Revised Nachos

Hello!

So, after spending two weeks in Perú and five weeks at diabetes camp, I'm ready to post something new! Tonight, I really wanted to recreate a refried bean dish an Egyptian cook at camp made for me (since I was vegetarian), but I didn't want to eat it on chips. So, this is what I made! It was actually really delicious!

I used...

• 2 tomatoes
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 Cup chopped mushrooms
  
• 1 Cup Chopped Lettuce
• 1 16 oz Can of Whole Pinto Beans
• 1/2 Cup Nutritional Yeast Gravy (see other recipe)
• 3 Tbsp Oil

Then...

1. Heat oil over low heat in a large skillet
2. Add spices; I used cumin, curry, and salt
   
3. Add chopped onion and minced garlic
4. When the onion and garlic is starting to caramelize, add chopped mushrooms and tomatoes
5. Raise heat to medium
6. Cook until most of the juice from the tomatoes has cooked out
7. Add beans (rinced) and let cook for another five minutes
8. Add nutritional yeast gravy and cook until all the ingredients are mixed
9. Serve on a plate with chopped lettuce on top

It's actually really good. Something about the juicy tomatoes with the onion flavor in the sauce makes my mouth water...
Until next time!

The Only Way to Cook Brussel Sprouts

Having tried brussel sprouts out a few times at the old folks home where I used to work, I had placed them on the X list of vegetables. I suppose I should have known that boiled vegetables kept warm in water are always bad news.

This year, Caitlin reintroduced me to the nutritious green vegetable. She likes to cut them in half and saute them in oil, then eat them with just salt and pepper. They're quick and delicious that way, but personally I prefer a bit more complicated method we learned from the manager of Columbia's campus grocery.

What you'll need:

• Brussel Sprouts (About 10)
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 Tbsp Mustard (I prefer spicy brown or dijon)
  
• Oil

Directions:

1. Cut out the core of the brussel sprouts
2. Peel all of the leaves and place into a bowl
3. Discard the cores
4. Heat a few tablespoons of oil over medium heat
5. When the oil is hot, add brussel sprouts
6. Saute for 2-3 minutes
7. Add mustard and saute for an additional minute
8. Remove from heat and toss in salt and pepper to taste

They are truly delicious prepared this way! Enjoy!

Best Pizza Ever

This is my mom's perfect pizza recipe. She played with it a lot, and this is her favorite.


Ingredients:

• 3 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 2 Cups White Flour
• 2 Tbsp Vital Wheat gluten
• 1 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 2 Cups Warm Water
• 1 Tbsp Sugar
• 2 Envelopes dry yeast

Directions:

1. Dissolve the sugar and yeast in the warm water, and set aside until it foams
2. Measure the flour and add salt
3. Add the yeast and water, mix together
4. Add another 1-2 Tbsp water if needed to make a flexible dough
5. Knead for about 10 minutes on a lightly floured surface, until smooth and elastic
6. Oil the dough lightly, and put in an oiled bowl to rise
7. Cover with a damp cloth and rise until doubled in size (approximately 1 hour) in a warm location, like on top of the fridge.
8. Punch down, knead briefly, and divide into two
   
9. Using a rolling pin, roll the balls of dough on a floured surface into two 14 inch rounds or 10x12 rectangles. The dough should be about 1/8 inch thick.
10. Place on pizza pans
11. While the dough is rising for an hour, make the sauce and prepare the toppings
12. When pizza is assembled, back for 10-15 minutes at 450 degrees.

You can put any toppings you want on this pizza, but if you want to try the pizza pictured above, use mushrooms, fried onions, sliced tomato, and chopped garlic. Since we're vegan, we used miso marinated tofu and nutritional yeast gravy as a cheese sub. Miso marinated tofu is straightforward:

1. Drain one block of tofu
   
2. Mix 4 Tbsp miso (any of the varieties will work) with 2 tbsp of water, or enough to make the miso runny.
3. Crumble tofu into a bowl. Try to drain as much of the water as possible.
4. Mix Miso and Tofu
5. Let marinate for an hour

You could probably marinate it for way less time. I got the idea from Cafe Viva, my favorite vegan pizza in the Morningside heights area. This worked really well, and was really delicious.

