The Veggie Mobile

Introducing the Veggie Mobile Sprout!

2011-12-01T14:40:00.002-05:00

After months of construction and preparation, the Veggie Mobile team is excited to introduce the newest member of the fleet: the Veggie Mobile Sprout!

As you might imagine, the demand for affordable, quality fruits and vegetables is always high. People must eat - so we got on the task and built another truck. The Sprout is focusing its stops within Rensselaer County - which means that we get to focus in more on the needs of our immediate community. It's a commercial utility vehicle, so it's smaller than its older cousin, able to get to spots where the Veggie Mobile couldn't quite fit. We've designed and outfitted it to stock a large variety of produce - people are surprised when they see how much we've fit into it!

As always, we try to build for the long term - so we installed a scale, an EBT (food stamp) machine, and interior lighting all powered by solar panel! And of course, the equation wouldn't be complete without the best in good tunes from 19-before-you-were-born and beyond.

Stay tuned for more posts on the Sprout! We'll be taking you on a tour through the building process, our times on the truck, and perhaps a bit of Troy itself. And if you're in Troy or nearby, we'd love to see you on the Sprout!

Cranberry Relish for Thanksgiving and Fresh Ginger Tea for Pending Winter Colds

2011-11-14T16:00:00.001-05:00

Last Week's Taste and Take Recipe was Cranberry, Orange and Ginger Relish. Not only is it a time-honored complement to Thanksgiving dinner, this version is no-cook, which translates to less time in the kitchen and more time at the dinner table with family. We relish (get it?) in the smell and taste of fresh ginger root so much we're offering a bonus ginger root recipe. This one for Fresh Ginger Tea is the ultimate cold remedy, but don't think a runny nose and sore throat is a prerequisite. Ginger Tea is the perfect tea every day and, if you make it in big batches, put the extra in the 'fridge for Ginger Iced Tea the next day.

Cranberry, Orange and Ginger Relish
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons chopped peeled fresh gingerroot
1 large navel orange, including the rind, chopped
12-ounce bag of cranberries, picked over
3/4 cup brown sugar, or to taste

Directions:
Mince the gingerroot and orange in the food processor. Then add the cranberries, and pulse or run the food processor until it’s all chopped up fine. Put the mixture in a bowl and add in the sugar. Chill it in the fridge for about 30 minutes and serve! It should keep in the fridge for about 2 weeks.

Ginger Tea

Directions:

Peel ginger root with either a small knife or the edge of a spoon (it really works!). Bring a small piece of ginger (about 2 inches) and 4 cups of water to a boil, then simmer for about twenty minutes. Remove the ginger root. Mix the tea with fresh lemon juice and honey to heal a sore throat or to treat colds.

New Produce, Extracting Pomegranate Seeds and the Triangle of U

2011-11-08T13:13:00.000-05:00

Take note! The Veggie Mobile is now offering
new produce!

You can now find the following on the truck:

sundried tomatoes
snowpeas
pomegranates
rutabagas
ginger root

Last week's Taste and Take featured one of our new items: pomegranates. These beautiful fruits are natives of Persia, but today they are grown all over the world. In the US, pomegranates are grown primarily in California to make pomegranate juice--a drink popularized in America for its high antioxidant content. Getting those pom seeds (called arils) out can be a pain, but fear not. The Veggie Mobile offers you the following fail-proof method for extracting maximum amount of arils in minimum amounts of time.

Step One: Halve pomegranate
Step Two: Smack back of pomegranate half with the back of heavy metal spoon.
Step Three: Be amazed at how easy it is to extract pomegranate arils and how fun/weird it is to say aril.

Another of our new items, the rutabaga, also deserves a brief mention at this point. First of all, did you know that a rutabaga is a cross between a turnip and cabbage? Well, it's true. We know because earlier today we stumbled across what is quite possibly the most amazing product of scientific pursuits--Brassica evolutionary theory. The theory is officially referred to as the Triangle of U and describes how members of the Brassica family, like rutabagas, came to be. In short, the theory identifies three closley related species: Brassica rapa (turnip, Chinese cabbage), Brassica nigra (black mustard), and Brassica oleracea (cabbage, kale, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower) and proposed that while these three are indeed separate species they are genetically close enough to interbreed. And so they did. One late night turnips (Brassica rapa) and cabbage (Brassica oleracea) got together. The result? Rutabagas and rapeseed (re: canola oil). Exciting stuff, right? Or only exciting to nerdy vegetable-lovers? You vote.

Little Pig-tato

2011-11-03T16:02:00.000-04:00

This potato looks like a piggy, now that we've dressed it up that way. You're welcome.

Corn is gone now, but here's a weird corn to look at

2011-11-01T12:39:00.000-04:00

It's so tiny! It's weird.

Chocolate Beet Cake!

2011-10-26T17:36:00.000-04:00

It's getting close to that annual-super-sugary-gluttonous-candy-binge holiday we all dread - so much so that we disguise ourselves in crazy costumes to eat our candy so that no one can bear witness to our terrible, terrible shame. Just kidding, it's not that big of a deal to eat candy, really, we're not that upset about it. And to prove it, we're extending our hand, weapon-free, to give sweets a fair shake. So this week, in anticipation of Halloween, we're meeting our arch nemesis, Junk Food, head on in a collaborative compromise. That's right. Vegetables, meet chocolate - chocolate, meet vegetables.

Ingredients:

5 beets (or enough for 2 cups pureed beets)
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Confectioner's sugar for dusting

Directions:

Trim stems and roots from beets. Quarter and place in a large saucepan filled with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 50 minutes, or until beets are tender. Drain liquid and remove skin. Place beets in a blender and process until beets are pureed. Reserve 2 cups puree. Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour baking pan(s). In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and beet puree. In a separate bowl, whisk together cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir into the beet batter until well combined. Pour batter into prepared baking pan(s) and bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan before removing to cool completely on a cooling rack. Dust with confectioner's sugar.

It can't be beet! In fact, chocolate and beets go together like this pumpkin pair . . . Tweedle Pump and Tweedle Kin.

Rainbow Veggie Mobile

2011-10-25T14:41:00.000-04:00

The Veggie Mobile is looking idyllic here at one of our Saturday stops in Troy. This is at the corner of 6th Avenue and 101st, where we park ourselves from 3-4pm every Saturday. This is a neat corner of Troy - our parking spot is near the Missing Link Street Ministry, as well as the Sanctuary for Independent Media - which also now brings Freedom Square to life! We love getting to participate in the community landscape here. And this big rainbow right over the Veggie Mobile bascially ratifies that, boom!

Broccoli and Apple Salad with Raisins and Onion

2011-10-24T15:48:00.000-04:00

The line between sweet and savory needn't be severe - think pineapple with ham, or chocolate covered pretzles. A little sweetness can give you new perspective on familiar ingredients (and in life, aaawwww). For instance, you've probably had a grilled cheese with tomato, but how about a grilled cheese with sliced pear? It's good. Trust us.

Our thoughts about sweet and savory this week come in the form of broccoli and apples together with some raisins and onion - adding some sunflower seeds might be nice, or even use these ingredients in your next tuna salad mix instead of the usual celery thing!

Ingredients:

About two cups of broccoli (just the crowns, but if you like the stem, do it! Chop it up!)
An apple
1/4 cup raisins (or less if you are not a raisin-er, like me)
Tablespoon of chopped red onion
Tablespoon honey or maple syrup
Splash of cider vinegar (a few tablespoons)
Splash of olive oil (ditto)

Directions:

Chop up the broccoli, apple, and onion, then throw on the raisins, vinegar, oil, and honey/syrup. Yum yum eat it up! You can also do this recipe with red grapes cut in half if you like (and a little bit of a naughty version includes crumbling crispy bacon on top).

Peas on Earth, and Veg' out!

What's up with this strawberry?

2011-10-17T10:10:00.000-04:00

Okay, this strawberry is looking a little weird and fuzzy and freakish. What's the story? Are its seeds growing? Are they whiskers? Who knows, but, yuck.

Big Cabbage Little Cabbage - Peanut Slaw

2011-10-12T17:04:00.000-04:00

Brussel sprouts are basically teeny tiny cabbages! Although, alas, probably not from Brussels. The Internet says HERE they're probably from ancient Rome. Huh.

Anyway they are pretty tastey. We have a recipe here this week that lets you try them raw instead of the usual steam/fry/boil thing that can leave them pretty flat and stinky. We borrowed the recipe from THIS website, which is full of great ideas for eating fresh veggies. Give it a go!

Peanut Brussel Sprout and Cabbage Slaw

1 cup of thiny sliced brussel sprouts
2 cups of thiny sliced cabbage - savoy, nappa, or green cabbage, whichever you like!
1 shredded carrot
A blob of peanut butter (a few tablespoons)
A splash of vegetable oil (you don't need much since peanut butter is pretty fatty)
2 tablespoons of cider vinegar
1 tablespoon of honey or sugar
Salt or soy sauce to taste

Directions

Shred up all those veggies into a bowl! Whisk together the dressing ingredients, adding a little bit of water if you need to so that it pours over the cabbage. Let it sit in the fridge for a bit. Before serving, give it a taste and add some salt or soy sauce if you like. Other additions are great here, too - chopped cilantro, chopped red onion, diced tomato - experiment a bit!

Yay veggies!

Yams! Sweet Potatoes! What IS the difference?

2011-10-06T16:17:00.002-04:00

If there's an elephantine vegetable prowling around your peanut box, the first rational step in defeating it is identifying what exactly it is. Yam or Sweet Potato? Sweet Potato or Yam? The same thing? Interchangeable?

Answer: NO.

This elephant is a sweet potato. How do we know? Long story short, you probably haven't had a real yam, ever. Yams are crazy big and don't grow in North America. We just call some varieties of sweet potatoes "yams" to make distinctions between sweet potato varieties. So yeah, it's a sweet potato. Really, it's not a big deal if you call them sweet pots or yams, people know what you mean.

As Wittgenstein summarized, linguistically, meaning is use.

Fact: The yam is not even remotely related to the sweet potato anyway. True yams are entirely different vegetables. They are sweeter than sweet potatoes and also contain more water. According to the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission (!), several decades ago potato producers and shippers wished to distinguish a new yellow-fleshed variety from the conventional white flesh sweet potato. (THIS is a good article on the distinction.) The word yam, which comes from the Fulani (West African) word "nyami" meaning "to eat," was used to refer to these yellow-fleshed varieties (even though they were all still sweet potatoes).

So they're not the same. And you probably won't find a real yam in the grocery store anytime soon.

But are they both delicious and very healthful? Yes sir.

Squash!

2011-10-05T16:58:00.001-04:00

Apples and squash are the items of the week! We're sampling varieties of apples that we sometimes pass over - sure, you've had a Mac' and a Fuji - but how about a Fortune? Or a Macoun?

But since y'all probably have a routine down with respect to enjoying your apples, we have an acorn squash recipe for you this week. So creamy and smooth, with a pat of butter and a blob of maple syrup, you could rightly call this vegetable dish dessert!

Acorn (or Butternut, if you choose!) Squash: Baked

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the squash lengthwise down the middle. (Hint: if this looks like it requires a little more muscle than you can muster, pop the squash in the microwave for a minute, and it should soften the exterior enough for you to slice through it a bit easier.) Scoop out the seeds. Coat the exposed squash with butter (or olive oil, maybe some salt and pepper if you are doing something savory) and bake squash side up in a baking pan until tender - usually about an hour. Serve right in the shell with maple syrup or brown sugar, or scoop out the flesh and mash it up like potatoes, drizzling a bit of your favorite sweetness over it.

Stop. Fennel Time.

2011-09-28T18:31:00.001-04:00

This week's recipe features fennel, a vegetable beloved by many with a taste for licorice. Some fennel novitiates were hesitant at first to try this strange, alien looking vegetable, but most people seemed pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the fennel and celery slaw! See for yourself if you're a fennel lover (or new to fennel!) and try out the recipe below!

Fennel and Celery Slaw with Grapefruit:
Fennel is a hardy perennial herb with yellow flowers and a feathery stalk. All parts of this plant--the seeds, leaves and bulb--are edible. The bulb can be prepared like any root vegetable (ie. carrots)--baked, stewed, boiled or eaten raw. The feathery fronds can be chopped up and used as a garnish to add a unique flavor to many dishes. Fennel is high in vitamin C and fiber, but low in calories. It is also a powerful antioxidant and cancer-fighter.

Ingredients:
•1 fennel bulb
•fennel fronds (or leaves)
•1 celery rib
-1 grapefruit, peeled and sliced
•3 tbsp. olive oil
•lemon juice to taste
Directions:
Grate the fennel bulb and celery rib. Combine with olive oil, lemon juice, chopped fennel fronds, cut grapefruit and fresh tarragon.

No One Should Smoke! (What the fruit?!)

2011-09-27T10:41:00.000-04:00

Smoking is bad for you! Never do it! Just look at how grumpy it's making this potato. The lovely and wonderful potatoes we get for the Veggie Mobile are coming from Stanton Farm lately, and they don't smoke. They know better.

Charleston Gray - it's the name of a fruit (What the fruit?!)

2011-09-21T13:40:00.001-04:00

Local, delicious, gigantic watermelon (with a name that sounds like a human being in a semi-professional line of work), seeks appreciative home! As always, visit the Veggie Mobile for details!

Twisty Turny Peppers (What the Fruit?!)

2011-09-20T08:30:00.000-04:00

Peppers bend and fold in wonderful contortions. They can even seem to have their own little personalities!

Taste and Take: Orange and Kale Salad

2011-09-16T12:22:00.000-04:00

First, the low-down on Taste and Take (affectionately referred to in general and hereafter as T&T): Every week the Veggie Mobile offers up samples of a fresh delicious recipe featuring different fruits or vegetables. After sampling, patrons of the Veggie Mobile can take home a free (!) bag of fruit and vegetables as well as the T&T recipe. We can't offer up virtual samples (and they would be far less-satisfying), but below you can view the recipe and cook up a portion yourself. This week's recipe involves massaging kale, that's right--you get to massage vegetables. If that isn't reason enough to try this recipe then read on!

HAIL TO THE KALE!

