The Purple Carrot Food Truck is Michigan's First Farm to Truck food stand. Our goal is to serve innovative, creative and fresh cuisine by utilizing the abundance of flavors Michigan has to offer. We work directly with the farmers who grow the food and buy it when it is ripe and at it's peak to be served, because food is only as good as the ingredients you start with. Our mission can be summed up by our tag line: Eat Fresh. Eat Local.
Weekly Carrot May 15th, 2012
It is days like we are having this week that makes working on the food truck and living in Michigan so rewarding! Hopefully everyone gets a chance to enjoy the outdoors this week, I like to suggest keeping a blanket or chair in your trunk so you are ready for an impromptu picnic anytime! If you are not prepared do not worry, we always come with a table and park close to other seats for you to enjoy your meal outside!
I am a huge fan of cheese, I like cheese of all sorts, stinky, soft, goat, sharp, melted, fried and even fake cheese! Since opening the truck we have been fortunate to team up with a few wonderful local cheese makers and this week we melting them all together to make our "Big Kid Grilled Cheese". The sandwich is made from a blend of four Michigan Cheeses, Tirrell Farmstead's Stilton & Appenzeller, Greenbush Farm's Goat Chevre and William's Sharp Cheddar. To finish the sandwich we add just the right balance of sweetness with the addition of a roasted red onion chutney, a house made herb aioli and peppery 10 Hen Farm's Baby Arugula. Everything is sandwiched together and grilled to melty perfection! Just do me one favor and make sure to save one for me! :)
We have found a new love recently at the truck and it is in the form of a fermented soy bean patty named Tempeh. If you haven't had much exprience with tempeh don't be afraid to give it a try. Our coworker Brian has been skeptical of our vegetarian food since day one but we have been converting him one vegetarian trick at a time. He recently had our herb roasted tempeh sandwich and claimed it was in the top 5 PC sammy's ever (and he has had almost every sandwich we have ever made). Ever since he has been asking to make a Vegan Sloppy Joe with tempeh. Of course to make Sloppy Joes you need tomatoes and we are still a bit off from ripe red tomatoes but we came across some green ones at the farmer's market so this week we are making "NotChoMamma's Sloppy Joes"! The sloppy sauce is made from stewed green tomatoes and dried chilies to make a smokey tomato sauce. Next we steam organic tempeh to release any bitterness it may have and crumbled it all up with a Michigan Black Beans. Everything gets stirred together to make a sloppy, tasty, and totally vegan sandwich that meat and veg heads can both enjoy!
We have so many other great dishes to try this week including favorites like our Beer, Ham & Cheese Soup and Crispy Chicken Sammy so be sure to check out the full menu and come visit us for lunch this week!
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Lunch Hours 11:30-2
Wednesdays: Old Town! Visit us for lunch and don't forget to stop by the great shops and galleries around town. We park on Turner St close to the Old Town Commercial Association (1232 Turner St, Lansing)
Thursdays: St Lawrence Hospital- for all the westsiders come pick up lunch and if the weather is good there are plenty of tables for a little al fresco dining! We park by the Behavioral Health Building located behind the large parking ramp (1210 W Saginaw, Lansing)
Fridays: The Hannah Office Center - the original location for a PC Picnic! Grab a friend and blanket and join the largest picnic in town. We park in front of the large Blue/Grey Eyde building (4660 S Hagadorn Rd- EL)- not to be confused with the Hannah Plaza or Hannah Community Center
Saturdays: The Meridian Township Farmers Market (8:00-2:00)- do all your shopping in the wonderful outdoor market and enjoy our great brunch!
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