This morning, Harold and I were sitting at the counter at Millie’s waiting for our breakfast and I noticed how the potatoes, pancakes and french toast all share the same tight grill space as the corned beef hash, bacon, sausage and pork chops. I’m not vegetarian, but I began to wonder if this is something that bothers vegetarians. Are you OK knowing that your rosemary potatoes are cooked within inches of bacon and the same spatula used to flip a hamburger patty is used to shovel those meatless potatoes onto your plate? Is it OK if meat juices touch your veggies as long as you don’t actually eat the meat? Are these potatoes still fit for a vegetarian diet? I don’t have a strong opinion on this, so I ask you vegetarians: How far will you go to make sure that your food is prepared in a meatless environment?

A fresh batch of rosemary potatoes are thrown on the grill

Millie's Busy Breakfast Grill

I recently penned a story for the soon-to-be-defunct (now-resurrected and on newsstands thoughout Southern California–hooray!) Whole Life Times featuring a slew of local cooking classes that specialized in “green” courses–whether that was macrobiotic, vegan, gluten-free, what have you. I conducted such long interviews with these folks it seemed a bummer to have to condense it into the little blurbs that appeared in the magazine, and I vowed to myself to follow up with each of the chefs here, on LA Metblogs.

First in that series is Viva la Greens, operated by one Christy Morgan. We spoke via email the other day & she’d be down with offering you folks a Metblogs-reader-only discount on her classes! Y’all would get a whopping $15 off on her classes, from a Vegan Brunch class (“From Banana Pancakes, to Southwest Tofu Scramble, to Walnut Currant Scones, you’ll be able to impress your friends and family with these and more brunch foods you’ll learn in class. All hands-on so bring your apron!”) to a Healthy Decadent Desserts course (“Do you have a sweet tooth but feel guilty indulging in the usual sweets available to you from the grocery store? Join us for a special dessert class where you’ll learn to make your favorite treats all vegan from scratch with natural ingredients and no refined sugar.”) Her “Basics of a Plant-Based Diet” class is $20 off, too, for those of you belatedly attempting to get on top of that “eat healthier” New Year’s Resolution. Yay!

Sounds tasty to me.

Click here for her website & info on local classes.

Inside locali

Have you checked out locali on Franklin Ave. in Hollywood?  I only recently found out about this store and had to visit.  Reading on the website, it read like a green 7 – 11.  Funny thing, that’s exactly what it is and then some.   Want a slushie? They have yummy ginger tonic slushies in a couple of flavors.  There are vegan and vegetarian burritos available along with salads, soups and other ready-to-eat items.  Fresh organic coffee is for sale and quite delicious.

locali has pretty much everything you, but with a green twist.  There are environmentally sound household & hygiene items and a rather large selection of beers and wines that are Certified Organic, biodynamic and/or come from sustainable farms, including gluten-free beers!  Toward the rear of the store is a well stocked frozen section along with healthy snacks for kids and a deli section.  The big draw of this area is the emphasis on vegan and gluten-free foods, making it easy for those who follow these diets to grab a quick bite on the go.  Read the rest of this entry →