Kale is a super food as it contains many cancer-fighting tiny ninjas. Kale is considered by many nutritionists to be the most nutritious vegetable in the world with extremely powerful antioxidant properties. Full of vitamin C and calcium, this green is very cold tolerant and can be grown early and late in the season. The recipe below offers up a suggestion for eating kale raw, but it can be used like any green (ie. spinach or collard greens) in soups or sautee dishes.

All the kale used this week was grown right here in Troy, NY by high school students at the 8th Street Farm where the Produce Project is located. (For more information on the Produce Project visit: http://www.cdcg.org/ProduceProject.html
They grew the most beautiful bunches of kale, and not one type but two, Blue Curly and Red Russian.

ORANGE AND KALE SALAD

Ingredients:
1 bunch kale
1 orange, peeled and sliced
1 lime, juiced
1tbsp. red onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. vinegar

Directions:
Chop up the kale and sprinkle the salt over it. Massage the kale with your hands to soften it for a few minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients to the kale and allow to marinate for at least 10 minutes ( though the longer the better). You can also squeeze some fresh orange juice into the salad for a sweeter flavor.

Warty Apples! (What the Fruit?!)

2011-09-09T10:06:00.000-04:00

Sometimes apples can look pretty mean and warty! These McIntosh apples have been just super tasty, though, warts and all! The first bushels this fall have been crunchy and watery and tart, delicious!

Local Produce: Berlin's Best

2011-05-18T12:29:00.003-04:00

Get your forks ready for some healthy eating! The Veggie Mobile is now carrying local living lettuce from Berlin's Best. Grown hydroponically (in water), it's much fresher and grown without any pesticides. Plus, it lasts much longer-- as you can see by the roots on the bottom, it's still alive!! There's Bibb, Red Oak Leaf and Green Leaf lettuce to choose from. Later on in the growing season we'll be getting some of their awesome tomatoes too--we'll let you know when they are available! Keep cool and Vedge out!

Prickly Pears

2011-03-17T11:33:00.004-04:00

This week, the Veggie Team tried something completely new: Prickly Pears. Upon first glance, they looked like kiwis with candle wax dripped on them, shaped like baby avocados... but with armor!--tiny hairlike prickles called glochids that leave surprise reminders of their presence as you bend your fingers. Click here to learn more about prickly pears!

Prickly pears, also known as cactus pears, cactus fruit, cactus fig, or tuna in Spanish, are grown on a cactus called the Prickly Pear, native to the Americas and grown in abundance in Mexico and the western US (we purchased ours from California).
To learn more about how they grow, click here.

Ready to try one out? You won't be disappointed! It has a flavor reminiscent of pomegranates and watermelon, and a vibrant flesh to brighten up your salads.

Here's how to cut it up: Slice both ends off, then slice down the side of the fruit. Grab a hold of the inside skin, then begin to peel it back slowly, exposing the fruit. It has a lot of little seeds inside, and they're completely edible (but a little bit tough, so be prepared!)

Let us know what you think, and if we get a good response we'll start stocking it on the truck!

The Cutting Edge of Fruit

2011-03-11T17:11:00.004-05:00

On the Veggie Mobile, we try to meet all of our customers needs, especially the senior citizen population. For a group who might have trouble handling a knife or need different portion sizes, encouraging a healthy lifestyle means offering more options.

This is precisely why we've started the
Cut Fruit program. Eating pineapple doesn't have to be daunting, and fruit salads can be a quick and easy snack for people on the go. Ask for our pre-cut cantaloupe, pineapple, and mixed fruit (combinations of pineapple, cantaloupe, honeydew, mango, kiwi, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries!).

Welcome new staff!

2011-03-11T16:54:00.004-05:00

We are thrilled to welcome Martha and Kristin to the Veggie Mobile team! Martha is now the Veggie Mobile Project Coordinator and Kristin will be spearheading the new Veggie Mobile Sprout, a smaller version of the Veggie Mobile that will make its debut in Troy later this year.

Kristin Weller

Tropical FREEZE!

2011-02-25T16:28:00.001-05:00

Thanks to farmers in typically warm climates, the Veggie Mobile has been able to stock some of your favorite vegetables all year--like Peppers, Tomatoes, Lettuce, Cucumbers, Zucchini Squash, and Green Beans. So even when Florida experienced a freeze earlier this year and citrus became more of a commodity, farmers in places like California and Mexico backed up the supply and kept prices relatively stable.

Unfortunately, these Mexican and Californian farmers are now suffering some of the same freezing temperatures we have in Upstate NY, but in an agricultural economy that doesn't allow for it. This unprecedented cold is impacting our major winter producing areas, resulting in significant crop loss and blossom damage (which means the crops coming up after this round will also be adversely affected). Therefore, supply for produce like peppers and cucumbers is dwindling while their market prices skyrocket, and produce quality is becoming increasingly unpredictable due to field freeze.

What does this mean to us on the Veggie Mobile? Well, some of the low prices you've come to expect and appreciate will be higher than usual for a while-- Cucumbers are now 2 instead of 3 for $1, Lettuce is $2.25 instead of $1.25, Zucchini squash is up to $1.79 per pound (versus $1.09/lb), and Green Peppers are averaging $1.69 per pound (rather than $0.89/lb). Also, lettuce may deteriorate faster, and items like Green Beans might become prohibitively expensive.

We'll do our best to make sure you continue to have a wide produce variety, and quality you can trust. We just ask that you be patient with us as we ride out this "tropical" freeze, and that you take this opportunity to try out other vegetables that haven't been affected-- experiment with winter squash instead of summer, baby spinach instead of lettuce, and root vegetables instead of peppers and cucumbers. You might just find you have a hidden love for beets :)

Another winter wonderland

2011-02-01T15:32:00.002-05:00

This morning we could barely see out in front of us as we approached the office! Roads were slow, visibility dangerous, and schools began to close, so we were forced to keep our truck in park for the day. We hope the break in snow this afternoon gave everyone time to shovel (as Lauren (right) does with a smile) and get ready for the winter wonderland tomorrow is predicted to bring. It's likely that we'll have to cancel Wednesday's market stops as well, so stay warm inside if you can, and be safe!

Snowed In!

2011-01-12T16:19:00.000-05:00

Due to the inclement weather, all Veggie Mobile stops were canceled today. Hopefully everyone is inside, enjoying the beautiful snow from the warmth and comfort of their homes. The Veggie Mobile will be back on the road tomorrow. Stay safe!

The Macomber Turnip

2011-01-06T09:44:00.000-05:00

The Veggie Mobile has been carrying a favorite of old New England lately, the Macomber Turnip. Developed by Aiden and Elihu Macomber (don't hear names like that very often anymore!) visited the Philadelphia Exposition in 1876 and returned to their farm in Westport, Massachusetts with the seeds that they would turn into the famous Macomber Turnip. Like many farmers they began to experiment, planting the turnip seeds next to rutabagas. With the inevitable cross-pollination of the two plants, the Macomber was born. Noted for it's sweet, creamy flesh, the Macomber is harvested later than most turnips, usually in mid-October. Generally, the smaller turnips are the most flavorful and store best in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Turnips make an excellent alternative to mashed potatoes, and are wonderful in a roasted root vegetable medley.

Fill the New Year with Wonder!

2010-12-28T16:24:00.003-05:00

For those of you who weren't able to catch it hot off the press, we made it in the Times Union again!

Food Deserts in a Land of Plenty

Four-year-old Hillel Powell looks over a squash as he shops with his grandmother Barbara Lewis in the Veggie Mobile at the South Mall Towers during a stop in Albany 12/03/2010. ( Michael P. Farrell/Times Union )

This is easily one of my favorite Veggie Mobile pictures of all time. Fresh fruit and vegetables of all shapes and sizes, piled up on a big colorful truck? It's no wonder that some of our youngest friends are filled with such infectious curiosity.

It's important to remember that feeling of wonder when we experience something for the first time, even as adults! For instance, on the Veggie Mobile, we just started selling Meyer Lemons and Heirloom Pie Pumpkins.

I had never heard of Meyer Lemons before, but they're a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange, so they're less acidic and less sour than regular lemons. And these Heirloom Pie Pumpkins? Not the kind you'll carve at Halloween. They're from Common Sense Farm in Cambridge, NY and are perfect for making delicious pumpkin pies! Challenge yourself to taste the difference in flavor.

Although the Veggie Mobile will not be running our usual market stops this week (Tuesday 12/28 through Saturday 1/1), we will see you in the first week of January!

Make 2011 the year of wonder, and let new tastes and experiences continue to surprise you :)

Orange Transfoamer

2010-12-17T15:36:00.012-05:00

For the past several months, we have noticed that all of our grape orders have come in Styrofoam (polystyrene) flats. Being ecologically minded people this was distressing to us, since polystyrene takes hundreds of years to bio-degrade, and cannot be broken down by photolysis, meaning it’s impervious to breaking down from both visible and invisible light sources. As such large amounts are sitting in landfills all over the world, and even larger amounts are polluting our oceans. Why then do all of our grapes come packaged in this environmentally distressing packaging? The answer we received from our friends at AJ Rinella’s is that as the grape season winds down, grape growers begin shipping in Styrofoam packaging because the grapes arrive fresher, and cooler in polystyrene packaging then they would if shipped in cardboard.

Grapes being one of the Veggie Mobile’s most popular items, and rightfully so, we are left with quite a few empty Styrofoam boxes, taking up space in our produce storage rooms. What’s the answer to this build up of space consuming empty Styrofoam boxes? A stomp party of course!

By breaking down the boxes, we can fit 5-6 into garbage bags, as opposed to the 2-3 we could if left unbroken. Fun and practical is what the Veggie Mobile team strives for. In the past the Veggie Team has mailed the broken down Styrofoam to a third party processor, but unfortunately this is both time consuming and cost ineffective, and we are now forced to throw it out. If anyone has any advice on this, please let us know.

Still distressed about Styrofoam? So are we; but there are some exciting and creative options to the persistence of Styrofoam. Our good friends at Ecovative, across the river in Green Island, NY have developed a biodegradable and compostable packaging made from mushroom roots and seed husks called EcoCradle™, which "provides the same cushioning, strength and protection as petrochemical based materials such as Styrofoam. But unlike Styrofoam, EcoCradle™ won’t persist in a landfill, or as litter, for an eternity." Exciting stuff, but unfortunately Ecovative is still a couple of years away from food service quality EcoCradle™.

Currently, the best way to manage Styrofoam in our environment is to avoid it entirely. If this is impractical there are several processes that can re-use it. One process involves heating Styrofoam, and then re-forming it into new Styrofoam products. Unfortunately this requires extremely large amounts of Styrofoam. Additionally, through some research, we turned up what appears to be an interesting, and creative use of Styrofoam boxes and it includes fruit! Using d-Limonene, which is essentially the rind oil of an orange peel, Styrofoam can be transformed into effective home-made glue, which can be used around the house.

We haven’t tried this out ourselves, but if anyone out there has, we’d love to hear how it went and how effective the glue is.

Veggie Mobile in Hyperdrive!

2010-12-07T14:39:00.001-05:00

This video was taken Friday, October 29th at South Mall Towers in Albany. Normally, this stop is an hour and a half long, but we packed it all into about 20 seconds-- much like it feels when we're working there!

Blackhorse Farms

2010-10-07T15:25:00.004-04:00

Located in Coxsackie NY, just 40 minutes north of us on the Hudson River, Blackhorse Farms is the forty-year old operation of Lloyd Zimmermann and Lisa Buhrmaster. Since 1964, Lloyd and Lisa have been farming on over 800 acres of prime Hudson Valley soil. They grow enough produce to market to many types of interested customers: from major grocery chains at their wholesale market in Menands, to families buying weekly farm-fresh produce at their Gourmet Market in Athens.

We at the Veggie Mobile sit comfortably in the middle, seeking out the freshest possible produce we can find for our weekly customers – that is, just enough to fit on the truck of course. So far this season, we’ve gotten some great New York produce from them, including cucumbers, corn, peaches, apples and sugar plums.

Red sugar plums were certainly a favorite of ours on the truck. They’re bite sized and sweeter than your average plum!

On top of all the great produce they grow and sell, Lisa and Lloyd also source produce from other farmers and sellers - from New York and elsewhere. You can find New York meats and cheeses from various farmers at their Gourmet Market, and produce from all around the U.S. and the world at their wholesale market in Menands. From spring to fall, we see Lisa almost every morning at the Menands Market.

We’re glad to be working with farmers as dedicated as Lisa and Lloyd. They are some of our greatest partners in getting fresh produce out to those who need it most!

Be sure to check out their website for more information!

http://www.blackhorsefarms.com/

Local Food and FMNP

2010-08-20T15:43:00.006-04:00

So lately a lot of our friends have been coming by the Veggie Mobile to shop with Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) coupons (distributed by WIC). We gladly accept these coupons for all of our locally-grown produce.

At this time of the year, we're literally flooded with fruits and vegetables grown in the Capital District and beyond. We are trying to keep our labeling on the truck as clear as possible so you know what is eligible for FMNP. We have tags on all of the boxes in front of local items with a green FMNP sign.

All of these items are purchased at the Menands Farmers Market on Wednesday and Friday mornings at 5:30am (yes, we are there that early).

Here's a sample of our local selection:

White, Yellow and Donut Peaches
Seedless and Sugar Baby Watermelons
Blueberries
Corn (4 ears for $1!)
Cucumbers
Cantaloupes: Large, small, and Charentais
Tomatoes
Green Peppers
White and Red Potatoes
Apples: Ginger golds, Paula Reds, Zestar, Rambo
Black and Sugar Plums
Red leaf lettuce (grown by CDCG's Produce Project on 8th Street in Troy--an urban farm powered by Troy High School students)
Okra
Beets
Green Beans
Nectarines
Pears
Yellow, Green, and Spaghetti Squash
Jalapeno Peppers
Eggplant

Thanks for helping out your area farmers and supporting your local economy. Your reward: The freshest tasting produce you can possibly find. Look forward to future blog entries with Local Farmer Profiles!

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Dress responsibly

2010-07-08T09:26:00.010-04:00

Ever wonder what that long list of ingredients in your store-bought salad dressings actually contains? We do too... which is why we make our own HOMEMADE dressings instead. This way, we know what we're eating, and can choose to make it taste however we want!

