Category — East Bay

Get your tickets to this event before it sells out on Feburary 1. This is going to be an amazing event: the CEO of Whole Foods and Michael Pollan (author of Omnivore’s Dilemma) having a discussion about organic, local agriculture and the role Whole Foods plays in these markets.
The event is in Berkeley on Tues Feb 27th at 7pm and tickets go on sale for $5 Feb 1st (get them fast!).

If you can’t make it to Berkeley, they will be airing the discussion live online as well:
http://journalism.berkeley.edu/events/details.php?ID=368

For a little more background on the relationship b/w these two, check out this blog:
http://www.ethicurean.com/2007/01/10/mackey-pollan-chat/

UPDATE: Here is the videocast of the debate, download here.

One Saturday morning, I took some very cool classes at a vegan cooking workshop in Oakland. Set in the First Unitarian Church near downtown, Compassionate Cooks is one of the few vegan cooking classes in the Bay Area.

In about three hours, we made:
-Hearty Three-Bean Chili
-Marvelous Mushroom Risotto
-Peanut Pumpkin Soup
-Polenta with Sundried Tomatoes & Fresh Basil -Farm-Fresh Apple Pecan Muffins

Even as a long time vegetarian, I enjoyed learning how to make vegan foods and I liked Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, the founder and head chef’s funky and energetic personality. She shopped locally and also recommended places to buy food like the Oakland farmer’s markets and the Old Mill, a natural food store in Oakland.

Compassionate Cooks won Veg News’ 2005 Veggie Awards. Come check out this cool series of classes! They offer classes once a month on Saturdays, or you can buy their DVD and recipies.

Yesterday, I got my CSA box for the month from Capay Farms’ Farm Fresh to You program. All the produce is organic and locally grown through Capay or one of their partners. I’ve been with them for about half a year and so far I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit. You just let them know what box size you want, and whether you want the mix of veggies/fruits. They come and deliver straight to your door each month or week depending on your preference.

For $21.50 a box (I get the smaller box), you get 4 veggies and 2 fruits. This week I got about 1 lb of heirloom tomatoes, 2 lbs of star frinson red pears (see picture to the left), 1.5 lbs of organic grapes, 2 lemon cucumbers (never seen this before!), and organic bok choy. In the picture below, I stir fried the bok choy for dinner today in fresh ground garlic and ginger and then tossed some salt, soy sauce and sesame oil to complete the dish. Give this CSA program a try! They deliver to most of the Bay Area.

Thanks to Om Organics‘ resource directory, here are companies that deliver organic meals to your door in the Bay Area:

• Aubergine Service: Catering, meal delivery Area: San Francisco & East Bay (Oakland, Berkeley, Albany & El Cerrito) p/e: 510.704.8847, joan@auberginecatering.com Specialty: Vegetarian & meat options.
• Convergence Catering Service: Catering, meal delivery Area: Bay Area p/e: 831.469.4643, converge@convergencefoods.com Specialty: Vegetarian & vegan options.
• Cook SF Service: Meal delivery Area: San Francisco p/e: 415.513.5328, info@cook-sf.com Specialty: Vegetarian and meat options. Specializing in California cuisine.
• Dining In SF Service: Meal delivery Area: San Francisco, Marin, East Bay, Peninsula p/e: 415.255.2433, traci@dininginsf.com Specialty: Vegetarian & meat options.
• Marcus Rios Service: Catering, personal chef, meal delivery Area: Bay Area p/e: 415.350.3113, marcus@chefmarcusrios.com Specialty: Customized vegetarian or meat menus
• Peal Cuisine Service: Meal delivery Area: San Francisco p/e: 415.826.2133, pealweb@gmail.com Specialty: Gourmet vegetarian & vegan options.