Enjoy!
Chelsea

Japanese Night

Konnichiwa minnasan! For girls night, my roommate and I made rice balls, dumplings, miso soup, and Vietnamese Summer Rolls (a recipe we posted before). Rice balls, or onigiri, are a staple of Japanese culture, and are really pretty easy to make.

Here's what you'll need:

• Sushi Rice
• Nori (seaweed)
• Filling: tuna, plum paste, tofu salad, beans, etc
  
• Salt

What you'll do:

1. Cook the rice according to the instructions on the package
2. Set out a bowl of cold water
3. Slice seaweed into small squares
   
4. As the rice cools, dip your hands into the cold water and spread about a teaspoon of salt onto them.
   
5. Pick up about a handful of rice, and mold into the shape of a ball (or a triangle when you have the hang of it)
6. Create a small hole in the rice and fill with filling of choice
7. Put a piece of seaweed over the hole.

The water prevents the rice from sticking to your hands. Rice balls are best cold. I'd also highly recommend rolling the balls in sesame seeds-- I don't really like to just eat plain rice myself-- and put a lot of filling.

As for the dumplings? We bought frozen and steamed them. I think we'll try making them from scratch another day. The miso soup didn't turn out, so I won't post the recipe here.

Thanks!

Agave Nectar Cupcakes

So, a few posts ago Caitlin put a picture of me with my agave nectar cupcakes. I used the recipe from "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World," and made coffee buttercream icing (using the recipe that is listed on the powdered sugar box). I couldn't find a way to avoid sugar in the icing, but I'm going to continue trying!

A note on the ingredients: agave nectar is a syrup made from the same plant tequila is made of. It's very sweet, and can be used as a honey substitute (although it does not taste like honey beyond being very sweet). I'm not sure how it compares to honey in nutritional value, but it is easier to digest than refined sugars. I also used whole wheat pastry flour for the flour, so the cupcakes were a bit mealier than traditional white flour cupcakes, but very healthy!

Anyway, here is the cupcake recipe from the cookbook...

Ingredients:

• 2/3 Cup Soy Milk
• 1/2 Tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• 2/3 Cup Agave Nectar
• 1/3 Cup Canola Oil
• 1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 1/3 Cup All Purpose Flour
• 3/4 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 Tsp Salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 Degrees
2. Mix soy milk and vinegar and allow to ferment for five minutes
3. Beat agave nectar, oil, and vanilla extract into the soy milk/vinegar mixture
4. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
5. Beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients
6. Line cupcake tin with cupcake liners
7. Fill each liner 2/3 of the way full with cupcake mixture
8. Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cupcake comes out clean

Yield: 12 Cupcakes

For the icing! I don't know the proportions, but it calls for milk, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and butter. Because I'm vegan, of course, I used margarine and soy milk instead of butter and milk. However! because I am a cheap college student who can't afford real vanilla extract (the cheap ones all seemed to have corn syrup) I decided to replace vanilla with coffee! I bought a cup of decaffeinated coffee (although I'd recommend espresso for those of you who aren't faint of heart) and used that instead of the vanilla. I also skipped the milk part and added more coffee, just because the coffee wasn't very strong. I'd recommend cooling the coffee before adding it to the icing mixture.

Well, enjoy! They're delicious.

Brunch Overload: Spring Break '10

So after having brunch at Mi Lah, I became kind of obsessed. With brunch. I wanted pancakes! Tofu scramble! French toast! And, luckily, I have an awesome vegan brunch cookbook, fittingly titled Vegan Brunch. I think I used 4 or 5 different recipes from this cookbook in the past three days.