To test out our delicious creations, we bought some red leaf lettuce from Black Horse Farm in Coxsackie, NY and added some NYS tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots.

Homemade Honey Mustard Dressing

Ingredients:

Plain, low-fat yogurt
Mustard (we used spicy brown)
Honey to taste
Lemon to taste

Directions:

Combine yogurt and mustard in a 1:1 or 2:1 ratio (experiment with how you like it).
Add honey and lemon juice to taste.

This is a perfect sauce for salads and for dipping veggies like carrots, celery, and broccoli!

Why Eat Romaine or Looseleaf Lettuce instead of Iceberg??

As a general rule of thumb, darker leaves = more nutritious.

Compared to iceberg lettuce...

Iron: Looseleaf has triple the amount, Romaine has twice as much.
Folate: Romaine has 2.5 times the amount
Vitamin C: Looseleaf has 5 times the amount, Romaine has 7 times the amount
Beta carotene: Looseleaf has 7 times the amount and Romaine has 9 times the amount

Salads are great in the summertime, just be sure to dress responsibly :-)

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Long awaited!

2010-06-08T16:47:00.004-04:00

There's a reason why you haven't heard from us in almost a month: We've been SWAMPED! Adjusting to a new schedule and adding cooking demonstrations throughout the week has definitely inspired a positive response out on the truck-- you're all coming out from the woodwork and making each and every stop a PARTY!

So continue to visit and load up on all your fruits and veggies! And we'll start posting more regularly again, so be sure to come back to our online home as well :-)

NEW 2010 VEGGIE MOBILE SCHEDULE!

Tuesday:

11am-12pm (1st & 3rd Tuesdays) Whitney M. Young Jr. Health Center, 920 Lark Drive, Albany
11am-12pm (2nd & 4th Tuesdays) Unity House, 2431 6th Ave, Troy
12:15-1pm Ida Yarbrough, 270 N. Pearl Street, Albany
2:30-3:15pm Yates Village, Van Debodgart & Vanvranken Ave, Schenectady

Wednesday:

11am-12pm Thurlow Terrace, 2 Thurlow Terrace, Albany
1:15-2:15pm Summit Towers, 720 Albany Street, Schenectady
3:15-4:15pm Cohoes Senior Citizens Center, 100 Cayuga Plaza, Cohoes
4:30-5:15pm North Albany YMCA, 616 N. Pearl Street, Albany

Thursday:

10:45-11:15am Van Rensselaer Heights, 460 Forbes Avenue, Rensselaer
11:30am-12:00pm Renwyck Place, 18 4th Street, Rensselaer
12:30-1:30pm St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church, 440 Whitehall Road, Albany
2:00-3:00pm Kennedy Towers Senior Housing Development, 2100 6th Avenue, Troy
4:00-4:45pm Carroll Hill School, 112 Delaware Avenue, Troy

Friday:

11:00am-12:30pm South Mall Towers, 101 S. Pearl Street, Albany
1:00-1:45pm John P. Taylor Apartments, Congress St. @ River St., Troy
2:30-3:30pm Ten Eyck Apartments, 375 Broadway, Schenectady
4:00-5:00pm Martin Luther King Apartments, 1 Eddy's Lane by Frear Park, Troy

Saturday:

10:00-10:45am Hamilton Hill Arts Center, 409 Schenectady Street, Schenectady
11:00-11:45am Steinmetz Homes, 120 Emmons Street, Schenectady
12:15-1:00pm Arbor Hill Library, Henry Johnson Blvd. & 3rd Street, Albany
1:15-2:00pm Steamboat Square Apartments, 20 Rensselaer Street, Albany
3:00-4:00pm Rainbow Community Center, 847 River Street, Troy

See you there!

Back to Basics

2010-05-13T09:46:00.002-04:00

Sometimes the tastiest recipes are also the simplest. If you're into dishes that take less than 10 minutes, take note of this gem and play around with just how easy it is to eat the vegetable kingdom's nutritional POWERHOUSE: BROCCOLI.

About broccoli... It’s high in fiber and very nutrient-dense: Vitamin C (antioxidant, helps form connective tissues) and vitamin B6 (needed for brain and nerve function), folate (prevents birth defects and reduces risk of cancer), iron (helps carry oxygen in red blood cells), riboflavin (helps maintain skin), and beta carotene (antioxidant, helps body form vitamin A for skin, eyes and bones).

Broccoli Parmesean

Ingredients:

• 1 head broccoli (florets and stems), chopped
• 1/2 cup grated light parmesean cheese
• ground black pepper
• lemon (optional)

Directions:

1. Steam broccoli until the green is vibrant (this means the most nutrients will be available. If oversteamed, broccoli loses its color and is less nutritious.)

2. While hot-- squeeze lemon (if using), sprinkle on parmesean cheese, and top it off with ground black pepper.

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Welcome to... summer?!

2010-04-29T11:01:00.006-04:00

What else can corn on the cob possibly mean?

This year, do yourself a favor. Cut out all the saturated fat by eliminating those lavish butter toppings. Yes, we know-- you grew up with salt and butter and love it that way. But you can love it another way too, and really surprise yourself. Just give it a try, at least for your arteries' sake.

LIME CORN on the COB

Ingredients:

2 ears of corn on the cob
1 lime

Directions:

Cook corn (boil, steam, grill)
Cut lime into wedges and spread/squeeze all over the corn.

*Fun fact* Not only does excluding the butter help prevent obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, but adding lime to corn allows you to absorb the niacin (which helps maintain skin, nervous system and digestion) that would otherwise be unavailable in the corn. That's why corn tortillas and lime are often mixed...

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An Earthy Array

2010-04-22T15:27:00.003-04:00

Happy Earth Day!

Celebrate by eating healthy food - raw fruits and veggies. Spruce them up with a homemade dressing and herbs and you are all set to go with a light summer salad that is straight from down under :-)

Cucumber Tomato Salad

Ingredients:

4 vine ripened tomatoes, sliced
2 cucumbers, sliced with skins on
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp sugar
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

Rice wine vinegar instead of balsamic
Brown sugar instead of white
Fresh cilantro instead of basil
Lime juice squeezed on top!

Any vinegar
No sugar
Sprinkle oregano on top instead of basil or cilantro

Directions:

Combine vinegar, oil, and sugar (if using).
Pour over sliced tomatoes and cucumbers.
Sprinkle chopped fresh or dried herbs on top and mix together.
Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Volunteers!

2010-04-19T10:41:00.004-04:00

The Veggie Mobile would like to take some time to thank the many volunteers who have been helping us out in the last month. A huge part of this project is about building community, and we wouldn't be able to do it without all of the generous time and effort you've given to the Capital Region. You are making it possible for everyone to access fresh fruits and vegetables.

Donna Duffy
Kim Holsapple
Jeremy Laflin
Norah Pattison
Stephanie Rohrig
Danielle Seeley
Dave Storey
Lara Wojcik

*THANK YOU!!*

Interested in volunteering on the Veggie Mobile?
We'd love to have you! Feel free to contact us at vegvan@cdcg.org with your availability and we'll set something up :-)

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Dew something refreshing

2010-04-14T16:12:00.003-04:00

The warm weather is here and it's high time we start celebrating with something light and refreshing! So if you have 5 minutes and a blender, check out this fantastic recipe for...

HONEYDEW SMOOTHIES!

Ingredients:

2 cups honeydew melon, cubed
1/2 cup lowfat vanilla yogurt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
1 cup ice

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in a blender (little at a time if necessary) and mix until smooth!

Sure to string you along...

2010-04-08T11:33:00.006-04:00

Jazz up those green beans with a saucy kick! It just tastes
Two simple steps:

Mustard Green Beans

Steam 1 lb. green beans (washed & trimmed) for about 6-8 minutes or until tender.
Heat 1-2 tbsp oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tbsp mustard (dijon & spicy brown work well), 1/2 tsp brown sugar, salt & pepper, and stir to combine. Add in steamed green beans and toss to coat.

Optional: Squeeze some lime or lemon juice on top!

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Leftovers never tasted this good!

2010-04-08T11:24:00.003-04:00

Sitting on some leftover mashed potatoes that you don't want to just re-heat the same old way you had them the first time? Try making something new and even tastier than before...

MASHED POTATO PANCAKES

Ingredients:

2 cups mashed potatoes
1-2 eggs
1/4 cup flour (whole wheat if possible)
1-2 tbsp oil
salt & pepper
1-2 green onions, chopped
applesauce or hot sauce for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients into mashed potatoes.
Preheat skillet and add oil. **
Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto skillet and brown on both sides.
Garnish with applesauce or hot sauce and serve warm!

**Looking for a lower-fat version? Try baking these at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes instead of frying them.

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A dessert for your GRILL

2010-03-25T13:39:00.002-04:00

As you start up those grills for the season, don't forget that grilled fruit is the perfect finale to any BBQ, and it only takes a few minutes. Try it with a glaze (3 tbsp honey to 1.5 tsp vanilla) to add even more flavor.

Grilled Glazed Strawberries & Pears

Directions:

Set grill to medium hot (be sure to wipe it clean - you don't want meat residues mixing with your fruit!)
Mix honey and vanilla in a small bowl and set aside.
Place strawberry and pear pieces in a piece of aluminum foil or on a shishkabob stick. Drizzle with honey mixture.
Cook on grill for about 5 minutes. Feel free to add other fruit like pineapple too!

**Tip for pears: To prevent them from browning (and even for just the extra taste!), soak them in lemon juice for a few minutes.

Escarollin'

2010-03-25T13:30:00.003-04:00

Escarole is one of the best kept secrets - it's a type of endive that's slightly bitter but can be used as a cooking green or raw as a salad green. It's got a whole slew of nutrients, including antioxidants that help prevent against disease. Try it for yourself!

Sauteed Escarole

Ingredients:

1 head escarole, rinsed and chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp vinegar (we used red wine vinegar but white works great too)
salt to taste

Directions:

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Saute garlic until slightly brown.
Add escarole and continue to saute. Add a little bit of water and cover to lightly steam.
Add vinegar and cook for another minute. Add salt and serve warm!

**Optional: Sauteed escarole goes really well with white beans - throw them into the saute, or try adding escarole to a white bean soup!

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Cabbage for haters

2010-03-25T13:22:00.003-04:00

Are you or someone you know convinced they'll never go near cabbage? Brace yourself - we've got the antidote. This recipe is specifically for people who run away at the thought of eating it. Well, it's high time for a paradigm shift.

Caramelized Cabbage (for those who dislike it)

Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter or margarine
1 tbsp oil
8 cups shredded green cabbage (about 1 regular sized head)
1 tbsp packed brown sugar
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
salt and pepper

Directions:

In a large skillet, heat butter and oil over medium high.
Add cabbage, garlic, and brown sugar, and saute until cabbage is limp, about 5 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium-low and add vinegar.
Cook, stirring very often, for about 20 minutes, or until cabbage is as limp as you want it.
Add salt & pepper and serve!

Citrus Twist

2010-03-25T13:14:00.002-04:00

Looking for a way to lighten up the mood? Try adding lemon to your asparagus! Asparagus is one of the first things to come up in the Spring, and a splash of citrus is just the way to welcome it.

Lemon Asparagus

Ingredients:

1 lb. asparagus, steamed until heated through but crisp
1 onion or shallot, cut any way you like it
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
black pepper

Directions:

Saute garlic and onion in oil under low heat, until the garlic is golden, about 10 minutes.
Squeeze lemons into a separate bowl. Add the sauteed onion and garlic to the lemon.
Pour mixture over steamed asparagus and add black pepper.

Cream your Asparagus

2010-02-25T12:33:00.008-05:00

Is all that shoveling and all those snow games beginning to wipe you out? Fear not, we have an easy recipe for Cream of Asparagus Soup that will warm you up and keep you ready to brave any Capital Region snowstorm.

Cream of Asparagus Soup

Ingredients:

1 lb. asparagus, divided
1 cup onion, chopped
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
3 cups milk
salt & pepper to taste
olive oil

Directions:

Saute onions in oil over medium high heat.
Chop asparagus into thirds. Put the top thirds aside, and steam them lightly.
Chop the remaining asparagus pieces in half, then add to the onions and continue to saute.
Add broth slowly and continue cooking until veggies are tender.
Transfer to a blender or food processor and combine soup and milk until it forms an even consistency.
Put back on the burner, add the steamed asparagus pieces, and heat until it reaches your desired temperature.
Season with pepper and enjoy!

Schedule changes

2010-02-23T14:50:00.003-05:00

Due to weather, the Veggie Mobile will not be running our regularly scheduled stops this Tuesday afternoon. So for all of our friends at Steinmetz Homes and Yates Village, we know it's the second week in a row we haven't been able to get there - we're so sorry, and miss you dearly.

Stay warm everybody, and don't forget to go out and play in the snow :-)

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Borrowed from the ancient masters.

2010-02-19T15:33:00.003-05:00

Ever wondered what it is about Chinese food that makes your mouth water? One of those familiar flavors is undoubtedly the characteristic orange glaze. So we took that taste and let it come to life in SNOW PEAS.

This is an awesome side dish to any meal - there's no prep time, and cook time is under 10 minutes.

Orange-Glazed Snow Peas

Ingredients:

1 lb. snow peas or sugar snap peas
1/4 cup juice from oranges
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tbsp orange rind, grated
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp butter
salt & pepper

Directions:

Steam peas for several minutes until crisp-tender.
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, combine orange juice, sugar, cornstarch, and orange rind. Stir until cornstarch is dissolved.
Add peas to orange juice mixture. Add butter, salt & pepper. Stir and heat until sauce thickens.
Serve warm and enjoy!

Didn't use all your snow peas in this recipe? Eat them RAW as a snack or add them to the stir-fry below :-)

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Unearthing mushrooms...

2010-02-19T15:11:00.005-05:00

Don't let those mushrooms sit around so long that they begin to brown on the bottom. Once the stem starts developing a black ring, you've just lost the chance to make some tasty mushroom creations. Instead, keep them from succumbing to the dark side and use 'em while they're fresh!

Balsamic Mushrooms

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil
1 lb. mushrooms, halved (quartered if large)
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat oil and mushrooms in a skillet on medium high heat; cook until golden brown (about 5 minutes).
Stir in everything else and cook for another minute.
Serve warm and enjoy!

