For lunch this week, I made my usual fish (I eat fish pretty much every day!), and a bunch of veggies I got at the farmer's market. My favorite was the round zuchinni, which were the size of baseballs and roasted up quite nicely with a bit of pepper and parmesan cheese. I also roasted a batch of yellow and orange carrots, red bell peppers and some cauliflower. Finally I blanched a batch of my all-time favorite vegetable: sugar snap peas.
After a debaucherous week of eating in San Francisco, I needed to get back to fit and fiber. So last Sunday, I went to the Alhambra Farmer's Market in search for some cooking inspiration. What I found was an enormous variety of produce, and a renewed excitement for the simple goodness of vegetables.
Beets, jalapenos, cilantro, lemons, artichokes, sugar snap peas, green beans, sweet corn, red bell peppers and spring mix all went straight to my head - so many ideas! I just had to get home fast else risk forgetting all the wonderful combinations and recipes that were flooding my brain.
With the jalapeno and cilantro, I made a paste to rub on some red snapper I had purchased the day before. I let it marinate for a few hours then popped it in the oven. The beets went straight onto a roasting pan and got a good dash of sea salt; they went perfectly with the spring mix I bought and the goat cheese I already had in the fridge.
The artichokes, red pepper, onions and sweet corn became a stuffed artichoke heart dish. I mixed the vegetables with some spicy quinoa I had made and added a bit of lemon zest for balance and flavor. The lemon also came in handy for the hearts; add them to the boiling water to avoid discoloration of the tender artichoke hearts.
The snap peas and green beans? They served as the perfect side dish to my snapper and artichoke heart dinner. After a week of eating like this, I felt back to my normal self.
Tomorrow I will go again for more fresh inspiration. Let's see what next week brings...
Unfortunately I did my grocery shopping over the weekend, so all I needed was lunch. But coworker Bri purchased a good variety of fruits and veggies so at least one of us got to support the farmers today. And I think Joe bought some apples and bananas, so I guess that makes two of us. Oh...actually, Alex bought some mini pecan pies and cinnamon-roasted pecans (the guy likes pecans), so that just leaves me as the lone, non-shopper. Sorry, farmers. But I did take pictures!
This beats Ralph's any day!
You can even get cheese from Laurent Bonjour!
After my farmer-supporting coworkers were done making me look bad, we headed toward the prepared food stands to grab some lunch grub. Talk about a tough decision...just the various smells alone were enough to cause utter confusion over what to get. After perusing stand after stand and tasting many samples, we all settled on different things.
Alex went for the ethnically-confused Mexican Thai stand offerings. Mexican Thai? Those Thais will pair up with just about anything! There is a Thai Italian place near me in Pasadena, and Bri said she's seen lots of Thai Chinese places. What's next? Thai Sushi? Greek Thai? Thai Starbucks? Anyway, Alex's meal consisted of a Mexican Thai BBQ chicken with seasoned rice and lettuce. He gave his lunch a big thumbs-up.
Bri decided to get a bag of pita bread and a container of hummus for her lunch. But not just any hummus, oh no. She got herself a tub of pesto hummus, and happily dipped her freshly-baked pita into her Italian-inspired hummus. Wait...can we call this Greek Italian?
Being a hapa (half-Japanese, half-white), I don't need any more ethnical confusion in my life, so I opted for the straight-up street tacos from the Mexican stand.
I got one chicken, one pork and one beef taco and sprinkled a good amount of onion/cilantro mix on each one. They came with a side of rice and beans. Sadly, these tacos were just OK. I honestly couldn't tell the difference between the chicken, pork or beef in flavor or texture, and the rice and beans were decent but somewhat bland. Guess it serves me right for not being more adventurous!
Joe, who is a very picky eater and hardly ever ventures outside his comfort zone, decided to...stick within his comfort zone and get his usual hot dog. Before our offices moved to downtown, his favorite dog was at the stand in the parking lot of the Home Depot in Burbank. BUT, this wasn't just any ol' hot dog: It was wrapped in bacon (gasps and applause fills the air)! Much to our dismay, he decided against the pile of grilled onions they offered with the dog (did I say he's a picky eater?). However, Joe liked it...in fact, he used the word "awesome" to describe the hot dog. Take that, Home Depot parking lot hot dog stand! With his bag of salt & pepper Kettle chips and a paper cone of candied pecans, he was a happy luncher.
All in all it was a very good way to spend our lunch hour, and everyone is grateful that we have this resource so close to the office. I think next week I might try something from the Japanese stand (they have croquette, my favorite!) or the Peruvian stand. Now if they only had a Japanese Peruvian stand...
