Seasonal drinking, too

Here's a short article on why it is a great idea to eat seasonally.  The pics shows my Friday night drink of mezcal with oro blanco, a lovely grapefruit in season in California right now.  I got the fruit from the Santa Monica Farmers Market.

Getting Ready for the Week?

Nandor bought flowering wild arugula at the SM Farmers Market. I hope you're having a nice day.

One Pot Meal and Sunday Prep

Got in provisions: eggs, cabbage, lettuces, chard, onions and garlic, zucchini, tomatoes, broccoli, daikon, radishes. All washed and prepped for the next couple of days.

Note: I tried sauteeing the radish greens for the first time. They were tasty, crunchy and full of water.

I made an Italian-inspired one pot meal with chicken drumsticks from Trader Joe's and my tomatoes, zucchini and plenty of garlic. I seasoned with Garlic Herb Sensation and Garlic Herb Bread from Spice World, along with some cracked black pepper. I cooked it slowly at about 250, which made a lot of broth.

Greens at the Santa Monica Farmers Market

I know it is a magical place, a rare place - that Farmers Market, but I still think you should try as many varieties of greens as you can. Spigarello is just gorgeous. Apparently it is a close cousin of broccoli and can produce little florets. That means it is a cruciferous vegetable with myriad health benefits.
It is especially good in soups or sauteed with scrambled eggs. Use it as a very simple side dish for any of your proteins by just washing, cutting in ribbons and sauteeing with olive oil and crushed garlic.

How to Win

The single best way to spend a few of your free hours per week is to plan out your healthy food intake. I hit the Farmers Market to take care of myself inside and out. If my good food is ready to go, I can handle anything.
What you see: bouquet, red chard, red beets (only tops visible), cabbage, asparagus and cauliflower.

Flowering Greens

Chinese broccoli is flowering delicious yellow. I've seen it at several markets now.

Sunday Veggie Preparations

I didn't know that radishes are cruciferous. That must be why I feel so great when I eat them.

Red and gold chard looks great at the West LA Farmers Market. I will use in morning eggs and to float in my turkey broth.

Sunday Preparations

I shopped for the week. Cleaned and prepped my jicama, celery, radishes (above) and cucumbers. I made red cabbage slaw, spicy buttery chicken legs, stocked the fridge with greens like arugula, maiche and spinach.
Those radishes taste very similar to round red ones, but without as much of a bite. Perhaps they're the same thing, only more mature...? Anybody know?

Prepared for the Week?

Living in California affords us all kinds of fresh local produce every week. Purple and red radishes are the bottom pic, and on top you see the last of the grapefruit, some avocados from Nandor's client's tree, limes, a butternut squash, and a variety of onions. Also picked up:

variety of lettuces like romaine, mizuna and arugula
three kinds of zucchini
cucumbers
green beans
farm fresh eggs
garlic
broccoli
cauliflower
Brussels sprouts
lemons
celery
daikon
cabbage
sprouts
raw whole milk

Fall Bounty from Farmers Market

Grilled marinated zucchini in a foggy glass bowl, mushrooms, wire bin with butternut squash, garlic, sweet onions, ginger, lime, avocado, lemon, orange and shallot. The Old Man from the Andes is the larger white cactus, with cabbage and jicama in front.

Santa Monica Farmers Market Haul

pistachios
red grapes
broccoli
short cucumbers
orange pepper
purple pepper
Blue Lake green beans young and tender
daikon sprouts
Chinese broccoli
cabbage

Cost to Eat Clean in West LA, Part II

Continuing to cook and prep for this week, I headed to:

Whole Foods Brentwood
4 servings whole milk yogurt - Voskos
8 pack Mary's Organic chicken thighs
total: $12.65

West LA Farmers Market
3 dozen eggs - $10.00
3 heads broccoli, 6 cucumbers, 2 white onions, 1 head garlic, 1 large bunch Swiss chard - $12.40
I really like the naturally salty taste of Swiss chard with eggs. I washed and cut it for the next two days' breakfast.

Weekly Meal Prep Sunday July 26

I decided to use mustard seed on my chicken pieces this week, so I had to find something else for the egg salad. Tomatillos looked nice, so I roasted them in chili powders and olive oil and made a sauce in the blender. I set some aside to go on my eggs. After it cooled, I mixed the rest with sour cream to make egg salad, which made a nice variation on my favorite food. I warn you: it isn't beautiful.
As for the chicken pieces, I marinated them overnight in lemons garlic and torpedo onion, elongated purple outside white inside usually sold with sprouts on. I used mustard, turmeric, cayenne and Garlic Herb Sensation from Spice World.
As usual, I stocked myself with eggs salad greens cucumbers broccoli celery onions garlic horseradish yogurt cheese, etc. washed and/or prepped it for the week. Nandor got a very neat variety of cucumber.

healthy happy fast meals introduction

I've been having a lot of luck at the farmers markets lately. Fresh summer food is so nice. For breakfast this morning I had broccoli onions and eggs from the West LA Farmers Market along with mild cheddar cheese from Pinconning Cheese House in Pinconning, MI. I used Spice World Garlic and Herb Sensation and some ground black pepper, all cooked in extra virgin olive oil.