...and if you need to add a little color into your life...

Stir-Fried Mixed Peppers and Mushrooms

Ingredients:

1 cup each: green, red, and yellow/orange, seeded & chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 1/2 cups mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
salt & pepper
1 tbsp oil

Optional: 3 jalapenos, seeded and minced (added with the peppers)

Directions:

Heat oil in a skillet & add the garlic until lightly browned.
Add mushrooms and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
Add all the peppers and stir-fry for at most 6 minutes more.

Fruity & Crisp

2010-02-03T14:57:00.004-05:00

Take one bite and you'll forget that winter's even here. This refreshing mix of apples, pears, cucumbers, and onions in a homemade dressing will surely bring you out of hibernation.

Plus, this week we were able to score LOCAL APPLES from Kristy's Barn in Schodack, NY!

Apple Pear Cucumber Salad

Ingredients:

DRESSING

2 tbsp whole grain mustard (we used spicy brown)
2 tbsp fresh dill or 2 tsp dried dill
2 tbsp vinegar (apple cider if you have it)
1/2 tsp brown sugar
4 tbsp olive oil
pinch salt

SALAD

2 apples (tart if you have them)
1 pear (we used Anjou)
1 cucumber
1 small sweet onion
juice from half a lemon

Directions:

Combine dressing ingredients and whisk until it forms an even consistency.
Core and slice the apples and pears into thin slices (leave skins on!)
Squeeze lemon juice into separate bowl and allow apple slices to soak for a minute to prevent them from browning once they're in the salad.
Slice the cucumber into rounds (leave skin on!)
Slice the onion any way you like it (thin strips look good)
Combine the salad ingredients with the dressing and mix it well!

ENJOY :-)

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Simple Scrumptious Salad

2010-01-29T16:50:00.006-05:00

Sure, each of these is a delight in itself, and can be devoured easily raw... but put them together and add a little homemade dressing, and you've got yourself an unbelievably delicious taste.

Spinach & Strawberry Salad

There are a ton of variations on this popular mix, but stick to the basics and you won't be disappointed.

Spinach Leaves, washed and chopped

Strawberries, washed and quartered

HOMEMADE DRESSING: One part olive oil, one part balsamic vinegar, honey, salt & pepper

Whisk together very well until it forms an even consistency.
Spread over the salad and ENJOY!

Optional ingredients: Walnuts, Goat cheese, Sunflower Seeds...

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Winning Dip

2010-01-29T15:58:00.010-05:00

It's the perfect sidekick to any sports game, dinner party, or kids snack - it has a savory flavor and is packed with protein to fill you up and keep you satisfied.

Try it with slightly steamed broccoli and the texture combination will leave you begging for more.

Red Pepper & Lentil Dip

Ingredients:

2 red peppers, seeded and diced
3 garlic cloves, chopped (you may want to add more garlic)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
1/2 cup red lentils, rinsed
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt & pepper

Directions:

In a skillet, soften red peppers and garlic in oil.
Add seasonings, stock, lentils and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 15 minutes or until lentils are tender (the lentils will go from red to yellow as they cook)
In a food processor or blender, puree until smooth. Adjust seasoning and let cool. Cover and refrigerate until cold.

You can also add crushed red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper for a hotter version.

Red lentils? They're a type of legume (sold uncooked in bags), so look for them near beans - check out the GOYA section of your supermarket. If they don't have red lentils, feel free to grab brown (it'll only change the color of the dip).

This dip is also a great sandwich filler, especially for our vegetarian friends that are looking for ways to supplement their protein consumption.

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A pretty rad snack...

2010-01-13T12:05:00.007-05:00

Not your traditional lunchtime recipe. But let us lure you into a creamy spread that'll soon become a staple on your sandwiches, salads, or as your favorite dipping sauce!

RADISH SANDWICHES

Ingredients:
• 8 radishes, trimmed & sliced
• 6 oz. low-fat cream cheese
• 1 tbsp parsley, chopped
• 1/4 cup red onion, minced
• fresh lemon juice
• salt & pepper

Directions:
1. Finely chop 8 radishes in a food processor (or hand grater). Remove into colander & drain excess liquid with paper towel.
2. Process the cream cheese in the food processor until fluffy.
3. Add grated radishes, red onion, parsley, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and cream everything together.
4. Use as a dressing for salads, as a dip for carrots or celery, or to spread in sandwiches or on crackers.

Have a little extra parsley left over? To store, wrap unwashed parsley in damp paper towels in a plastic bag in the fridge.

Now that we have you addicted to radishes, don't be shy trying them in stir-fries, in potato salads, or in lettuce salads with red onions, tomatoes, and olives, with a honey-mustard or soy-ginger sauce!

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Zucchini & Mushroom Stir-fry

2010-01-05T21:23:00.004-05:00

Talk about a sizzlin' New Years special - this Zucchini and Mushroom Stir-fry will keep you entertained long after the ball has dropped.

Ingredients:

2 medium zucchini, cut in half lengthwise then into 1 inch pieces
8 ounces mushrooms, quartered
1 medium onion, sliced
olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed (we used more like 6 cloves)
1 tsp oregano (we were all out so we substituted parsley)
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional for some heat!)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat enough olive oil to saute in a skillet over medium high heat.
Add zucchini, mushrooms, garlic and onion.
Stir-fry until the zucchini and mushrooms are just tender, and the onion is tender/crisp (about 8 minutes).
Stir in seasonings and enjoy!

Getting good at making stir-fries is one of the handiest cooking techniques to master because the ingredient list is always flexible based on what you have floating around the kitchen. Try experimenting with which ever vegetables you have (e.g. broccoli is fantastic in stir-fries, but don't cook it too much or it will lose all the nutrients!) in any number of combinations!

Wishing you all a happy and healthy New Year! Want to make a New year's resolution to eat a healthy, vegetable-filled diet? Just email us at vegvan@cdcg.org and we'll do whatever we can to provide you with menu ideas and resources for helping you stay on track! Remember, the first step is fresh produce, and the rest is all just a slice and a skillet away!

Holiday schedule changes

2009-12-22T22:12:00.003-05:00

The Veggie Mobile will not be making regular market stops on Thursday December 24th, Friday December 25th, Saturday December 26th, or Friday January 1st. We will be operating the rest of the week leading up to New Years, the day after New Years, and every week after that! (Don't forget that we run year-round, so we'll still be coming throughout the winter - unless area schools are closed). Thanks for your continued support!

Happy holidays!

It's cranberry season!

2009-12-22T20:26:00.007-05:00

Okay, so the first thing on your mind during a cold day may not be how to make a frozen dessert... BUT, cheers to thinking outside the box and surprising your family and friends with this fruity ice treat. Dozens of kids gave their approval (even in December!) so you can be sure that they'll be willing to replace old fashioned ice cream with something sweet and healthy.

Pear & Cranberry Granita

Ingredients:

- 3 pears, cut into chunks

- 1/4 cup honey

- 2 cups 100% cranberry juice**

- fresh cranberries (optional)

- fresh mint (optional)

Directions:

1. Combine pears, honey, and cranberry juice in food processor; puree until well-blended.

2. Transfer to a glass baking dish and freeze until frozen (at least 5 hours or overnight).

3. Using fork, scrape surface of granita to form crystals.

4. Garnish with fresh cranberries and mint if desired.

** 100% cranberry juice is how expensive?! Yes, we know. That's why we have an easy solution that doesn't compromise quality (don't even try to use those cranberry blend cocktail drinks, they're not even close to equivalent). Make your own cranberry juice!

--Boil rapidly 12 oz. whole fresh or frozen cranberries with 1 cup sugar and 1 cup cold water, until berries pop open (about 5 minutes). Cool. Makes 4 cups.

Looking for another Cranberry idea for the holidays? Try out this fantastic bread:

Cranberry-Nut Bread

- 2 cups flour

- 1 cup sugar

- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

- 1 tsp. salt

- 1/2 tsp. baking soda

- 3/4 orange juice

- 1 tbsp. grated orange peel

- 2 tbsp. shortening

- 1 well-beaten egg

- 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped

- 1/2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix together dry ingredients, then stir in orange juice, orange peel, shortening and egg. Mix until well-blended, then stir in cranberries and nuts. Turn into a greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan, and bake for 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes and remove from pan. Yields one loaf.

Pomegranates!

2009-12-03T15:48:00.007-05:00

Have you ever been curious about pomegranates but didn't know how to get started? They can be a pretty mysterious fruit at first... you only eat the seeds?! That's right, when you cut it up, there are about 800 seeds waiting for you to devour them, and they're surrounded in the most delicious red, juicy flesh that's both sweet and tart.

The sweet seeds provide vitamins B6 and C, and lots of potassium. Pomegranates also contain phytochemicals that may have two to three times the antioxidant power of green tea, which means these treats will leave you less susceptible to disease!

And they certainly are treats - Domestic pomegranates are available seasonally, from September through January, with their peak in late October through November. So grab them when you can! Pomegranate seeds can be refrigerated for up to 3 days and frozen for up to 6 months in an air-tight container.

Looking for more ways to enjoy pomegranates?

Make your own Pomegranate Juice:

Place the seeds in a blender or food processor and processing until a juice is formed. Strain the seeds from the juice through a fine-meshed sieve or a strainer lined with cheesecloth. The juice can be frozen for up to 6 months in an air-tight container.

Pomegranate and Apple Salad

Ingredients:
• 1 pomegranate, seeded
• 1 apple, sliced
• 1/3 cup walnuts
• 2-4 cups greens
• 1 celery rib, chopped
• 2 tbsp orange juice
• 1 tsp honey

Mix the orange juice and honey together, then use to dress the salad.

Any other ideas? Feel free to share - after all, the holidays are quickly approaching and these are one of the most festive fruits around :-)

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The answer to snacking?

2009-11-20T22:26:00.003-05:00

Sweet potato fries.

No explanation is necessary - one bite and you'll see why this combination of sweet, salty and spicy simply speaks for itself. Plus, they're baked, which means they're a lot healthier (aka you can eat more of them!), and you can leave the skins on, which means less prep time!

Seriously, you'll be tempted to eat the whole tray. So grab some friends and dig in!

Ingredients:

6 sweet potatoes, chopped into steak fries
olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
garlic powder and cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Put cut fries into a large ziplock bag with the olive oil, salt, and spices. Shake to coat.
Place fries onto baking sheet, leaving space in between fries.
Put into the oven for 10 minutes, then flip them over. Leave in the oven for another 10 minutes. (They should be soft in the inside and browned on the outside)
Let cool for 5 minutes and ENJOY!

Optional: You can also try adding cajun seasonings like chili powder and cayenne!

A warm treat for the whole family

2009-11-13T14:00:00.006-05:00

Here's one recipe you won't need to push on the kids! And it's great for grown-ups too, not just in taste but you'll definitely get the most bang for your buck. Save money by making your own applesauce instead of paying someone else to mash it for you. All you need is 4 apples and 20 minutes. Here's what to do:

Homemade Applesauce :-)

1. Core and slice apples (you can peel them or leave the skins on)
2. Put apples in a pot with 1/2 cup water over medium heat.
3. Cook, stirring occasionally, until apples are mushy.
4. Serve warm! (it'll taste like apple pie filling) or refrigerate and wait until it cools.

Optional: Add cinnamon and nutmeg for some spice.

No extra sugar is necessary - the apples have enough on their own! You can adjust the cooking time depending on how smooth or chunky you like your sauce. Enjoy!

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Roasted Cauliflower

2009-11-05T10:00:00.004-05:00

Tired of the same old cauliflower routine? Cut up on a veggie platter, steamed with broccoli... It's time for cauliflower to make a name for itself - as the star of a dish sure to please the oldest and youngest members of the family.

(Wondering why this cauliflower is orange? We ran into some this week - it's a natural mutant found in Canada that actually provides 25 times the amount of beta carotene than the white variety!)

Roasted Cauliflower.
Roasting brings out a natural sweetness to the cauliflower, and the garlic cloves become creamy enough to spread on bread or just pop in your mouth.

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized pieces
16 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed
1-2 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Mix oil, rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper together.
Toss in cauliflower and place on a casserole dish on a single layer.
Roast for 20 minutes; give a toss and bake for 10 more minutes.

Don't have any rosemary? Feel free to replace it with other herbs of your liking.

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Autumn warmth

2009-10-30T12:21:00.005-04:00

As we enter deeper into the autumn season and begin to transition into winter, this is definitely a recipe you'll want to take with you. This hearty soup is soothing and savory, with a tint of sweetness that will lure you back again and again.

And really, what could be better than fall apples and winter squash to see you through the cold?

Butternut Squash & Apple Soup

Ingredients:

2 lbs butternut squash
1 medium carrot, cut into eighths
1 medium onion, cut into eighths
1/4 cup butter, melted
3 large granny smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into eighths (you can substitute other apples to achieve a sweeter taste)
3 (14.5 oz) cans of vegetable broth (or water)
3/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1.5 tsp fresh thyme

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel squash, scoop out seeds, cut in half lengthwise, and chop into eighths.
Place squash, carrot, and onion pieces in a single layer on a baking dish and drizzle with butter. Toss to coat.
Roast for 1 hour, stirring at 30 minutes.
Transfer vegetables to a large saucepan, and add apples, broth, and salt. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes or until apples are tender.
Add thyme and pepper.
Process soup in batches.
Garnish with more thyme if desired.

Want to know more about Butternut Squash?

As a winter squash, butternut squash is more nutritious and richer in complex carbohydrates (and often beta carotene!) than summer squash.
One cup of cooked butternut squash provides 7 grams of dietary fiber, almost 100% of daily beta carotene needs, and tons of vitamins C, B6 and E, iron, folate, thiamin, niacin, and magnesium!
Winter squash is one of the best keeping vegetables. Uncut squash should last for 3 months or longer in a cool, dry place. Avoid refrigeration.
Cut squash can last a week tightly wrapped in the fridge.

FUN FACT: One of our office cats at Capital District Community Gardens is named Butternut!

This skull was carved out of a butternut squash...

Happy Halloween!

