It’s been a great few weeks, and I’ve been out enjoying the sun and the first Farmers Markets around Toronto. I finally visited The Big Carrot (348 Danforth Avenue), and it’s got a great selection of organic and Ontario produce. Though it was a little pricey for some things, it’s nice one stop shopping.
The check out staff member we had was not particularly friendly and even managed to insult my handwriting. Maybe it was a poor attempt at humour, I don’t know, but that put a pit of a damper on an otherwise exciting food experience. Otherwise, one of the benefits of The Big Carrot is that it’s very TTC accessible, and just 1 block west of Chester subway station. We left with a couple of bags of produce (fresh asparagus! purple garlic! sweet corn!) and a rekindled love of seitan jerky.
With beautiful days like we’ve had, it’s time to get grilling. Flame-broiled asparagus, roasted garlic, cobs of corn still in their husks all made for a great lazy afternoon meal. So far this barbecue season we’ve been eating a lot of
Lick’s Nature Burgers, which are only available in Ontario (as far as I can tell). They barbecue really well, and have a very meaty quality to them.
We checked out the
Liberty Village Farmer’s Market (34 Hanna Avenue, Toronto, ON) on Sunday and picked up some strawberries, rhubarb, and fresh asparagus. The same vendor had potentially gluten free vegan cinnamon danishes, but I’ll investigate (investigeat?) further when I visit again tomorrow. It was actually kind of sparse, but since it started up again only a few weeks ago, I’m hopeful to see a bounty of fresh exciting produce soon.
Yesterday we grilled asparagus, garlic and more NatureBurgers for dinner. It’s so quick and easy to make all of them. And yes there is a slice of apple with my burger, topped off with mustard and bbq sauce. It was delicious, especially since we had run out all the other vegetables in the house.
Asparagus
– rinse and chop off about a half an inch to an inch of the stems
– throw it into a plastic bag with olive oil, lemon juice and salt
– toss on the barbecue.
– things I’ve learned: slightly burnt asparagus is delicious.
Garlic
– chop off the top stem, so that the inner cloves are exposed, and brush on some olive oil.
– toss it on the barbecue.
– things I’ve learned: garlic cloves can explode when bbq’ed.
I’m looking forward to more bbq’s, picnics and potlucks this summer! I can’t wait for all the vegan events happening in the next few months.
"investigeat" is officially my new favourite word. I need to investigeat some new farmer's markets in the city since I've moved away from wychwood's neighbourhood.
Hee hee. When it came to me today, I snickered to myself. 🙂
I can't believe how many farmers markets there are in Ontario! And right in Toronto, on every day of the week. It's really quite exciting. Fresh local veggies everywhere!