Let's begin with the waffles. I LOVE my waffle iron. For these, each waffle came out differently because I kept adding ingredients.

Here's the full stack. My favorite is the one on top, to which I added pumpkin and a bunch of spices. I also tweaked the original recipe to make it healthier. Of course, this was an unmeasured experiment, so you will have to play with the ratios yourselves, but here is the basic recipe:

Cornbread Pumpkin Waffles (adapted from Vegan Brunch)
2-3 cups almond milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1.5 cups cornmeal
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 cup canola oil
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/8-1/4 cup maple syrup (I omitted the granulated sugar, so I experimented with a couple different substitutes. I like the warmth the maple syrup adds with the pumpkin)
Pureed pumpkin
cloves
cinnamon (I love cinnamon, so I won't even try to guess how much I added...)

Preheat the waffle iron. Measure out 2 cups of milk and add vinegar. Set aside to curdle.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl mix the milk with the other wet ingredients. You may want to go light on the maple syrup for now until you know how sweet your batter will be. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet, mixing together until relatively smooth. Add more almond milk if your batter is too dry and you like your waffles a little more dense and less puffy.

Spray waffle iron and cook away!


Don't forget the powdered sugar and maple syrup!


And enjoy :)

Oh, PS these waffles freeze and toast up beautifully. I know, because I've eaten them every day since I made them!

I also made an awesome broccoli tofu quiche! I was too lazy to make or buy a pie crust, so this is actually a crust-less tofu quiche, but it was nevertheless delicious. Ground cashews provide creaminess, and I added ginger when I sauteed the broccoli because, well, ginger is awesome.

This is just the kind of dish I love: it's completely healthy, it's fun to make, it's pretty, and it keeps well for leftovers and is even great eaten cold or room-temperature. I missed quiche.

In other news, Puttanesca Scramble with tofu, black olives, capers, tomatoes and garlic. I made it for lunch yesterday. Oh how I missed scrambled tofu! It's so easy!

Last, but not least, I made a simple tempeh stir-fry to take with me on the plane to Boston tonight. I had never cooked tempeh before, but I bought some at Trader Joe's. It's really nice, though I think I need some more practice in cooking it. This stir-fry just had ginger, thyme, red peppers, spinach, garlic, and cabbage. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture, but use your imagination or, even, better, pick up some tempeh and experiment yourself!

~Caitlin

Restaurant Highlight: Mi Lah Vegetarian in Philadelphia

Ahh brunch. The best meal of the day, especially if you're a vegan and you live in Philadelphia. Kristin took me to a little place called Mi Lah Vegetarian, and their entire brunch menu is vegan! aka no eggs! aka I can have french toast for the first time in years! Basically, the food was incredible, the service lovely, and the setting adorable. I highly recommend it. I think Kristin is even going back this weekend for the French toast...

They started with a complementary plate of fruit. This wasn't actually that great, but the grapes were pretty good...

Now, the French toast, on the other hand, was AMAZING. Best French toast of my life, vegan or otherwise. Until your typical egg-based French toast, which can be a little heavy dense, this was perfectly light and airy with just a hint of cinnamon. I asked the waiter, but he said the sauce is a secret even to him. My mouth is watering just thinking about this...

Kristin's pancakes with blueberry sauce and tempeh bacon. The "bacon" was actually pretty good and tasted enough like bacon for me. Soooo many pancakes...

Mike's Tofu Benedict with tomatoes, home fries and sauteed swiss chard. This was really good, he let me try a bite. The tofu was baked or fried, we couldn't decide, placed on thin bread and topped with a vegan hollandaise sauce. Awesome.