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A new take on Veggie Pizza

2009-10-30T11:57:00.003-04:00

Who needs dough and sauce when you have eggplants and tomatoes? This baked recipe is the perfect starting point for satisfying that pizza craving - you can also add onions, mushrooms, garlic... anything you please!

EGGPLANT & TOMATO DELUXE

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch rounds
1 tomato, sliced
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
italian seasonings like basil and oregano
olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease baking sheet.
Brush eggplant with olive oil. Arrange rounds on baking sheet and cover with parmesan and seasonings, then layer with tomato slices, and more parmesan and seasonings. Add other vegetables if you'd like.
Bake for 10-15 minutes.

This is an especially great way to eat tomatoes because their key nutrient - lycopene - is fat soluble, so it's best absorbed with eaten with a little fat.

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Irresistible.

2009-10-16T09:53:00.011-04:00

--That pretty much sums up this week's culinary creation. It's one of our favorite dishes here on the Veggie Mobile, and for good reason: The star players are Collard Greens and Apples.

Whaaaat?

Oh yeah, it's true. We combined one of the healthiest foods on this planet with the familiar taste of fall, and emerged with something so succulent, it just melts in your mouth. And with all that flavor comes dietary fiber, potassium, beta carotene, vitamins B6, C & E, folate, calcium, iron, and riboflavin.

So cut that fat from the meat usually paired with your greens -- it'll please carnivores and herbivores alike.

Collard Greens & Apples

Ingredients:

2 tsp butter
2 medium apples (we used Macouns), cored & sliced (leave skins on!)
1/3 cup frozen apple juice concentrate (plus a little bit of water to encourage steaming)
1 lb collard greens, rinsed and finely chopped
a little bit of salt & pepper

Directions:

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add apples and cook, stirring, until lightly browned.
Add remaining ingredients.
Cook and cover, stirring occasionally, until greens are tender (This is a matter of preference, but don't be shy about cooking them for over 2 hrs - the consistency will begin to match the apples and it will become sweeter and less bitter).
Serve immediately and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!!

*Many thanks to our local farmers for making this dish as fresh as possible*

Collard Greens from Roots and Wisdom
Apples from Indian Ladder Farms

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The Monster MASH!

2009-10-08T12:39:00.009-04:00

Itching for a sneak peek at Thanksgiving? Well, we've got the perfect mashed potato substitute that tastes hearty and leaves you feeling full and satisfied. And for anyone second-guessing turnips, just give this a try... it's sure to smooth over any hard feelings.

Turnip & Carrot Mash

Ingredients:

1 lb carrots
1 lb turnips
milk or cream
butter
salt & pepper

Directions:

Boil carrots and turnips separately (to speed up cooking time, cut into small pieces).
When soft, mash each separately using the milk, butter, and seasonings to your taste (you can use a hand masher, food processor or blender).
Just before serving, drain any liquid formed at the bottom of the bowls and gently combine them both.
You should be able to see both carrot and turnip pieces in the combined dish (you can make it as chunky or smooth as you'd like).
Depending on your preferences, the amounts of carrots vs. turnips can be regulated. Leftovers freeze well!

Optional: Some people have suggested making this into a sweeter dish by adding a little bit of honey, cinnamon and nutmeg. Let us know if you have any other ideas!

More about turnips...

Turnips are rich in complex carbohydrates, with good amounts of insoluble and cholesterol-lowering soluble fiber. Many people peel them before cooking, but the sweet, crisp flesh contains protein and a decent amount of vitamin C.
And don't forget: Turnips CAN be eaten raw!

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Volunteering on the Veggie Mobile

2009-10-01T11:12:00.003-04:00

My name is Gianna Gόmez. I am from Belize - a tropical paradise in Central America. I just moved to Troy in April & read about the Capital District Community Gardens on the troy.gov website. I became fascinated by the NGO's mission & their programs. I decided I wanted to volunteer for the Veggie Mobile Program immediately. I have been volunteering since April of this year. Thus far, I have enjoyed every aspect of the experience.

The veggie mobile team is great - committed to customer satisfaction and most importantly they love what they do. And everyone who shops there can tell; by the "Veggie Mobile Funk Music" that we play which everyone seems to enjoy & dance to, everyone always has a smile on their face, and the produce is always fresh & as local as possible.

It's been a privilege for me to be apart of this effort. Shouts for "veggie mobile" by kids is a wonderful satisfaction. I love interacting with the people who shop on the Veggie Mobile. They all have their own personal reasons for taking the time out to visit us once a week. There is always very interesting dialogue with customers which is very entertaining at every stop. We have such dedicated customers who are willing to try our specials for the day. And always give us a reason to keep smiling as we keep trucking.

Our tight schedule keeps the team on the go & constantly busy. And this is exciting for me. In a short period of time I have become familiar with the entire capital district region & I have made some really interesting & wonderful friends on the truck - our dedicated customers - I love them! I look forward to the days i volunteer on the truck & even become sad when i fall ill & can't make it. But when I am on truck, I try to make the most of every day because i know we have dedicated customers that depend on us & because personally for me it has been such a joy.

Committed Volunteer,
Gianna

Sweet for a day

2009-10-01T10:54:00.016-04:00

Normally a bit on the bitter side, these bite-sized cabbages decided to soak up a little sugar this week. With just a little help from the Veggie crew, they packed powerful punches of health and flavor.

Brussels Sprouts are nutrient-dense, offering a plentiful supply of vitamin C, fiber, potassium, folate, antioxidants, and other B vitamins. Over 25% of their calories come from protein.

To store: Keep refrigerated. Don’t wash or trim them before storing, except to remove yellow or wilted outer leaves. Don’t remove fresh outer leaves, since these contain the most nutrients.

To use: Let sprouts soak in a basin of lukewarm water for 10 minutes. Rinse in fresh water and trim stems to a little above sprout bottom.

Caramelized Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients:
• 5 cups brussels sprouts (about 1.25 lbs)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 cup butter
• 1/8 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
1. Peel off sprouts’ wilted or yellow outer leaves, and trim stem ends.
2. Heat the sugar & a little water over medium high heat until it starts to congeal, stirring occasionally to heat evenly.
3. Once sugar starts to melt, reduce heat & cook until sugar begins to turn brown. Add butter & stir until melted. Add vinegars & stir for 1 minute.
4. Add water & salt. Bring water to a boil and add the sprouts.
5. Simmer, covered, for 6 minutes. Uncover and cook for about 15 min, or until the water is absorbed and sprouts are glazed, stirring occasionally.

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Leafy goodness

2009-10-01T09:47:00.003-04:00

You've played around with spinach and collards greens, but have you had Swiss Chard before? It can be prepared in the same way, requiring more time to cook than spinach but less than collards. And as a dark leafy green, it's still packed with just as many nutrients:

• Swiss Chard is rich in beta carotene and potassium, and contains good amounts of fiber, vitamin C, and magnesium. It's a great low-fat source of vitamin E, and also provides a lot of vitamin K, which is essential for bone formation.

To store: Keep swiss chard in the fridge crisper.

To use: Wash off well. Start cooking swiss chard stems a few minutes before adding the leaves.

• Sauteed swiss chard (see below) is excellent in omelets. Baby swiss chard is perfect in salads. You can also add shredded swiss chard to vegetable soups and stews.

Go ahead, add a little fire and flavor:
SAUTEED SWISS CHARD

Ingredients:
• 1 and a half tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 pinch dry crushed red pepper
• 1 bunch swiss chard, stems trimmed, leaves cut into 1/2-inch-wide pieces
• 1/2 lemon, juice of
• salt to taste

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a large heavy pan over medium-low heat. Add garlic and crushed red pepper.
2. Saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
3. Add swiss chard, stir to coat.
4. Cover and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes.
5. Season to taste with salt and enjoy!

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An unlikely combination?

2009-09-18T12:04:00.002-04:00

Maybe so, but our Sweet Potato and Pear Soup will make you think otherwise. If ever the time to take a risk and broaden your culinary horizons, this is definitely it. Both sweet and savory, this autumn soup will warm you up and keep your spirits high throughout the brisk fall nights.

Ingredients:

1 and a half tbsp butter
2 medium onions, chopped finely
2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
4 pears, peeled, cored, and diced
6 cups vegetable broth

Directions:

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat, adding onions to saute for 2-3 minutes until soft but not brown.
Add chopped sweet potatoes and chopped pears, and saute for 3-4 more minutes.
Add broth, bring to a boil, and simmer gently for 20-25 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes/pears are soft.
Let soup cool for 30 minutes.
Process soup in batches in a food processor or blender until smooth. If you're going to eat it right away, re-heat on the stove but not to boiling. At this point you can also refrigerate or freeze it.

Optional: Add 1/2 cup white wine for the last 10 minutes of step 3; Swirl in greek yogurt right before serving; Add chopped parsley for garnish right before serving.

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Spice up your life

2009-09-10T11:21:00.008-04:00

Keep the heat even when evening temperatures drop, with our spicy
Curried Cauliflower.

Ingredients:
• 1 head cauliflower, broken up into florets
• 1 medium onion
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 cup water
• 4-5 tbsp curry powder
• salt to taste

Directions:
1. Heat up oil in pan; add chopped onion and minced garlic, and saute until translucent.

2. Add 2 tbsp curry powder and stir into onions. Add water, cauliflower, another 2 tbsp curry powder, and salt. Stir well & simmer, covered, until cauliflower is tender.

3. Add 1 tbsp curry powder & cook another minute.

Cauliflower really is a flower!

• It's an excellent source of vitamin C and a good source of vitamins B6 & folate. However, avoid cooking cauliflower in too much water for too long, or else the vitamin C will be lost. Also, the B vitamins will leach into the cooking water, so be sure to save this water for soups or stews in order to conserve the nutrients.

• Cauliflower is linked to a reduced risk of cancer since it's thought to help detoxify cancer-causing agents and prevent tumor development.

• To preserve cauliflower’s white color while cooking, add a tbsp of lemon juice, lime juice, or vinegar to the cooking water.

Curious about curry powder?

• It's a unique spice blend that varies widely, but is generally sold in either hot or sweet combinations. It can include turmeric, cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, fenugreek, and white/black or chili peppers.

• Check the ingredients before purchase to make sure it's what you want: See how many peppers are listed and where they fall in the listing (if they're first, then it's hot).

• Use curry powder in soups, stews, and vegetable dishes, or in marinades for meats, fish or poultry.

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A Fiesta of Flavors

2009-09-03T12:55:00.005-04:00

Are your cupboards holding a little bit of this and a little bit of that? Well then, we've got the perfect thing for you. It's time to use that single pepper and lone onion to create a cornucopia of flavors, just in time for an end-of-summer party or outdoor BBQ.

Black Bean & Corn Salad

Ingredients:
• 2 (15 oz.) cans of black beans, rinsed & drained
• 3 ears corn on the cob
• 3-4 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 2 tomatoes, chopped and seeded
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Optional: Add 3 minced jalapeños (seeds removed). Add 1 avocado, peeled, seeded, and chopped. Add 1 tbsp cumin.

Directions:
1. Cook corn in a pot of boiling water, covered, for five minutes. Drain and cool. Cut corn from the cob.

2. Whisk together lime juice and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Add corn, beans, and remaining ingredients; toss to coat. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours. The longer it sits, the more flavorful it becomes.

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Slice up the sweetness

2009-08-27T11:51:00.010-04:00

...with Green Beans and Suntan Peppers!

Naturally sweet and crisp, the raw combination of green beans and peppers makes a perfect summertime snack. And not only that, they have a huge supply of nutrients:

Green Beans- Vitamin C, beta carotene, B vitamins, protein, iron, fiber, and folate.
Sweet Peppers- Vitamins B6 & C, dietary fiber, folate, iron, and potassium.

Did you know that Green Beans are actually immature kidney beans? They are picked as snap beans (beans with edible pods) at an earlier stage of development, where the inner seed (or bean) has just started to form.

Prefer your beans cooked? No problem. We have an extraordinary recipe that uses just a few ingredients to make a dish that complements the natural flavors in green beans & peppers.

Stir-Fried Green Beans and Peppers

Ingredients:

1/2 lb green beans
1 sweet pepper, any color
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup hot water

Directions:

Wash beans and dry thoroughly. Use fresh green beans, the longer the better for presentation.
Trim beans at each end and slice peppers lengthwise into strips equal to the size of the beans.
In a skillet, add oil and beans and stir-fry for 1 minute.
Add hot water, cover, and cook on high for 3 minutes.
Add pepper strips and re-cover, cooking for 1 minute.
Add salt and sugar and stir to combine.
Serve immediately and enjoy!

Variations:

Sprinkle 1 clove garlic, chopped finely, with pepper strips.
Increase cooking time at all stages for softer beans & peppers.
Use your imagination! And please, share your ideas with us!

Local Produce On the Veggie Mobile

2009-08-26T13:24:00.000-04:00

Every Wednesday, for the past two months, I have been waking up early to take the Veggie Mobile over to the Menands Farmer's Market to purchase produce directly from the farmers who grow it. It has provided a wonderful opportunity to not only get more locally produced produce onto the Veggie Mobile, but also to get to know the farmers themselves. Not only is the local produce fresher, and thus longer lasting, it is usually cheaper than buying through a wholesaler, two excellent benefits we can pass on to Veggie Mobile customers. Over the course of the past two months I have put together a map of where the local produce on the Veggie Mobile is coming from. It's worth a look, if only for the realization that a great deal of it is grown within half an hour of Downtown Albany, Troy and Schenectady. Some of the highlights from this weeks farmers market incldue beautiful cherry tomatoes from Kristy's Barn in Schodack, and the M.V.A. (Most Valuable Apple) of the summer so far, the Ginger Gold, from Michael Scrodin, in Germantown. If you haven't had a Ginger Gold yet this summer, I heartily recommend trying one, sources indicated they will only be around for another week or two at the most. See you on the truck!

-Nick

A Local Summer Tradition

2009-08-21T09:53:00.000-04:00

It's time to celebrate the summer while it lasts! And what better way than to highlight Summer Squash in all of its glory. And it's not just the bright green and yellow skins, or the fact that it's 95 percent water (and thus very low in calories), or even the health benefits: good amounts of vitamin C, fiber, potassium, and magnesium. It's tasty AND in season!

