new finds

I love food, esp. when I come across things that are new to me. Two of my recent finds that I'm loving right now are pea shoots and nutritional yeast. At the La Jolla Farmer's Market this morning, I started chatting with a vendor about the food she was selling. Her seaweed salad samples were delicious and when I asked about this lovely corncake thing she was preparing, she handed me one! The photo above is what she gave me -- a wonderfully moist and warm corncake topped with artichoke hearts, a cilantro hummus, onion sprouts and pea shoots. Pea shoots! Yum. I hadn't tasted these before. The pea shoots are tender, yet crisp and contain a lot of water. They'd make a refreshing snack on a warm day all by themselves. Another vendor today was selling about 8 different kinds of alfalfa/shoots so I picked up some pea shoots to snack on during the drive home!

My other recent find is nutritional yeast. Popcorn topped with nutritional yeast (using a little melted Earth Balance for sticking power) has become my favorite snack. I first purchased some from the bulk food section of a grocer three weeks ago. A friend had given me a recipe for a vegan "cheese" and nutritional yeast is one of the ingredients. I immediately fell in love with this stuff. Aside from the "cheese" I've made twice now, I've started to sprinkle nutritional yeast on other foods where I want a cheesy, nutty sort of flavor.

Exploring the produce section -- as well as the bulk foods! -- is becoming my new favorite past time.