Mine! And my favorite (aside from the French toast). This was a "Black Bean Tostada," which basically means a chip-like-thing smeared with black bean sauce and basil sour cream, mango, tomatoes, etc. It also came with a spicy seitan and pineapple salsa that I put in the tortilla and ate like a burrito. Mmmmm.

http://www.milahvegetarian.com/

~Caitlin

Cooking in Philly with Kristin

So for Christmas this year I bought my sister Kristin a wok. Best present I ever gave her. She and Mike use it practically every night, and I used it too when I visited Philly last weekend. We made:


Pineapple Fried Rice (her specialty, and quite delicious)

And here's the Leon Gobi again! I didn't have my book but I found the recipe online. This has to be my favorite right now. It tastes just like a curry you would order in an Indian restaurant. I'm so proud!

~Caitlin

Sunday Night Dinners

Well hello there! I know, I know, it's been a long time. We have a lot of catch up on, so here goes...

First off, we started a casual Sunday night dinner routine (when time permits, of course). It actually started when I got the flu back in February and wanted homemade soup for dinner. Almost all of the recipes came from the Leon Cookbook my mom got me for my birthday. Cookbook highlight still to come...

Here are some of the main events:

White Bean and Swiss Chard soup

The Leon Superfood Salad (my current favorite)

Leon Gobi: basically a fantastic curry with cauliflower, peas, coconut milk, turmeric, etc. Seriously, this was awesome.

Lentil Soup (for Susan)

Chelsea's Agave Cupcakes (SO delicious) with coffee icing I think...

Hopefully our tradition with continue this Sunday...check back with us soon (or in May when we have a chance to update again :) )

~Caitlin

Tofu Feta

Hello!

Lately, Caitlin and I have been enjoying tofu feta, a vegan substitute for my favorite goat cheese. The recipe is really simple, so I thought I would share!

You'll need:

• 1/2 Block of Firm Tofu
• One lemon
• 1 Tsp Soy sauce
• 2 Tsp Salt
• 2 Tbsp Nutrtitional Yeast

Now, the soy sauce and the yeast are optional, but I really think they add to the flavor of the tofu as a whole.

1. Juice the lemon.
2. Mix lemon, soy sauce, salt, and yeast together in a long flat dish or Tupperware.
3. Add water. You should only add enough water so that when the tofu is added, it will be completely submerged.
   
4. Crumble tofu into the liquid mixture.
5. Refrigerate overnight.
6. Drain tofu.

The longer you can drain the tofu, the better. Also, I add the salt and soy sauce to taste, so these numbers are very flexible. I love this recipe because I really really missed feta! We used it to make Greek salad, but it would work most times as a feta substitute, including in spanokopita (I apologize if that is misspelled!)

Au Revoir,
Chelsea

Restaurant Review: Candle 79

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to have my delightful Aunt Edith come into town. She treated us to dinner at Candle 79, a vegan restaurant on the upper east side, and by far the best food I've eaten in New York City. My aunt, who is not a vegan, said it was one of the best meals she'd ever had-- not vegan meals, just meals!

We photographed the event, so I thought I would share some of the artistic food they served us. If you want to see better pictures (I'm certainly no photographer), you can visit the official website: http://www.candlecafe.com/

I ordered homemade ginger ale, one of Candle's many gourmet drinks. It was a perfect compliment to my meal, full of gingery deliciousness, as well as hints of mint and lemon.

As a little pre-appetizer, the house sent out bread with avocado butter.


We then got three (yes, three) appetizers. First, we had hummus.
The classic has been dressed up with olives, an entire head of roasted garlic, and red pepper. After this, we worked on dumplings.
The dumplings were garnished with sesame seeds and chives. They were divine, but nothing compared to the appetizer "dujour," which we couldn't resist:
Curried vegetables, in a phyllo cup, with chutney on top... I would go back just for this, if it was on the permanent menu!

For dinner, I ordered ravioli (what can I say, I'm too lazy to ever make vegan ravioli myself!)
The black-brown stuff on top was really crunchy and delicious (I have a suspicion that it was garlic, but don't hold me to that). Combined with onions, spinach, and tomatoes, the ravioli were definitely a superb blend of flavor.