And if it's in season for the Capital Region, you can be sure we're on it. Eating locally produced fruits and vegetables is definitely the way to go - they have stronger flavors, less preservatives, and lend support to our community farmers. This week, we purchased our summer squash from Gade Farm in Altamont, NY.

Then we stumbled upon a fantastic recipe that's great on its own or perfect to add to pasta or put on top of pizza. Try it out and let us know what you think!

Summer Squash with Basil-Parmesan Dressing

Ingredients:

2 medium zucchini squash
2 medium yellow squash
2.5 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
4 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Directions:

Cut squash into circular pieces. Brush it all over with 1.5 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Sautee until tender & golden, turning occassionally, for about 10 minutes.
Transfer to a plate and cool, then place in a large bowl.
Add chopped basil, parmesan cheese, balsamic vinegar, and the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil and toss to blend.
Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Plant some EGGPLANT in your belly!

2009-08-13T10:36:00.000-04:00

Always wondered what to do with that big purple vegetable you picked up at the market? Trying to keep the oven off during the summer months? Well, we've got the perfect recipe for you! After scoring big with some local eggplant this week, we created a delicious side dish that was inexpensive and simple to prepare.

Eggplant with Raw Garlic

Ingredients:
• 1 large eggplant
• Olive oil, 1 tbsp plus as needed (extra-virgin preferred)
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced fine
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Directions:
1. Wash eggplant well; cut off stem portion (leave peel on).
2. Slice eggplant into quarter-inch slices and brush each side with extra virgin olive oil.
3. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat and brown eggplant slices until golden brown on each side.
4. In a small measuring cup, combine the garlic, lemon juice, the one tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and the salt. Drizzle over the eggplant slices on a serving tray, sprinkle with parsley, and serve.

Fun cooking fact: If you salt eggplant before cooking it, it will absorb less fat in cooking. To salt, sprinkle the cut surfaces with 1/2 tsp of salt per pound of eggplant, then let sit for 30 minutes in a colander, rinse, and pat dry with towels.

Have some raw eggplant left over? Uncut, unwashed eggplants can be stored in a plastic bag in the fridge crisper for 3-4 days. Don’t try to squeeze it in though - it is delicate and any pressure can cause bruising.

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Kale: the best decision you'll ever make

2009-08-07T14:30:00.000-04:00

Why? Kale is a true nutritional powerhouse, one of the most potent foods you can eat to stay healthy. As a member of the cabbage family, kale offers generous amounts of fiber, vitamins C & B6, beta carotene, iron, and calcium. The thick, dark green leaves are a telltale sign of nutritional goodness. Often, restaurants use kale as a decoration, when in fact it's the healthiest thing on the plate!

To store: Wrap unwashed kale in damp paper towels, and store in a plastic bag in the fridge crisper. When you're ready to eat it, wash the leaves separately in a large basin of cool water, but don't soak them. Kale develops a stronger flavor the longer it is stored, so try to use it within 1-2 days.

Get creative! Since the leaves are generally tough and bitter, a lot of people choose to cook them down first. But you can certainly eat it raw - the smaller the leaves, the more tender and mild kale will taste. Kale is excellent cooked in soups, stir-fries, with mashed potatoes, or sautéed with garlic and olive oil.

This week we cooked up...

BAKED KALE & CARAMELIZED ONIONS

Ingredients:
• 3 lg. red onions cut into thin wedges
• 6 tbsp. olive oil divided
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 bunches kale leaves
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tbsp brown sugar (optional)

Directions:
1. Toss red onions in 1 tsp. oil, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp pepper
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil, add red onions & brown sugar
3. Heat med. low, add water & vinegar, heat until tender (15-20min.)
4. Add butter, heat to high until glazed

Separately but at the same time:
1. Toss kale in remaining oil, in roasting pan, with minced garlic
2. Roast kale at 375*F for 15-20 minutes. Toss to keep from burning.
3. Combine with red onions and enjoy!

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A Cool Dip for the Summer Harvest

2009-08-03T10:26:00.000-04:00

It's about that time - cucumbers are rolling in from the fields and into the Veggie Mobile. Looking for a new way to celebrate their arrival? With garlic coming up from the ground and dill in flower, we experimented with a Cucumber-Yogurt Dip that brings out the best in all of these summer harvest staples. It's simple to make and perfect for dipping celery, carrots or crackers.

Ingredients:

1/2 cucumber, seeded and chopped into small pieces

1 cup plain yogurt (drained over a cheesecloth or coffee filter for at least an hour or two, or overnight in the refrigerator, to thicken. You can skip this step if you use Greek Yogurt, which is already thicker)

1/2 lemon, juice of

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp dried dill

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything together and enjoy! Remember that the longer it sits, the more flavorful it becomes - especially the garlic.
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Smooth refreshments

2009-07-23T09:56:00.000-04:00

Next time the sun comes out and the air feels hot - cool yourself down with a refreshing smoothie! Packed with fruit, yogurt, and juice, smoothies are healthy, creamy and sweet, and sure to satisfy.

Here are a couple recipes we tried this week:

Kiwi - Banana smoothie

2 kiwis
3 frozen bananas (peel, cut into chunks, and freeze)
1 cup vanilla yogurt
drizzles of honey

Mix everything together in a blender for 30 seconds and enjoy! Be sure to drink it within about 15 minutes of mixing - if left to sit too long, an enzyme in the kiwi will react with the milk to produce an off-flavor.

Cantaloupe smoothie

1 cup peeled, seeded, diced cantaloupe
1 cup orange juice
1 cup ice
honey to taste

Mix everything together in a blender for 30 seconds and enjoy!

We'd love to hear from you! Post any smoothie recipes you've tried that you'd like to share - the possibilities are limitless!
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Two tropical delights!

2009-07-17T10:46:00.000-04:00

The past two weeks have been overflowing with some of the juiciest fruits from the tropics: Papaya and Mango.

PAPAYA fruit / PAPAYA tree

Fully-ripe papayas are three-quarters to totally yellow or yellow-orange, and will give slightly when pressed gently (but should not be soft and mushy at the stem end).

Chop papayas in half lengthwise and scoop out the black seeds. Then slice them like you would a cantaloupe, creating long strips and eating it down to the edge without eating the skin.

Papaya seeds are edible so if you save them, rinse them well, and sprinkle them on top of salads or grind them up and use the powder as a seasoning. They have a spicy, pepper-like flavor.

Top frozen yogurt with diced papaya, or puree papaya with some lime juice and serve on top of pancakes!

MANGO fruit / MANGO scored / MANGO tree

Did you know? Mangoes are the most widely consumed fruit in the world!

A perfectly ripe mango will have an intense, flowery fragrance and will yield slightly when touched. Leave under-ripe mangoes at cool room temperature for a few days to soften and sweeten. To speed ripening, place mangoes in a paper bag.

Mango pits are long, thin, and run lengthwise. To cut the fruit, stand it on one end and slice vertically down each side. Score a checkered pattern in the flesh and eat right off the skin (but don't actually eat the skin).

Try putting mango pieces in your favorite salsa for a fruity kick!
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A Healthy Twist on a Summer Favorite

2009-07-02T11:31:00.001-04:00

Here's a great Coleslaw recipe, which substitutes yogurt for the traditional mayonnaise, cutting down on both fat and cholesterol.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. honey
1 lemon
1 Tbsp
3/4 cup of plain low fat yogurt
salt to taste
1/2 head of cabbage, shredded
2 grated carrots
2-4 Tbsp. grated onion

Directions

Mix the vinegar, honey, brown sugar, salt and yogurt. Combine cabbage carrots and onion in a large bowl, squeeze in the lemon juice; toss with the dressing. Serve immediately, or chill and serve later. Serves 4-6.

Cool off with some Cucumbers!

2009-06-25T15:02:00.000-04:00

The weather is staring to heat up and one way to keep cool is with an easy summer cucumber salad.

2 large cucumbers (peeled), 1 small onion (sliced), 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup cider vinegar, 1/4 tsp. celery seed (optional), salt and pepper to taste.

1. Slice the cucumber no thicker than 1/4". Place in bowl or other container with a tight-fitting lid.
2.Add the sliced onions.
3. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, add remaining ingredients.
4. Tightly seal the bowl and give it several good shakes to combine all ingredients.
5. Refrigerate, minimum one hour to overnight.
6. Enjoy!!

The Veggie Mobile is currently selling cucumbers 3 for $1. See you on the truck!

Have a salad recipe? Please share! Summer is a great time for trying new salads. Leave your recipes in the comments section.

Garlic Scapes in Five Easy Steps!

2009-06-25T14:41:00.000-04:00

Keep your eyes peeled for garlic scapes this season.

The metroland this week featured an article about Garilc Scapes.

If you don't have garlic scapes from your own garden try your local farmers markets and the Veggie Mobile may be carrying them later this summer. We'll keep you posted!

We tried a recipe this week for garlic scapes. It's a simple recipe that everyone will enjoy!

Garlic Scapes in Five Easy Steps!
Garlic Scapes
red pepper
Mushrooms
3 tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar
1-2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste

1. Saute scapes in olive oil with red pepper until soft.
2. Add mushrooms and cook for two minutes.
3. Add 3 tbsp. of Balsamic Vinegar, 1-2 tbsp. of butter, salt and pepper to taste and 2 tbsp of brown sugar.
4. Adjust flavoring if it tastes too much like Vinegar by adding additional brown sugar and if it tasted too sweet add more vinegar.
5. Enjoy!

Have you tried garlic scapes before? How did you cook them? Let us know in the comments section. We are always looking for new ways to try old favorites!

-The Veggie Team!

Rainy Thursday

2009-06-18T10:25:00.000-04:00

We haven't updated in a few weeks, and since we have a little time before our first stop of the day (Renwyck 11am-Noon) it's a good time to give an update.

Firstly, a big thank you to everyone who voted for us in the Ashoka Changemakers competition. We unfortunately were not selected as one of the three finalists, but the publicity we received in the Capital Region, and throughout the world, was in a way, reward enough.

Business has been picking up as we move into the summer time, with more local products available on the truck. We have recently been featuring locally grown strawberries, spinach, and kale in addition to all of the other products we routinely sell. Keep an eye out for even more local produce as the season gathers steam. This past week we have also started with the first serious peaches of the season, out of Georgia and South Carolina. If these early peaches are any indication, summer 2009 will be a good summer for peach lovers. Additionally, we are seeing the first pluots and cherries of the season, out of California. Both are good eating.

Crunch Time

2009-05-27T12:33:00.001-04:00

In case you hadn't heard, the Veggie Mobile has been selected as one of ten finalists in a worldwide competition called "Designing For Better Health" sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Ashoka's Changemakers. The winners will receive $5,000 and the international recognition that accompanies winning such a prestigious prize. We need your help to make sure the Veggie Mobile makes the most of this tremendous oppurtunity. We apoligize for how late this blog notification was in coming, but a last minute push to the finish is better than no push at all.

Voting ends tomorrow, May 28th, and it would be fantastic if you and everyone you know register and vote here.

New Stops At New Times

2009-04-23T08:40:00.000-04:00

Spring has finally come to the Capital Area, and with it, an expansion of Veggie Mobile Services. We have added two days, Tuesdays and Saturdays, and changed market days and times at some of our stops. Here's what the new schedule looks like:

Tuesdays:
12:00-1:00pm Ida Yarbrough, 270 N. Pearl Street, Albany
2:30-3:15pm Steinmetz Homes, 120 Emmons Street, Schenectady
3:30-4:15pm Yates Village, Van Debodgart & Van Vranken Avenue, Schenectady

Thursdays:
11:00am-12:00pm Renwyck Place, 18 4th Avenue, Albany
12:30-1:30pm St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church, 440 Whitehall Road, Albany
2:00-3:30pm Kennedy Towers Senior Housing, 2100 6th Avenue, Troy
4:00-4:45pm Carrol Hill School, 112 Delaware Avenue, Troy

Fridays:
11:00am-12:30pm South Mall Towers, 101 S. Pearl Street, Albany
1:00-1:45pm John P. Taylor Apartments, Congress Street @ River Street, Troy
2:30-3:30pm Ten Eyck Apartments, 375 Broadway, Schenectady
4:00-4:45pm Martin Luther King Apartments, 1 Eddy's Lane by Frear Park, Troy

Saturdays:
10:00am-11:00am Hamilton Hill Arts Center, 409 Schenectady Street, Schenectady
12:00-1:00pm Arbor Hill on Henry Johnson Blvd & 3rd Street, Albany
1:15-2:00pm Steamboat Square Apts, 20 Rensselaer Street, Albany
3:00-4:00pm Rainbow Community Center, 847 River Street, Troy

We look forward to seeing you on the truck!

Let it snow!

2008-12-19T11:00:00.000-05:00

As you have probably already guessed, the Veggie Mobile will not be making it to our afternoon stops today (St. Sophia Church, Ten Eyck Apartments, Steinmetz Homes), or any of our scheduled stops tomorrow due to the snow. We will still be holding our market at South Mall Towers at 11am today.

The Veggie Mobile will be closed next week for the holidays.

We look forward to seeing everyone again in 2009, and wish everyone a relaxing and safe holiday season!

Happy Holidays,
The Veggie Team

Market Update for 12/13/08

2008-12-12T15:41:00.000-05:00

The Veggie Mobile will not be making its scheduled stop at Hamilton Hill Arts Center in Schenectady tomorrow (12/13) due to the icy conditions.

Weather permitting, we will be at the remainder of our Saturday stops as usual. Hope to see you there!

For Sale 10/2-4

2008-10-03T14:28:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone! Please accept the VM's sincerest apologies for our blogging hiatus. Business has been booming as usual aboard the Veggie Mobile, and unfortunately, we neglected to update you with our whereabouts for the past few weeks.

With the change in seasons, we have added many fresh fall items to our repertoire! Anyway, without any further ado - this week's selections...

