the deer, but because I wasn't there within the first 1/2 hour!



During the recent heat wave, this soup really hit the spot. All I wanted was food from the fridge, and preferably the freezer. But, even I need to eat more than just ice-cream, popsicles, & fruit from time to time. So, without heating up the kitchen, I enjoyed a healthy, hearty bowl of Earthy Lentil soup from Vive le Vegan! along with some whole wheat toast. The ultimate frozen dinner.



Cannellini Bean Yam Hummus also from Vive le Vegan! sans pinenuts & cillantro. Some pita chips did the dipping:

Pita Bread (whole wheat)
Extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Paprika

Preheat oven to 350. Cut the pita into wedges. Arrange on baking sheets and brush with oil and sprinkle on spices. Bake 5 minutes.

Dinner was centered around a jasmine rice dome topped with pineapple, but the main event was the picked-that-morning, organic kale. On the back side, you see Morningstar Meal Starter sauteed in Soy Vay with pineapple to mellow it out a bit.

Miso Kale:

1 Onion
3 Tbs. Light Olive Oil
3 Tbs. Miso Paste
2 Bunches Kale, rinsed & rinsed, and chopped
3/4 C. Vegetable Broth

In a large pan, saute the onions in oil until tender. Add the kale and broth. Cook until the kale is wilted. Turn down the heat and add the miso being careful not to boil it.

Did you know that Miso consumption is linked with up to 50% reduced risk of breast cancer?


This is our first harvest from the garden. Very exciting that it was edible. Fresh basil and some really good, plump cherry tomatoes.










and some flowers in the backyard.











20 Comments:

Blogger KleoPatra said...

Wow, what a post.

Love that cool zucchini, how interesting is that!? And the mosaic of the body. Weird and cool at the same time.

Art fests and fairs are so wonderful. I am glad you got to go... some mommy & me alone time must have been heavenly for Liv (and you!).

That Liv... what talent! She is so cute decked out in the purple t-shirt and pink baseball cap. Awwwwwwww!

Sigh Earthy Lentil Soup along with whole wheat toast. Scrumptious. If you have time, get over to Bryanna's blog and see the kookiness of the "anti-grain" movement. Oy, it is just too bizarre. I would like a bowl of this... unfrozen, of course, Vicki! Y'know, i was just thinkin' how i haven't had any soup in a looooooooong time. Not just because of the weather, but because i'm too lazy to make it from scratch and i am not a fan of canned soups... *sigh*

Your dinner with the MorningStar stuff and the rice looks soooooo good.

Thanks for the happy yellow fleurs. Tres bien.

Glad to see you post, Vicki! Hope you are having a wonderful week.

Hugs from SD to you all.

10:35 PM  
Blogger Catherine Weber said...

How does clay painting work?

I'm so intrigued by those zucchini artichokes. I will have to search for some at the Saint Paul farmer's market!

Hmm . . . I have some lentil soup in my freezer, too . . . I should take it out to thaw and have it for dinner tonight! Thanks for the idea!

6:37 AM  
Blogger Crystal said...

Wow - neato zucchini artichoke thing.

Your basil is HUGE! and the tomatoes look great.

Your dinner looks very yummy and great presentation too. What a great dinner!

-Crystal

7:50 AM  
Blogger MeloMeals said...

Everything looks awesome! I love the look of the pinapple jasmine rice dish.. I whipped up some hummus and had it along with grilled veggies and whole wheat pita toasts.. a nice little brunch.

That artichoke/squash thing sounds so interesting.. and renting a tree.. that is the BEST idea..
Lovely basil/tomoatoes from your harvest.

Eating from the freezer is the best!

9:01 AM  
Blogger Elizabeth said...

Wow--I also am going to look for the zucchini artichoke at our farmer's market today.

We all were sad while walking recently....we'd seen that someone in our neighborhood had artichokes growing in the front yard, and thought about the feast that they were going to have. Well, we saw that the artichokes have turned into flowered thistles! I suppose that artichokes have as much right to sometimes live out their lives as anything else, but....all we could think of was steamed artichokes. ;-)

9:56 AM  
Blogger urban vegan said...

Great post. Great day!

I love the Zucchini Artichoke. Guess it means you're getting your vegetables from Z to A (or A to Z?).

10:03 AM  
Blogger Eat Peace Please said...