I was, however, a bit jealous of my aunt's entree. She ordered honeyed seitan.
She let me try some (for the sake of the article, of course), and I was pleasantly surprised by the savory texture and flavor of the dish.

My lovely Aunt let me talk her into dessert.
This first one is chocolate mousse with peanut butter, served over raspberry syrup and chopped nuts.
Finally, I present to you my favorite dish aesthetically. This is a totally raw dessert-- a parfait with nuts, cashew cream, and raspberry ice cream. Instead of a cookie, there is an impossibly thin slice of pineapple.
Ah, how delightful. This post has been painful--I'm so hungry now!-- but hopefully you will enjoy the pictures! I whole-heartedly recommend this restaurant for any one that can scrape together the money.

Chelsea

Birthday Lunch!

Chelsea made me lunch for my birthday! Let's see...we started with slices of french bread and an herb-infused olive oil and a delicious greek salad. Chelsea made feta cheese out of tofu! It tasted exactly like feta cheese! Maybe if she's feeling generous she will post the recipe later ;)

And then we made a stir-fry! This is John Jay broccoli at its best. Chelsea also had some gorgeous purple potatoes and Indian spices! I added a heap of Garam Masala (I'm obsessed) so it turned out quite spicy. And delicious.


Oh! And Chelsea brought Kombucha for both of us :) Thank you dear!

Vegan Birthday Cupcakes!

Thank you Kristin!

Yes, it was birthday on Thursday. And, yes, I have an amazing sister who baked me vegan red velvet cupcakes! And let me tell you, these were INCREDIBLE. I have no shame in admitting I ate four (possibly 5....I stopped counting) the night she gave them to me.

She said the recipe was adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (a classic!). She even substituted some of the oil for applesauce! I think it made the texture a little denser and chewier, which was definitely a positive. I'm dreaming of cupcakes now...

Restaurant Highlight: Remedy Diner, NC

Hello hello!

I know, it's been a while. Sadly, the life of a college student leaves little time for updating blogs. So we've got a little catching up to do. Starting with this awesome restaurant my brother took me to when I visited him in Raleigh last weekend. The Remedy Diner is half vegan, half meat, basically. There were so many things to choose from! I was this close to ordering a burrito with spinach and potatoes and other awesomeness, but I just had to try the vegan sloppy joe. I mean, how often does one find a really quality meat-less sloppy joe? Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever even seen a quality meat sloppy joe. Oh well, mine was fantastic :)

The Joe was made with TVP, onion and peppers, and some pretty legitimate sloppy joe sauce. That's french onion soup on the side, too.


Here's Mike with the burrito. It was quite tasty as well.

Nutitional Yeast Gravy

As a vegan, vitamin B12 is an issue. B12 deficiencies cause fatigue, paleness, anorexia, mental confusion, delusions, paranoia, weight loss... (Vegetarian Voice, Volume 31 2009). This pesky vitamin does not occur in plants, meaning every vegan should be eating foods fortified with B12 (like nutritional yeast or soy milk!) or be taking a vitamin.
Vitamin pills are not always absorbed by the body, and are expensive! I opt to eat nutritional yeast gravy several times a day. This cheesy gravy is a wholesome food that leaves you feeling warm inside.

For the gravy, you'll need--

• 1 Cup Nutritional Yeast
• 1/2 Cup All-Purpose Flour (Use whole wheat!)
• 4 Tbsps of Oil
• 2 Cups Warm Water
• 1 Tsps Turmeric
• 2 Tsps Cumin
• 1 Tsp Hing (Onion or Garlic Powder work well, too)
  

Then, you ought to---

1. Heat the oil over medium high heat in a medium size saucepan
2. Add turmeric, cumin, and hing.
3. Slowly add the flour, stirring it carefully to properly mix. If the flour looks too dry, feel free to add more oil. The final consistency should be moist and clumpy.
4. Add the warm water slowly, allowing for the sauce to thicken eat time.
   