Acorn Squash - $0.59/lb
Apples (Gala or McIntosh) - $0.89/lb
Avocado - $1.25
Baby Carrots - $1.29/lb
Bananas - $0.59/lb
Broccoli - $1.49/bunch
Brussels Sprouts - $1.29/lb
Butternut Squash - $0.49/lb
Cabbage - $0.39/lb
Cantaloupe - $1.75 each
Carrots - $0.49/lb
Cauliflower - $1.75/head
Celery - $1.25/bunch
Collard Greens - $1.00/lb
Corn - 3 for $1.00
Cucumbers - 2 for $1.00
Eggplant - $0.79/lb
Garlic - $1.89/lb
Grapes - Green: $1.29/lb, Red: $1.79/lb
Grapefruit - 2 for $1.00
Grape Tomatoes (pint) - $1.50
Green Beans - $1.49/lb
Honeydew - $2.50 each
Kiwi - 3 for $1.00
Lemons - 3 for $1.00
Lettuce - Iceberg: $1.25, Romaine: $1.00
Limes - 4 for $1.00
Mangoes - $1.35 each
Mushrooms - $1.75/lb
Onions - Sweet: $0.49/lb, Red: $0.75/lb, Vidalia: $0.89/lb,
Onions (3-lb bags) - $1.50
Oranges (Valencia) - 4 for $1.00
Peanuts - $1.20/lb
Pears (Bartlett or Bosc) - $0.89/lb
Peppers - Green: $0.89/lb, Red: $1.19/lb
Pineapples - $2.75 each
Pomegranates - $1.19 each
Prune (Italian) Plums - $1.29/lb
Potatoes (White or Red) - $0.49/lb
Radishes - $0.99/lb
Scallions - $0.75 each
Spinach (10-oz bag) - $1.50
Strawberries - $2.50
Summer Squash (Green or Yellow) - $0.89/lb
Tomatoes - $1.19/lb
Watermelon (seedless) - $3.50
Yams - $0.65/lb

Feel free to drop us a line if we're missing anything you'd like to see on the truck - the veggie crew is always looking for suggestions! Our wish list for next week includes bok choy, pumpkins, and spaghetti squash.

Hope to see you soon!

Katy B.
Veggie VISTA

Sharrieff's Sweet Potato Pie

2008-09-16T16:25:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite things about the Veggie Mobile is the exchange of ideas, especially recipes, that takes place on the truck. At our first stop on Saturday, at Hamilton Hill Arts Center in Schenectady, Sharrieff Ali came on the truck asking for two pounds potatoes.

Sharrieff Ali then revealed he has been a pastry chef for forty years. I asked him about a dish I was thinking of preparing, Sweet Potato Pie. Below is the recipe that Sharrieff shared with the Veggie Mobile.

2 Sweet Potatoes

½ cup Orange Juice

½ cup Canned Milk

1 cup Sugar

1 cup Water

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

½ cup of butter

Cinnamon (to taste)

Nutmeg (to taste)

Pre-heat oven at 375°

Skin and Chop Sweet Potatoes
Cook with Orange Juice, water, cinnamon, nutmeg
Add vanilla extract, butter and sugar.
Drain Juice and make sure the mix is creamy.

(Although the recipe doesn’t call for it I used a blender.)

Add egg and canned milk, mix
Bake in 9” pan at 350° for 45-70 minutes.

To make your own crust:

1 cup Shortening

2 cups Flower

½ cup water

Dash of salt

Dash of sugar

Mix together till it sticks only slightly to the bowl
Spread in pie dish

Enjoy this great fall dish!

Let us know if you try the dish, or let us know your sweet potato pie recipe.

For Sale September 11-13

2008-09-11T11:30:00.000-04:00

The Veggie Mobile is on the way to our first stop of the week! We are happy to be carrying Brussels sprouts, local Strawberries and Acorn Squash this week!

Apples: $.89/lb
Avocado: $1.25 each
Bananas: $0.59/lb
Broccoli: $1.49 per punch
Brussels Sprouts : $1.19
Cabbage: $0.39/lb
Cantaloupe: $1.75 each
Carrots: 0.49/lb
Baby Carrots: $1.29 a bag
Celery: $1.25
Corn: 3 for $1
Cucumbers: 3 for a $1
Eggplant: $0.79/lb
Garlic: $1.00/lb
Red Grapes: $1.79/lb
Green Grapes: $1.29/lb
Grapefruit: $0.69 each
Collard Greens: $0.79/lb
Green Beans: $0.89/lb
Honeydew: $2.25/each
Kiwi: 3 for $1
Lemons: 3 for $1
Lettuce -Romaine $1.00/each
Iceberg -$1.00/each
Limes: 4 for $1
Mangoes $1.35/each
Mushrooms: $1.99/lb
Nectarines: $1.29/lb
Onions: $0.49/lb
Red Onions: $0.75/lb
Candy Onions/ Sweet Onions:$0.89/lb
Vidalia Onions: $0.75/lb
Oranges: 4 for $1
Peaches: $.99/lb
Green Peppers: $.89/lb
Red Peppers: $1.49
Pineapple: $2.75 each
Plums: $1.29
Potatoes (red and white): $0.49/lb
Sweet Potatoes: $0.60/lb
Radishes: $0.99
Scallions: $0.50/bunch
Spinach: $1.50/bag
Strawberries: $3.50
Local Strawberries: $3.00
Squash (yellow and green): $0.89/lb
Acorn Squash: $0.59
Tomatoes :$1.19
Grape Tomatoes: $1.75 each
Watermelon: $3.50 each
Yellow Watermelon: $3.00 each

See you soon on the Veggie Mobile !

For Sale September 4th-6th

2008-09-04T11:57:00.000-04:00

Apples: $.89/lb
Avocado: $1.25 each
Bananas: $0.59/lb
Blueberries: $2.50 per pint
Broccoli: $1.49 per punch
Cabbage: $0.39/lb
Cantaloupe: $1.25 each
Carrots: 0.49/lb
Baby Carrots: $1.29 a bag
Celery: $1.50
Corn: 3 for $1
Cucumbers: 3 for a $1
Eggplant: $0.79/lb
Garlic: $1.00/lb
Red Grapes: $1.39/lb
Green Grapes: $1.39/lb
Grapefruit: $0.69
Collard Greens: $0.79/lb
Green Beans: $0.89/lb
Honeydew: $1.59/each
Kiwi: 3 for $1
Lemons: 3 for $1
Lettuce -Romaine $1.75
Iceberg -$0.75
Limes: 4 for $1
Mangoes $1.35/each
Mushrooms: $1.75/lb
Nectarines: $1.29/lb
Onions: $0.49/lb
Red Onions: $0.75/lb
Local Candy Onions/ Sweet Onions:$0.89/lb
Vidalia Onions: $0.75/lb
Oranges: 4 for $1
Peaches: $.99/lb
Green Peppers: $.89/lb
Red Peppers: $1.49
Pineapple: $2.75 each
Plums: $1.19
Potatoes (red and white): $0.49/lb
Sweet Potatoes: $0.60/lb
Scallions: $0.50/bunch
Spinach: $1.50/bag
Strawberries: $2.50
Squash (yellow and green): $0.89/lb
Tomatoes :$1.09
Grape Tomatoes: $1.75 each
Watermelon: $4.00 each
Sugar Baby Watermelon: $3.00 each
Yellow Watermelon: $2.00 each

See you soon on the Veggie Mobile!

For Sale August 28th-August 30th

2008-08-28T11:28:00.000-04:00

The Veggie Mobile is on the way to our first stop of the week! New this week we have Yellow Doll Watermelons.

Apples: $.89/lb
Avocado: $1.25 each
Bananas: $0.59/lb
Blueberries: $2.50 per pint
Broccoli: $1.49 per punch
Cabbage: $0.39/lb
Cantaloupe: $1.25 each
Carrots: 0.49/lb
Baby Carrots: $1.29 a bag
Celery: $1.50
Corn: 3 for $1
Cucumbers: $0.50/ea
Eggplant: $0.79/lb
Red Grapes: $1.39/lb
Green Grapes: $1.39/lb
Grapefruit: $0.69
Collard Greens: $0.79/lb
Green Beans: $0.89/lb
Honeydew: $1.59/each
Kiwi: 3 for $1
Lemons: 3 for $1
Lettuce -Romaine $1.75
Iceberg -$0.95
Limes: 4 for $1
Mangoes $1.35/each
Mushrooms: $1.75/lb
Nectarines: $1.29/lb
Onions: $0.49/lb
Red Onions: $0.75/lb
Local Candy Onions/ Sweet Onions:$0.89/lb
Vidalia Onions: $0.75/lb
Oranges: 4 for $1
Peaches: $.99/lb
Green Peppers: $.89/lb
Red Peppers: $1.49
Pineapple: $2.75 each
Plums: $1.19
Potatoes (red and white): $0.49/lb
Sweet Potatoes: $0.60/lb
Scallions: $0.50/bunch
Spinach: $1.50/bag
Strawberries: $2.75
Squash (yellow and green): $0.89/lb
Tomatoes :$1.29
Grape Tomatoes: $1.75 each
Cherry Tomatoes: $1.75
Watermelon: $4.25 each
Sugar Baby Watermelon: $3.50 each
Yellow Doll Watermelon: $1.75 each

See you soon on the Veggie Mobile!

-Lauren Alpert
Veggie Mobile Project Assistant

Veggie Mobile Wholesale Market Location Profile: Kennedy Towers

2008-08-26T16:26:00.001-04:00

Each and every Thursday all year long the Veggie Mobile stops at The Kennedy Towers from 2:00pm – 3:00pm.

The Kennedy towers is of course the unmistakable, circular, hair-curler-like, high-rise building, located between Jacobs St. and Federal St. on 6^th ave in Troy, NY.

Kennedy Towers is a low-income independent senior living apartment building in the heart of Troy, managed by the Troy Housing Authority. With 133 apartment units housing seniors of ages fifty-five and older the Kennedy towers was an early and obvious choice for wholesale market location during the initial Veggie Mobile planning stages.

Although the Troy Housing Authority provides a regular supermarket bus to residents, and in spite of the wonderful efforts of the Troy Waterfront Farmer’s Market, many of the residents of Kennedy Towers reported a lack of fresh produce in their diets prior to the arrival of the Veggie Mobile. When trips to the supermarket meant expending energy and feeling tired, canned fruits and vegetables were a better choice than fresh produce because it meant fewer trips to the supermarket.

The Veggie Mobile has changed all of that. Our weekly service to Kennedy Towers means convenient and regular access to fresh produce. A resident can shop on the Veggie Mobile in their slippers if they so choose, buying all of the produce they could want for the week.

The very first ever Veggie Mobile stop was actually at Kennedy Towers on April 19, 2007. The turnout that first day was tremendous. There were more people than we expected and many more than we were prepared for.

Since then it has been a regular ringer. Last year around this time we were averaging 27 customers an hour at Kennedy Towers. (It sounds better as 27 customers an hour as opposed to 27 customers a week, but it’s the same thing really. Every Stop is one hour). Early in the Veggie Mobile’s history, 27 customers were about as many as we could handle. This year for the same ten week period we’re doing 51 customers an hour on average.

Customers from the Kennedy Towers are now like family to Veggie Mobile staff. There's a long list of regular customers who we've come to know intimately. We have regular help from the Williams brothers, Mel and Slim. Mel, the president of the tenants association, volunteers with us, taking produce orders for people who can't make it out to the truck for whatever reason. Slim helps us back the truck in. Charlie, another customer, buys all of the peanuts that we have out on display every week (we always hide a small amount so that other customers can have some too), and then either most of our tomatoes, most of our bananas, or most of our peppers depending on what's he's in the mood for. It's a great group of people, full of characters. We'll be introducing you to many of them over then next couple of months.

Some Kennedy Towers favorites over the last ten weeks:
(Average amount sold per hour, meaning of course, per week.)

41 lbs. of BANANAS /hour
38 ORANGES
12 lbs. of PEACHES
14 lbs. of STRAWBERRIES
19 ears of CORN
21 lbs. of GRAPES
25 lbs. of TOMATOES
27 lbs. of POTATOES
16 lbs. of ONIONS

So come check us out at Kennedy Towers every Thursday from 2:00-3:00pm and if you continue reading this blog you'll get to know some of our regular Kennedy customers as well as more of our locations.

For Sale August 21st-August 24th

2008-08-21T11:27:00.000-04:00

Once Again the Veggie Mobile is featuring a wide variety of local produce. Our apples, corn, cucumbers, eggplants, nectarines, onions, green peepers, tomatoes, grape tomatoes, yellow squash, green squash, plums, and watermelon are locally grown. We also have Bartlett Pears on the truck this week.

Apples: $.89/lb
Avocado: $1.25 each
Bananas: $0.59/lb
Blueberries: $2.50 per pint
Broccoli: $1.50 per punch
Cabbage: $0.39/lb
Cantaloupe: $1.25 each
Carrots: 0.49/lb
Baby Carrots: $1.29 a bag
Celery: $1.50
Corn: 3 for $1
Cucumbers: $0.50/ea
Eggplant: $0.79/lb
Red Grapes: $1.39/lb
Green Grapes: $1.39/lb
Grapefruit: $1.00/each
Collard Greens: $0.89/lb
Honeydew: $2.25/each
Kiwi: 4 for $1
Lemons: 5 for $2
Lettuce -Romaine $1.50
Iceberg -$0.95
Limes: 4 for $1
Mangoes $1.50/each
Mushrooms: $1.75/lb
Nectarines: $1.19/lb
Onions: $0.49/lb
Red Onions: $0.75/lb
Local Candy Onions/ Sweet Onions:$0.89/lb
Vidalia Onions: $0.75/lb
Oranges: 4 for $1
Peaches: $.98/lb
Green Peppers: $.89/lb
Pineapple: $2.75 each
Potatoes (red and white): $0.49/lb
Sweet Potatoes: $0.60/lb
Scallions: $0.50/bunch
Strawberries: $2.75
Squash (yellow and green): $0.89/lb
Tomatoes :$.99/lb
Locally Grown Tomatoes: $1.29/lb
Grape Tomatoes: $1.75 each
Hot House Tomatoes: $1.29/lb
Watermelon: $4.25 each

For Sale August 14th-16th

2008-08-14T11:08:00.000-04:00

The Veggie Mobile is on its way to the first stop of the week!

This week we are featuring a wide array of local produce. Our apples, green beans, broccoli, corn, cucumbers, collards, candy onions, green peppers, hot peppers, potatoes, squash, tomatoes, and watermelon are all coming from local farms. Our Peaches are coming up from Pennsylvania and our Blueberries from New Jersey..

