Joseph Acquino of Lahaina Produce

It’s a family venture, with all seven Aquino offspring pitching in for the effort while mom, Lisa, manages the business aspect of the company. “We are committed to providing access for  all people to quality fresh fruits and veggies. We get our produce from our farm, other local farms, and fresh off the plane domestic farms. Quality is our number one priority,” explains Lisa on the company website. In Lisa’s own words, her motivation for starting the business was her “personal quest to improve my overall health, I found that the grocery stores on Maui did not provide suitable access to fruits and veggies, in either quality or price. I was simply unable to afford providing my family with daily fruits and veggies. If it was affordable the quality was horrible.” So she took matters into her own hands and voila! We all benefit.

We stopped by the Farm Stand twice last week and netted shiny eggplant, red bell peppers, Maui onions, snapping fresh green beans, and the world’s largest and sweetest potato I’ve ever seen. That night we grilled it all up for supper and finished it off with mango, banana and pineapple medley also procured from Joseph’s produce stand. We felt so healthy the next day I played tennis for the first time in a decade. So there you go! There’s magic in them thar home grown vegetables.

Lahaina Produce Selection

Our second shopping trip netted sweet corn, butternut squash, rambutan, a beautiful perfectly ripe mango, locally grown jicama (rare to find on Maui), silver white perfect mushrooms, baby bok choy, surprisingly crispy snow peas and beautiful tomatoes. Oh, and a package of fresh mint for our juleps. All that came to only $10.25! Besides having easily procured the essentials for a healthy stir-fry dinner (and then some!), I avoided the parking lot madness and temptations of impulse purchases at the grocery store.

To ensure that every man woman and child on Maui has access to Lahaina Produce’s nutritious selection of produce, Lahaina Produce also offers a convenient delivery service! Here’s how it works – log on to www.lahainaproduce.com.

1. Fill out order form on ORDER HERE page.

2. Decide if you would like to have your produce delivered or pick it up.

3. Decide on which produce package you to order.

4. Order by Sunday 10:00 p.m. for the following Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.

5. Enjoy the benefits of eating fresh fruits and veggies.

6. Repeat weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly.

7. They accept credit cards via paypal–  all packages must be prepaid before delivery.

(Be sure to tell them What’s Cooking Maui sent you!)

Lahaina Produce Veggies

Ordering online and enjoying front door delivery makes it so easy to eat well, you have no choice but to keep your New Year’s Resolution — the one where you promised to eat better and spend less money on anything that’s bad for you.

For added incentive and to make good use of that gorgeous Butternut Squash currently available currently at Lahaina Produce, here is a recipe from the Oregon Bounty Cookbook for Squash Soup. Perfect for those gloriously cooler nights we are being graced with on Maui lately.

Dine well; be hearty!

Butternut and Acorn Squash Soup

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 onion, diced (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 1 carrot, diced (about 1/3 cup)
• 1 celery stalk, diced (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups cubed butternut squash
• 1 cup cubed acorn squash
• 1/2 yellow potato, peeled and diced
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1 teaspoon honey

Directions

Heat the butter in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is tender and translucent, 5-6 minutes.

Add the broth, squashes and potato. Bring the broth to a simmer and cook until the squashes are tender enough to mash easily with a fork, about 20 minutes.

Strain the soup through a sieve, reserving the liquid. Puree the solids and return them to the pot. Add enough of the reserved liquid to achieve a soup consistency. Blend well. Return and simmer. Add the cream and seasonings to taste.

Chez Paul's Chef Market Sprouts Every Thursday

Preparing meals at home is a time-honored strategy for cutting back on expenses, but it doesn’t necessarily fly in Hawai where grocery prices are shockingly high and imported perishable items often arrive on their last leg.

Locals know their way around this conundrum by shopping at neighborhood farmer’s markets. The European style of shopping (buy fresh only when you need it) is so ubiquitous to Maui there is even a daily veggie/flower/fruit market smack in the middle of Maui’s largest shopping mall, Kaahumanu Center. Unfortunately, Kahului is a long way drive for West side residents with a fancy for salad fixin’s.

A far cry from chain store prices and quality.

Thankfully, restaurateur, Patrick Callarec, of Chez Paul, now hosts a resource for premium produce closer to home at prices everyone can afford. Located just west of the intersection of Lahainaluna Road and Honoapi`ilani Highway in Lahaina (turn makai; it’s in the lot on the south side of the street under a giant mango tree) the mini-stand pops up every Thursday mornings like fresh asparagus in the spring.

Callarec gathers the top of the crop from all over Hawaii and makes it available at a few non-descript tables. Although the selection is limited, everything offered is of excellent quality. This past week I netted fresh-off the farm greens, lychee on stem, beetroot, Roma tomatoes, pure white mushrooms, field corn, and perfectly ripe avocados for $2/lb (as opposed to $3 apiece as is typically charged in the supermarkets.) Soon enough I cheerily toted home a sack of specially selected treasures, having paid only $16 for the lot.

Chez Paul brings quality produce to Market every Thursday.

Word has it that persnickety chefs gather at 7 a.m. to snatch up prime selections for their own establishments. Beat ‘em to the punch and nab something for your kitchen like newborn shitake or oyster mushrooms and tender baby carrots as sweet as guri-guri.

On Saturday night join the Chef at Chez Paul for Jazz Night and enjoy a special pupu and dessert menu or 50% entrees served after 9 p.m.