Vicki, this is a wonderful post! That farmer's market is great and I find the zuch-artichoke interesting as well. I must say, that for your fresh-kale meal, that plate, the food and the presentation is awesome. It looks great. And that fresh stuff from your garden... I could have used that bunch of basil last night. I had to drive to 2 different stores to get basil, which is weird for here.

So, are you renting a tree?!

10:38 AM  
Blogger Shananigans said...

That zucchini artichoke sounds very interesting, I’ll keep an eye out as well at the markets this weekend. I’ve never cooked kale before, but I think you just inspired me to :)

11:33 AM  
Blogger Harmonia said...

You sure have been busy! Lovely pics as always! Kermit Squash!? I've never seen/had it! WOW! Squash continues to amaze me with all the different kinds...I posted about 8-Ball Squash earlier this week. Farmers Markets! I finally got to go to ours this past week! Good thing too because I needed a lot and didn't have a lot to spend.

LOVE the adopt a tree idea.
I also LOVE that hummus of Dreena's! Tastee!

12:55 PM  
Blogger Julie said...

I need some of those Zucchini Artichokes! yum!

That Renting a Tree thing sounds cool!

12:59 PM  
Blogger Dori said...

I ate some cold soup thawed from the freezer during our last several days of heat wave. I even ate a slice of mostly froxzen bread and it was refreshing.

I love the farmer's market. Thanks for taking us with you.

1:10 PM  
Blogger Tanya Kristine said...

ohmygoodness...those are LOVELY photos...

as alwys, i'm a sucker for anykind of dip. yum!

3:26 PM  
Blogger funwithyourfood said...

One- I think fresh tomatoes are wonderful
2- i want to try that artichoke squash. I wonder where you can get it

teddy

6:23 PM  
Blogger Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

hi kleo: hugs back! guess what... art ate @ sipz tonight. he says the smoothies are as amazing as the food. interesting about the "anti-grain" thing - i'll go check that...

hi catherine: clay painting sounds much more exotic than it really is. it was simply a paper plate and clay. the instructions were to smear the clay into the plate - mix colors. liv loved it.

hi crystal: i only snipped a small amount of basil - it's a hearty plant. thanks for your visit.

hi melody: great to see you! your brunch sounds wonderful - love grilled veggies & w/hummus. Yum.

hi elizabeth: what a shame those artichokes didn't get eaten, and i'd say next year raid their garden!

hi leslie: not this year, but we plan to in the future when the girls are a bit older.

hi shannon: go for the kale.

hi harmonia: yes, the kermit squash was a new one for me also -- they are the round ones in the photo - we haven't eaten them yet.

hi raising kahne: you don't need to use tahini. up until a year ago, i never used tahini in my hummus. i made it the same way the guy does and it is wonderful. don't wait, you'll love it!

thanks for coming by and commenting everybody! :o)

9:47 PM  
Blogger KleoPatra said...

Aw, SIPZ!! i wish i'd've known... not that i could've joined'm since i'm workin'... i'll be there tomorrow (i actually haven't gone there in almost 2 weeks) and will think of both of you! Wonder if he stopped in at the animal-assisting second-hand store?!

Next time you both are here, we'll make a trip to the storage unit and see about some of my records...

Thanks for the comments on my blog, Vicki. Piraro rocks my world...

:o)

10:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The zucchini artichoke is wild. I didn't even know that variety of zucchini existed.

Your home-grown tomatoes and basil look fantastic. The tomatoes in my garden are just about ready. I have been getting tons of beans and radishes though.

Love your blog and all the great pictures :)

3:50 AM  
Blogger laura k said...

What a great post! I'm going to see if our farmer's market has that zucchini artichoke squash--sounds intriguing (and tasty).

Your dinner looked wonderful--I've still never had kale but I'm going to make it a point to have soon, like next week! I love your plate, too--so beautiful!

We have a lot of artisan-type markets and festivals around here, and I love them. I'm sure it was a relaxing time for you...

5:30 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Those are some gorgeous pictures. I wish I had a garden and could grow all this goodness.

4:30 PM  
Blogger Dr. Melissa West said...

Great post! I wanna try zucchini artichoke as well.

7:01 PM  
Blogger Kuntal Joisher said...

the dinner looks Fabulous.... yummm..

5:04 PM  

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