Apples: $.89/lb
Avocado: $1.25 each
Bananas: $0.49/lb
Green Beans: $0.99/lb
Blueberries: $2.75 per pint
Broccoli: $1.50 per punch
Cabbage: $0.49/lb
Cantaloupe: $1.25 each
Carrots: 0.49/lb
Baby Carrots: $1.29 a bag
Celery: $1.50
Cilantro: $1.39
Corn: 3 for $1
Cucumbers: 3 for $1
Eggplant: $0.79/lb
Red Grapes: $1.39/lb
Green Grapes: $1.39/lb
Grapefruit: $1.00/each
Collard Greens: $0.89/lb
Honeydew: $2.25/each
Kiwi: 4 for $1
Lemons: 5 for $2
Lettuce (Romaine and Iceberg) $1/each
Limes: 4 for $1
Mangoes $1.50/each
Mushrooms: $1.75/lb
Nectarines: $1.19/lb
Onions: $0.49/lb
Red Onions: $0.75/lb
Local Candy Onions: $1.00/each
Vidalia Onions: $0.75/lb
Oranges: 4 for $1
Peaches: $.98/lb
Green Peppers: $.89/lb
Red Peppers: $1.29/lb
Hot Peppers: $1.19/lb
Pineapple: $2.75 each
Potatoes (red and white): $0.49/lb
Sweet Potatoes: $0.60/lb
Scallions: $0.50/bunch
Spinach: $1.50 a bag
Strawberries: $3.49
Squash (yellow and green): $0.89/lb
Tomatoes :$.99/lb
Cherry Tomatoes: $1.75 each
Grape Tomatoes: $1.75 each
Hot House Tomatoes: $1.29/lb
Watermelon: $4.00ea

See you soon on the Veggie Mobile!

More Mobile Logistics

2008-08-12T16:58:00.001-04:00

Simple solutions often come hard. With more customers shopping on the Veggie Mobile at each location we’ve been scratching our heads as how to keep our stock consistent at each stop of the day. We’ve been utilizing the Veggie Mobile swat team (more on that in a later post!) but we realized we need to have more produce available on the truck.

We had fresh eyes on the truck recently, Matt Schuler, the Capital District Community Gardens Education Center Coordinator, was on board to experience all that is the Veggie Mobile. Matt first suggested putting more shelving in and then changed his mind when he realized that our shelving is adjustable. We spent a couple hours today adjusting our shelves (it took awhile because the shelves had settled into place). Now we have more storage space under the shelves. Silly us for not realizing this solution sooner!

Here are Before and After pictures

Customer Profile: James McLaughlin

2008-08-12T10:09:00.000-04:00

James McLaughlin has been a Veggie Mobile patron at Steamboat Square in Albany, NY for over a year. When we first met James, he was wheelchair bound with swollen feet and a welcoming smile. He became an instant friend. He told us that he would soon be receiving surgery to amputate his foot. Each week we inquired about what the status was and how he felt about the prospect of losing his foot. He also told us about his love for drawing, showed us his sketches, and told us about his life experiences. He became a regular customer and friend.

Unfortunately, James is moving to a different apartment complex on the other side of town and will no longer be shopping on the Veggie Mobile on Saturdays. James’s last order on the Veggie Mobile, for now, was on August 2^nd.

He ordered:
2 oranges
1.3 lbs of peaches
1 box of strawberries
1 head of iceberg lettuce
.8 lbs of bananas

-Lauren Alpert and Eric Krans

For Sale July 31-August 2, 2008

2008-07-31T12:01:00.001-04:00

The Veggie Mobile is on the way to our first stop of the week. We are proud to offer a variety of local produce this week. We have local squash, blueberries, cantaloupe, onions and watermelon.

Apples: $1.19/lb
Asparagus: $2.39/lb
Avocado: $1 each
Bananas: $0.59/lb
Green Beans: $0.99/lb
Blueberries: $2.25 per pint
Local Blueberries: $2.75 per pint
Broccoli: $1.50 per punch
Cabbage: $0.49/lb
Cantaloupe: $1.25 each
Carrots: 0.49/lb
Baby Carrots: $1.29
Celery: $1.50
Cherries: $2.99/lb
Corn: 3 for $1
Cucumbers: 3 for $1
Eggplant: $0.79/lb
Red Grapes: $1.49/lb
Green Grapes: $1.49/lb
Grapefruit: $0.69/each
Collard Greens: $0.89/lb
Honeydew: $3.00/each
Kiwi: 4 for $1
Lemons: 5 for $2
Lettuce (Romaine and Iceberg) $1/each
Limes: 4 for $1
Mangoes $1/each
Mushrooms: $1.75/lb
Nectarines: $1.19/lb
Onions: $0.49/lb
Red Onions: $0.75/lb
Local Candy Onions: $1.19/each
Vidalia Onions: $0.75/lb
Oranges: 4 for $1
Peaches: $1.19/lb
Green Peppers: $1.29/lb
Pineapple: $2.75 each
Potatoes (red and white): $0.49/lb
Sweet Potatoes: $0.60/lb
Raspberries: $2.75 per punch
Scallions: $0.50/bunch
Spinach: $1.50 a bag
Strawberries: $2.50
Squash (yellow and green): $0.89/lb
Cherry Tomatoes: $1.75 each
Grape Tomatoes: $1.75 each
Hot House Tomatoes: $1.39/lb
Watermelon: $4.75/ea
Sugar Baby Watermelon: $3.50/ea

See you soon on the Veggie Mobile!

-Lauren Alpert

Assistant Project Coordinator

Unwanted Guests in the Kitchen?

2008-07-29T17:08:00.000-04:00

Ever have fruit flies take over your kitchen? One piece of ripe or fermenting fruit can go from a small problem to a big problem with fruit flies. Fruit Flies are especially common during late summer/fall months because they are attracted to ripened or fermenting fruits and vegetables. The lifecycle of fruit flies can be completed in one week with the potential to lay 500 eggs. The Veggie Mobile has been using an easy and inexpensive trap to prevent fruit flies on our truck and in our produce room.

Below is the step-by-step process to trap any fruit flies in your kitchen.

Materials

-A paper/plastic cup
-Ripe or fermenting fruit
-Clear plastic wrap
-A rubber band
-Pen/Pencil/Pin

Cut the ripe/fermenting fruit and place it in the paper/plastic cup
Fit clear plastic wrap over the top of the paper/plastic cup

MAKE SURE IT IS FITTED TIGHT

Put rubber band around the plastic wrap and cup. The plastic wrap should remain fitted tightly to ensure fruit flies don’t escape.
Poke small holes in the center of the tightly fitted top of the cup.

Now you’re all set to say goodbye to your fruit flies and say hello to more delicious fresh produce!!

-Lauren Alpert
Assistant Project Coordinator

Mobile Market Logistics

2008-07-21T11:11:00.000-04:00

For the last month the Veggie Mobile has been implementing a new market setup for the weekly stop at Kennedy Towers in Troy. The volume of customers at that stop in particular, became overwhelming, and a new logistical solution to our mobile market design became absolutely essential.

Kennedy Towers has been a successful Veggie Mobile stop since day one. It was our first ever stop, and the customer enthusiasm was immediate. Our initial customer base was sufficient for maintaining Kennedy Towers as a weekly ringer. We've always been able to count on huge numbers there, even in the winter.

The new year brought a new challenge at Kennedy Towers: more customers were coming out but our truck wasn't getting any bigger. As April flowed into May it became apparent that our customer base at Kennedy Towers was exceeding our market capacity. The growth of the Veggie Mobile in 2008 has come from a perfect storm: our team planning, word of mouth, and the economic recession.

Over the winter Capital District Community Gardens added an Americorps VISTA Outreach Coordinator whose work has helped spread the news of the Veggie Mobile. Word of mouth has continued to ripple through town, including some help from Mel Williams, the Kennedy Towers Tenant Association President, who took it upon himself to post Veggie Mobile flyers at neighboring Troy Towers and O'Neil Apartments, the posting of which alone, added a regular 10-20 customers. Add to that how the costs of food and fuel have continued to rise, outpacing income and you see how the Veggie Mobile can become quite a magnet for consumers on a tightening budget who want to continue consuming quality fresh produce.

Our solution to the problem of overflow capacity has been to set up a table outside the truck. It's a simple solution but it requires us to double the number of workers we send to Kennedy Towers and to secure a second automobile for transportation. Thankfully, the Community Gardens has everything we need.

The set up goes something like this: Upon returning from the second stop of the day at Taylor Apartments just around the corner from Community Gardens offices, we reload the truck and then load pretty much all of the rest of our inventory into the Community Gardens van along with a table, a scale, a cash box, a notebook, and some pens. We follow the Veggie Mobile over to Kennedy Towers and pull the van infront of the truck.

Two people start immediately gathering things from the van to set up beside the truck while the other two workers set up the awning. When the awning setup is complete, two workers prepare the Veggie Mobile market for a usual market stop while the other two workers open up the outdoor table for business.

On the table and on the ground around it, we are able to offer most of our inventory. The only items we don't offer on the table outside that we do offer on board the Veggie Mobile are specialty vegetables that are better kept refrigerated, and potatoes, onions, apples and oranges, all of whcih are within easy grabbing distance from the door.

Most of the customers that can walk easily up the stairs onto the truck, make their way up onto it, while those customers in wheel chairs who wait patiently outside the truck every week to give their orders to us, can now wheel up to the table and shop directly.

Thus begins an hour of insanity as we fill orders at a dizzying pace, doing math and data keeping in a notebook, while fielding mutiple inquiries at once from all different angles.

This photo is of the aftermath. All of the customers are gone and Katy and Paul are about to take the produce onto the truck to replenish our diminished supplies.

Posted by E.J. Krans

For Sale on the Veggie Mobile July 10-12, 2008

2008-07-16T14:31:00.000-04:00

Apples: $1.09/lb.
Avocados: $1 each
Bananas: $0.59/lb.
Blueberries: $1.80 per pint
Broccoli: $1.25 per bunch
Cabbage: $0.49/lb.
Cantaloupe: $1.50 each
Carrots: $0.49/lb.
Celery: $1.50/lb.
Cherries: $2.89/lb.
Corn: 3 for $1
Eggplant: $0.89/lb.
Garlic: $1.75/lb.
Grapes (red): $1.99/lb.
Grapes (green): $1.49/lb.
Grapefruit: $0.85ea. or 3 for $2.50
Greens (Collards): $0.89/lb.
Honeydew Melon: $2.50ea.
Kiwi: 4 for $1
Lemons: 5 for $2
Lettuce (iceberg and Romaine): $1ea
Limes: 4 for $1
Mangoes: $1 each
Mushrooms: $1.75/lb.
Nectarines: $1.19/lb.
Onions: $0.49/lb.
Onions (red): $0.75/lb.
Onions (Vidalia): $0.69/lb.
Oranges: 4 for $1
Peaches: $1.29/lb.
Peppers (green): $1.29/lb.
Pineapple: $2.75ea.
Plums: $1.39/lb.
Potatoes (white and red): $0.49/lb.
Raspberries: $2.75 per pint
Scallions: $0.50/bunch
Spinach (10 oz. bag): $1.50
Strawberries: $2.75/lb.
Squash (green and yellow): $0.99/lb.
Grape Tomatoes: $1.99ea.
Hot House Tomatoes: $1.39/lb.
Watermelon: $4.50 each
Sweet Potatoes: $0.60/lb.

On Buying Local Produce

2008-07-09T14:32:00.000-04:00

A local food network is an essential element of a sustainable future. Corporate Agriculture with monocropping and long distance produce hauling uses high amounts of increasingly expensive fuels and farm commodities. New research into the effects of pesticides on humans, the soil, and beneficial insects coupled with recent salmonella and E. Coli tainted produce scares leave consumers increasingly aware of our food system's insecurity. It is becoming clear that it saves energy and thereby creates less carbon to buy locally, that produce tastes better when the distance from farm to plate is diminshed, and we feel better about our community and our food when we know or can potentially visit the farmer living down the road.

During last year’s harvest season the Veggie Mobile team tried to buy as much locally grown produce as possible. But purchasing wholesale local produce direct from the farmers proved difficult for our small team for two reasons:
1. The centralized Capital District Regional Farmer’s Market in Menands is only open in the wee hours of the morning from 5:30-7:00am and the Veggie Mobile stops were schedule for the afternoon hours so we never really had the opportunity to make it there in time.
2. Local farms tend to be a lengthy trip away, which was inconvenient for the Veggie Mobile team, requiring more time that was available to us.

As a result we purchased most of our locally grown produce from the conveniently centralized Menands Market wholesale middlemen A.J. Rinella and Co., Brickman’s, Decker’s, and Blackhorse Farms which are conveniently open until 11am, noon, or later. We supplemented the produce bought from these distributors with occasional purchases from Indian Ladder Farms (which is close to my house). And to their credit the wholesale distributors at Menands Market carry a good selection of locally grown Pride of New York produce. Evidence: I have been buying Hand Melon Farms strawberries from Decker’s the past two weeks.

With the addition of our two Americorps VISTA workers, whose help has allowed the team to split up into overlapping schedules, we’ve managed to plan a time into our schedule for buying produce direct from the farmers every Wednesday morning at the Regional Farmer’s Market.

Today was the first day of our new local produce buying plan.

To start, I set my alarm a couple hours earlier, 4:30 instead of 6:30. I was out the door by 5:30, into work by 6:00, and over to the market by 6:30.

When I showed up there were only three farmers still selling produce. I visited them all, and bought something from each person:

1. Piglioventos Greenhouse, Guilderland NY, the next town west of Albany: Summer Squash and Zucchini.

2. Feura Farm, Feura Bush NY, Albany County:
Raspberries for the same price as California Raspberries, and local Cucumbers for a similar price as the Jersey Cukes.

3. Seagroatt Floral Company, Berlin NY: the first local Tomatoes of the season, grown in hoop houses, and long straight English Cucumbers.

We hope to sell an excellent selection of locally grown produce all summer and fall. It certainly is a lot of fun to meet and buy from the farmers and it feels good to know that we're helping to sustain a local food economy. By purchasing direct from local farmers we're doing our part to make the Veggie Mobile a roving produce market with added sustenance!

E.J. Krans