Edible San Diego contributor Kelly Bone is a San-Diego based freelance vegan food writer, photographer, and creator of thevegfoodie.com. Here, we ask what she’s been into.
What seasonal fruit or vegetable is bringing you joy during the pandemic?
When the farmer's markets shut down, I started ordering delivery of seasonal fruits like tangelos, Valencia oranges, and lemon cactus from my go-to farmer, Good Taste Farm. Shipments have included huge sweet pomelos—those were a joy to eat.
How do you like to prepare it?
When I'm flush with citrus, I eat the fruit raw or add lemons to my pasta, then trim and freeze the peels. Once I have about a half-quart of peels, I candy them for mid-day snacking and boil down the poaching broth into a citrusy simple syrup.
How have your cooking habits changed?
I've had to refocus my pantry and refrigerator on long-lasting produce. Cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and onions are now my cooking staples.
Have you made any interesting food discoveries?
With the option to pop-out to the store removed, I've been experimenting with fruit and vegetable purees as egg replacers in quick breads and muffins. Canned pumpkin and mashed sweet potatoes work wonders. Also, when baking bran muffins I realized I was out of nutmeg/cinnamon/cloves, so I substituted 5 spice powder—it was outstanding.
What are some of the take-out spots that are helping you get through this time?
I've never been a fan of take-out food but in these times my husband and I had to carefully consider which restaurants we sincerely love for the food alone—some of our favorites so far have been the vegan banh mi from The Purple Mint, pepper glazed mushrooms with cashews from Grains, and I adore the pantry items at Donna Jean like huge boules of sourdough and quarts of their mac & cheese sauce.
Twitter: @TheVegFoodie
Article originally published in Edible San Diego Weekly on May 19, 2020.