5. Cook until the sauce is thick and bubbly.
   
6. Remove from heat. Add the nutritional yeast and stir in. Allow to sit for a minute before serving.
   

Yields: 3 1/2 Cups of Sauce

This gravy is delicious in mexican food, on pizza, with macaroni (like mac and cheese, only mac n' yease), on a baked potato, or as a flavorful substitute in a casserole with gravy. The original recipe is from the New Farm Cookbook.

Enjoy!
Chelsea

Taquitos

Hello! I haven't updated in a while, so I figured I would post my latest concoction. Today, I made taquitos. They're are surprisingly easy, and work pretty well baked instead of fried. They're crunchy with a soft filling, which is all I ever really want in a food. I ate them with nutritional yeast gravy, my personal favorite cheese substitute.

For the taquitos, you'll need--

• Corn Tortillas (about 12)
• 16 0z Can of Vegetarian Refried Pinto Beans
• 1/2 Cup of Baby Bella Mushrooms
  
• 1/2 Cup of Onion
• 2 Tbsps of Olive Oil
• Spray Oil (Pam is the popular brand)
• 1 Tbsp Chili Powder
• 1 Tsp Cumin
• 1 Tsp Garlic Powder
  

Then, you ought to--

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
2. Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan over medium high heat and add the spices.
   
3. Dice the onions and chop the mushrooms.
4. Add onions to the oil and cook for several minutes until they begin to brown.
5. Add the mushrooms to the oil. Cook for several minutes. When finished, the mushrooms should have darkened several shades.
   
6. Mix the refried beans, mushrooms, and onions together in a mixing bowl.
   
7. Microwave the tortillas, several at a time, for thirty seconds to soften them.
   
8. Place about three spoonfulls of the bean mixture in each tortilla, and roll into a thin cylinder. Unlike a burrito, the taquitos have open ends.
   
9. Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet and lay the finished taquitos on it. Spray them generously with the spray oil.
   
10. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the taquitos are lightly browned.
11. Bon apetite!
    

Taquitos are delicious dipped in vegan sour cream, guacamole, or alone. The filling is flexible; the second time I made them, I put mashed potatoes, carrots, onion, and mushrooms. They should be served with rice, or as a side.
The first time I made these, I left out the olive oil because I prefer to sweat vegetables rather than cook them with oil. Either way works.

Guest Post: Kristin's Quick Tofu Meal

Here is my take on your quick tofu meal: brown rice, bean sprouts, zucchini, peppers, onions, carrots, a little basil and some soy sauce. Oh and don't forget the hot chili sauce! Yum!

~Kristin (Caitlin's sister)

New Feature: Cookbook Spotlight!

Really amazing cookbooks never fail to inspire me. Since I started cooking, my cookbook collection has expanded from a sorry edition of The Joy of Cooking to probably about thirty awesome books with a stunning variety of topics. This Christmas, thanks to my mom, I added about 4 more, all of them wonderful. For the first book in this series, though, I thought I would highlight a delicious little book that focuses on seasonality and locality, two of the most important attributes of foods for their nutritious value, their taste, and their health for the environment.

In Earth to Table, Jeff Crump and Bettina Schormann share their experience of starting a restaurant based on CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and working on the farm, attempting to grow their own food. They divide the recipes into the four seasons, highlighting ingredients, farmers, and cooking methods along the way. Aside from the dazzling array of recipes (many of which contain meat, though of course the reader would only use locally-sourced pork, chicken, and beef for fear of risking the integrity of the book), the authors provide entertaining and informative insight into the state of industrial agriculture today and, more importantly, the state of local farms and farmers. They also include a list of in-season ingredients at the beginning of each section. It's all fascinating, really.

