LA County Fair Foodie – Green Monday Report
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Goodies that are good for you!
photos: we heart this and Sherrishera
Welcome to another Green Monday at we heart this! This week we are going on a little field trip to the LA County Fair! What? You didn’t know you could enjoy the delicacies of this world famous fair and eat vegetarian and/or healthy food? Surprise. Besides the infamous fried delights and grilled meats on sticks, you can find a surprising number of good for you, great tasting, veggie options. As LA County Fair’s “Official Fair Foodie” blog, we’re here to share a few of our tried and true favorites for those looking for light fair fare!
Must-Haves
First up is a super popular fair classic that I discovered on my very first visit to the LA County Fair, grilled corn on the cob. Mounds of local, fresh end-of-summer corn (as pictured above) is roasted in the husk over fire before your eyes, then garnished with butter, salt and seasonings and served piping hot. This stand always has a long line of hungry customers, but don’t be deterred. The line moves fast and there’s a reason the stand draws a crowd – this corn is worth the wait and a must have at the LA County Fair.
You can keep it low on calories and fat by asking to skip the butter and/or salt. Don’t worry, the fire-roasted sweet corn needs no embellishments!
Fair Foodie Tip: Start your day with a fruit filled smoothie. Stef and I both began our foodie journey with a visit to Terri’s Berries where they whip up nutritious and delicious smoothies that are made to order. Using farm fresh fruits (displayed around the stand and for sale by the piece) and juice, Terri’s smoothie mixers will happily prepare their smoothies with or without dairy. Another ‘starter snack’ perfect to kick start the day is a fresh, hand cut, mixed fruit cup. Sweet, cool, refreshing – perfect for a warm weather treat.
More Options: While taking in all the sights and walking the Fairplex (and burning a few calories – it’s huge) keep your eyes peeled for signs offering lo-cal or veggie options of fair favorites – the food vendors are top-notch and want to please their California customers. We found all sorts of options for those with special diet wishes, including salads of all types: from fruit to Greek to Grilled Chicken to Caesar. Plus check out Maria’s Italian Kitchen serving a number of veggie and/or health conscious salads and pasta. We also found stemmed artichokes, veggie kabobs, baked potatoes, spicy whole pickles, grilled chicken breasts, Garden burgers, and more.
Personally, I have to live a little at the fair so calories be darned, I’m having some fried vegetables! My all time favorite? Fried avocado. And of course, a couple of sweets are a must. If you’re watching your diet, try a chocolate dipped (just a smidge of chocolate a day is good for you), nut sprinkled (protein!) banana (ahh, fruit) or non fat yogurt for a guilt free snack.
Had enough? Here’s something to do in between meals!
The Attraction You Can’t Miss…
Did you know you can find museum quality educational exhibits at the LA County Fair? It’s true and the main attraction this year is exceptional. Make sure to check out the air-conditioned splendor of Our Body: The Universe Within. Stunning isn’t an adequate word to describe this educational human health and anatomy exhibit consisting of actual human bodies and organs. Formerly only viewed at museums and science centers in North America, this fascinating collection will amaze and sometimes freak out kids and adults alike – but everyone will walk away with new knowledge (and visuals!) of the miraculous human body. (Located on the ground level of the Grandstand. Admission: $5 online or $7 at the door)
And, finally the obligatory LA County Fair animal pictures!
We were thrilled to see so many happy, healthy animals that WANTED to be loved at the LA County Fair. We chatted with a number of animal caretakers (and read signage) explaining the lifestyle of these animals. The adorable animals under the Big Red Barn spend over half the year (and up to two thirds) on their home farm – living with other animals, eating well and getting lots of exercise and love. Over two days, we made fast friends with goats, yaks, pigs and other animals eager for some petting.
The day before the Grand Opening I visited the large corrals where the Budweiser Clydesdale Horses were allowed to roam. They were in small groups, resting in the shade and nuzzling each other and as soon as I called over, one HUGE fellow, I named “Big Clyde” came right over for some petting and kind words.
After a good 10 minutes of nose and ear scratches, Big Clyde warmed the fair foodie in my heart, by noticing and immediately noshing down on the yummy, green foliage just above his head. Just one more happy veggie-loving eater at the LA County Fair!
Check out the official LA County Fair site for more information and rates and discounts!
Oh @tyna, those smoothies + corn look divine. And then when you get to the semi bad/reasonably good for you treats, I got super hungry! And I love that you put another pic up of the chocolate covered pickles which I drooled over last time @stef posted I believe. Oh and Big Clyde is adorable!!
Ooo, fair corn is the best! And when you’re done, you can have impromptu mini-sword fights with the cobs…not that I’ve ever done that in public or anything…*ahem*
And I’m so jealous of your smoothie booth! Being lactose intolerant, it’s so great that they offer dairy-free…
ooo @tyna, those smoothies and corn look so delish! I am loving seeing the amazing Budweiser Clydesdale Horses! I would have spent ample time with them! I missed them when they were at the OC Fair.. :( I”m glad you got to see them. Indeed, they are awesome and noble beasts!
@tyna, this is my kind of eating! You’ve made me hungry all over again. I love that there is a beautifully-polished fingernail in the corn photo! And Big Clyde is adorable!
@lyssachelle, your corn cob sword fight is hilarious!
@turboterp – that’s @jpal fingernail in a Sally Hansen polish we were just oggling.
Those smoothies were goo-ood! Funny thing is I ordered peach, @tyna ordered strawberry and we each took a sip of each others and kept the other person’s.
@tyna I looooove grilled corn on the cob. It’s the best. Smoothies in the morning are even better though. I recently did a cleanse called Clean with great smoothie recipes. Blueberry Chocolate & Kale Mango…drool.
@jpal I thought I recognized that nail polish haha
Ha, I forgot about that @Stef – they were both yummy!For now on I am always starting my fair day with a smoothie. It coats the belly for all the fried foods just right. And how cool that they had dairy free options as well.
And I don’t remember Fire Roasted Corn from fairs growing up – but it is such an obvious choice for the event.
@lyssachelle, you and your pirate mates would fit right in – there’s a Pirate Adventure Park at the LACF where you can walk the plank and sword fight. ARRRR
YUM! Grilled corn is the best!
oh man reading this made me so hungry! Those smoothies look great!
@lowimpactbetty where did you find the Clean cleanse?
Mmm, grilled corn is so incredibly delicious.
I’ve been to an exhibit like the “Our Body” exhibit when I was in New York City a few years ago. It was called “Bodies: the Exhibition.” There were tons of bodies and skeletons and organs that were preserved. Some of them weren’t even under glass, which was cool and gross at the same time. “Bodies” was kind of expensive, but definitely worth the ticket price. I strongly recommend this sort of exhibit for anyone who has any interest in the human body!
Ooohhh, the pictures of grilled corn have given me a dinner inspiration! I love grilled corn on the cob, nothing on it but a little salt. Yum!
I went to see “Bodies: theExhibition” when it was at the Museum of Science, Boston. Looks like “Our Body” is a lot like it! For someone like me, coming from a medical background, it was really cool but for someone like my husband (computer nerd, LOL) it was a little gross but he still enjoyed it. I’d love to see another exhibit along those lines! That’s it, I need to go out to LA…
I totally wasn’t expecting healthy eats from the fair! That corn sounds soooo delish. Mmmm.