To Live and Eat in L.A. – A Vegan Food Photo Blog

Just a quick Sunday post because it’s such a lovely day. I woke up too late to visit the Hollywood Farmers Market with as much time to linger as I would have liked, so I went to the closer Studio City Farmers Market instead.

The Studio City market does not have the awesome vegan soul food from Taste of Life like the larger Hollywood market, but it does have the delicious Corn Maiden tamales. This was my breakfast:

Corn is my crack. I love it any which way: sweet, savory, hot, spicy, baked, fried, whole, ground… you name it. I am not by any means a tamale connoisseur, my only qualification of expertise is my desire to eat them. Corn Maiden makes all kinds of delicious tamales and there’s always a few different vegetarian and vegan options, all rather tasty. Today I had one made with vegetables, potatoes and balsamic vinegar and the another made with sweet white corn. They came with a spicy tomato salsa and a mild tomatillo salsa. I had the savory tamale with a bit of each salsa and enjoyed the sweet one plain. A perfect combo.

Here’s a look at my market haul:

The packaged stuff is from Dave’s Gourmet Korean Food which is only available at local farmers markets (I haven’t seen them at the Hollywood market yet). Everything they sell is vegan, made by a master Korean herbalist who combines ingredients for maximum nutritional goodness. Next time you see their stand at a farmers market you should go check it out, they’ll usually let you generously sample everything.

The top container is Dave’s special tempeh, made from soy and brown rice by some fancy process of chef wizardry involving first pulverizing it, then grilling it and cutting it into strips. It’s got a very unique texture and mild flavor, I like to eat it with Dave’s kim-chi (not seen here because I’ve still got a jar in the fridge from my last visit).

The next container holds marvelously marinated lotus roots; pretty to look at, tasty to eat, and also said to be an aphrodisiac. I also got the mixed vegetable BiBimBop. I haven’t tried it yet but it’s calling my name from the other room. From what I can identify there’s pickled cucumbers, burdock root, bean sprouts and carrots, along with a couple of white rooty looking veggies I’m not sure about, all on top of cabbage.

I also picked up some little persimmons, red peppers, an Asian pear, asparagus, ginger and the most adorable little purple eggplants on the planet. Off to the side are a pair of delicata squash. Looks like I’m set for while :)

Greetings fellow Foodies. I thought I’d share with you yet another glorious display of vegan soul food:

This anything but humble offering is yet another fantastic lunch from the Taste of Life booth at the Hollywood Farmers Market. We’ve got the macaroni & cheese (so good and cheesy… how do they do it?), the pot roast (god I love this), the black-eyed peas (kinda plain but still tasty), and at the suggestion of one of my readers (thanks Scott!), the veggie lasagna. The lasagna was the only item I had not tried from these guys yet, and yeah, it was all that. The sauce was delicious and I don’t know what they used to simulate the Ricotta (tofu?), but it was spot on both in texture and taste. True, lasagna has got nothing to do with soul food… don’t ask me why they decided to add it to their menu. I for one am sure glad they did.

Oh and of course the cornbread on top was the proverbial icing on the cake. Although it wasn’t icing. And this wasn’t a cake. And I would have liked about two or three more pieces.

If you’re in L.A, head on over to the Hollywood Farmers Market tomorrow (if it’s not raining) (or on any given Sunday) and get your belly nice and full on some of this filling, comforting, fattening and authentically scrumptious down home cooking.

There are those who hate on L.A something fierce. I’m willing to bet that none of them have ever visited the Hollywood Farmers Market on a fine mid-winter day like today (sunny and warm, crisp blue skies and just the tiniest hint of a breeze).

The Hollywood Farmers Market rules for so many reasons, so don’t even get me started. Just go if you haven’t already. And ride the metro… it’s right there and you won’t find parking any closer, or cheaper. You might even run into a celebrity. Like Gwen Stefani.

Instead of my usual soul food lunch at the farmers market, today I ventured out and tried the Korean food stand instead. The nice lady there makes these delicious vegan vegetable pancakes.

The plate came with noodles, rice and kim chee. It was all great, though my pancakes were a little bit under cooked on the inside. If I get these again I’ll ask for them well-done and crispy. I also want to try her tasty looking tofu, which looks like it’s nice and spicy with Korean goodness.

And here’s the bounty I came home with. From left to right: mandarin oranges, purple cauliflower (oh joy!), artichokes, fuji apples, arugula, watercress, mint, sage, cherimoya, rainbow chard. The lemons are not from the farmers market but they insisted on being in the picture. What was I going to do, argue with a lemon?

All of this, along with the lunch and a round trip on the metro = under $30.
Wearing sandals and a t-shirt in January while sampling strawberries = priceless.

I love the Hollywood Farmers market. So many tasty vegan options… the amazing tamales, the Indian food, the salad lady, the fresh juices and so many other awesome options. Most especially though, I love the vegan soul food over at the ‘Taste of Life’ stall.

I went full force ahead today and got the sampler plate which lets you pick four items. I got the mac & cheese, kale, BBQ tofu and pot roast. This also came with corn bread. It was all delicious, especially the mac & cheese and pot roast. I was wishing they would have had some sort of yam dish but there was none to be found. I sure wasn’t lacking for food though, you can see what a huge serving this is and I only made my way through about half of it.

This fine food is only one of many reasons to wake your ass up early on a Sunday morning and head on over to one of the best farmers markets in town.