Of course, any meal made up of local ingredients is going to taste fantastic. Local ingredients are just so much better than anything you can find in the grocery store. They taste real. If you have never been to your local farmer's market and sampled an apple or taken home some kale to saute on the stove, you are seriously missing out. There's no time like the present to try it. And for those of you who have, you will understand why I so appreciate this book that focuses on preserving and utilizing the natural flavors of the ingredients. So simple, so delicious.

What I want to make now: (okay, let's face it, I want to make everything)
Winter: Salt-Baked Arctic Char, Roasted Root Vegetables, Apple Cider Muffins, Oatmeal Molasses Bread
Spring: Gnudi with Ramps, Morels and Fiddleheads, Maple Shoofly Pie, Milk and Honey Bread
Summer: Heirloom Tomato Salad with Buffalo Mozzarella, Zucchini and Eggplant Carpaccio, Shortcakes with Chantilly Cream and Macerated Strawberries, Cherry Clafoutis
Fall: Heirloom Beet Salad with Feta and Pumpkin Seeds, Potato and Rosemary Pizza, Sweet Potato Gnocchi, Sweet Mediterranean Pizza (with honey!)

Website: www.earthtotable.ca/

~Caitlin

Hummus Salad Dressing

I don't know how many of you are familiar with DC restaurants, but one
of my favorite places (possibly ever) is Sweetgreen, a minuscule salad bar with the best tart frozen yogurt I have ever tasted. Lucky for me, and my tastebuds, this fine establishment is a mere three blocks from my house in Georgetown, so needless to say I go there often.

My favorite salad from Sweetgreen, the Chic P, comes with a fantastic hummus dressing that I have yet to find in any salad bar in DC or New York. Experimenting with my lunch yesterday to prevent myself from spending $9 on another salad, I fooled around with some ingredients and came pretty darn close to replicating the dressing. It was close enough for me.

I used chili powder and red pepper flakes to flavor the dressing, but I suppose you could use herbs like thyme instead to give it a different flavor. The heat worked for this particular salad, which I also based on the Sweetgreen version. This a very rough recipe, so really you can change the proportions to your own taste. The amount of lemon juice needed also depends on the consistency of the dressing.

Hummus Dressing:

2 tbs or 1/4 cup hummus (I use Trader Joe's Original Tahini-Free)
A splash of white balsamic vinegar (about a tbs, you can experiment with different vinegars)
Chili powder
A few red pepper flakes
Juice of 1/2 lemon, or to taste
Pinch of salt
A hefty pinch of ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients except salt and pepper in a small bowl and whisk or use a fork to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Chic P Salad Ingredients
(Use any combination of these, whatever you have available)

Romaine lettuce, mixed lettuce, or baby spinach
Roasted red peppers
Cucumbers
Chickpeas or black beans
Sun-dried tomatoes
Avocado
Feta cheese
Crushed pita chips

Enjoy!

~Caitlin

UPDATE:

I just tried this again for dinner but I used about a tsp of cumin instead. It was AMAZING! SO much closer to the chic p original. I omitted the red pepper flakes and chili powder.

Spring Rolls

These were surprisingly simple (after conquering the difficulties posed by the sticky rice paper).
Ingredients:
Rice Paper Wrappers
Carrots
Spinach
Cabbage
Scallion
(or whatever veggies you might like)

Start by shredding the cabbage and carrots. Then slice the scallions and spinach into small pieces. Toss all the vegetables together in a mixing bowl and set aside.
Follow instructions on rice paper package to soften the wraps. For the wraps we used, it required that the wraps be emerged in boiling water for twenty seconds and dried on a towel. Be VERY careful to hold the wraps so that they will not stick to themselves.
Lay out the wraps on a clean surface (we used a cutting board). Put about a half a cup of filling in the wrapper by the edge, then careful roll it forward once. Fold the sides over the roll, and finish rolling forward (it's wrapped much in the way that a burrito is wrapped).
Bon appetite! We dipped ours in mango chutney and sweet chili sauce from Trader Joe's!

-Chelsea