Salad Month: The Laziest (and Tastiest) Falafel Salad

By ellen on June 7, 2011

I rarely make salads for one. I’ll make a giant salad for M and I sometimes, or make a giant batch of salad fixins to take to lunch all week (like this), but a tasty salad doesn’t usually seem worth all the hassle to make for one.

What makes this salad so lazy? Well, first of all, it’s not homemade falafel. I tried out Dr. Praeger’s Falafel Flats (I was pretty happy with them!). Second, the tzatziki sauce was made in about 2 minutes with maybe 3 ingredients.

Here’s what you need:

  • romaine lettuce (however much you’d put in one salad for yourself)
  • diced onion (depending on how much you like onions… I diced a quarter onion)
  • falafel (mine was store-bought, here’s a good homemade recipe)
  • plain Greek yogurt – 2 rough tablespoons
  • olive oil
  • minced garlic (or garlic powder works too)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • pita (optional) nice to toast for croutons
  • chopped tomato and/or cucumber would be great… I didn’t have any on hand

Put it Together:

  1. (Optional) Cut a piece of pita into tiny wedges. Toast them for croutons. Set aside.
  2. Heat up (or make) your falafel.
  3. Rinse and chop your lettuce. Chop up your onions. Toss them together in a bowl.
  4. Dressing: Put 2(ish) tablespoons of greek yogurt in a cup. Slowly whick in olive oil until you reach the desired consistency (I wanted mine to be a little thick). Add in minced garlic (I LOVE garlic, so I kept adding and tasting until it was enough for me), and salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Toss dressing together with lettuce.
  6. Add falafel and pita croutons on top.

Believe me when I tell you that this is delicious. And clearly, I don’t really measure when I cook (or in this case, just put things together) so play around with it. I also happened to have some Alexia spicy sweet potato fries in the fridge, so I had them on the side.

I don’t rely on the freezer and boxed foods too often for dinner, but this was in a pinch and turned out to be awesome. It will totally go on my short-list of emergency quickie meals. Alexia fries are tasty, as well as most items from Amy’s and Dr. Praeger – I like to keep some things on hand in the freezer. I’d been on a hunt to find some tasty frozen falafel (note: don’t try Trader Joe’s – it’s TERRIBLE). Dr. Praeger’s was a tasty substitute for fresh.

What do you keep on hand for quick, emergency meals? Do you have any salad suggestions for salad month?

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Salad Face: The At-Home Pump Salad

By ellen on May 3, 2011

I’m a big fan of a good salad. I’m also convinced that the best salads are the ones that other people prepare. Read: was convinced.

This week at our house has been designated salad week. We tend to eat the same(ish) salad all the time. It’s delicious, but gets old pretty quickly and as a result we don’t each as much salad as we’d like to.

If you’re in NYC, you may be familiar with The Pump. It’s just a healthy, tasty fast-food-ish place. I’ve only been there twice, but both times I had the same exact salad. The ingredients were fresh and absolutely delicious. It was an amazing salad. And now, we’ve recreated it at home (and it was even better).

The mix is simple: romaine lettuce, shredded chicken (it was the slow-roasted turkey at The Pump), roasties (roasted sweet potato chunks), and guacamole.

And that’s really it. The guacamole adds a little heat and serves as the dressing. Mix it all up and it’s really delicious and is definitely a hearty meal (esp. for a salad).

What have you successfully recreated at home?

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Fit for a Queen…

By ellen on October 10, 2009

My afternoon took a turn for the best as I found myself in a bubble bath eating ice cream, haha… but let me backtrack.

Hatha yoga class at Bread & Yoga was really really wonderful. It was extremely relaxing and restorative despite the fact the studio was packed to the gills. I will try to get to the morning Vinyasa tomorrow, but either way, I’ll keep going back even after this free weekend event.

After yoga (to which husbo accompanied me!), we realized that we hadn’t eaten since our muffins at the Farmer’s Market and were now totally famished. We decided to have an afternoon feast – more like an early dinner. I threw together some pasta shells with spinach, chickpeas, and Classico tomato basil sauce, and sauteed eggplant slices in garlic and olive oil. I snipped a little fresh parsley on top. It was perfecto.

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My next task was bubble bath. Since moving in to a place with an awesome bath tub, I decided that this must be a weekly ritual. I got the bubbles going and eased into the tub until my fingers got nice and pruney. I’m convinced that a bubble bath is really, really good for the soul. To make it even better, husbo came in to gift me with a little teacup of Ben & Jerry’s Oatmeal Cookie ice cream (no pic – I was in the tub). Yes, I was eating ice cream in a bubble bath. I always think there’s something funny and purely decadent about having dessert after a midday meal, and this pretty much confirmed that.

So now, I’m going to take a little nap before heading out tonight. I find that if I’m supposed to stay out until midnight (or later) I definitely need a disco nap during the day.

So there you have it: yoga, feast, bubble bath and ice cream. Nap time for me. What do you do on the weekends to recharge your batteries?

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Slim Pickins

By ellen on September 27, 2009

I had a wonderful rainy Sunday here. We are slowly but surely packing up the rest of our things for the long-awaited move. Along with packing up our things, our food supply is dwindling big-time. I’m trying to use up all the odds and ends in the fridge/pantry so we won’t have to waste any food. The result is often nutritionally unbalanced and/or relatively small meals. Today highlights that point perfectly.

Lunch was a can of Amy’s split pea soup that I found in the back of the cupboard. We didn’t have any bread/crackers to go with it… no fruit left either (sad face). AND I even split the can with husbo. Yes, I know.

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Even with the brunch of champions today, we were both still really hungry after our measly bowls of soup. I still had a little homemade granola mixed with peanut butter left, so we each had a little bowl of that too.

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Our dinner was also a mix of ‘found’ items around the kitchen that turned out to be very tasty. The fridge contributed some ground turkey breast, half a brick of cheddar cheese, and salsa. In the cupboard I had half a box of penne. I browned the turkey while the water boiled, and grated the cheddar while the pasta cooked. I mixed everything together, then added some breadcrumbs on top as a finishing top. For a fifteen minute meal that was pretty much thrown together with kitchen scraps, it was pretty darn tasty.

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The rest of my evening is pretty much a countdown until Mad Men comes on at 10, haha. In the meantime, I’ll probably pack more clothes, do some school work, and schedule my week. Luckily I have tomorrow off so I will probably be able to finish all the packing (finally!).

Good Night!

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Sunday Brunch

By ellen on September 27, 2009

After a fun, but really long day yesterday, I thought a nice homemade Sunday brunch was in order. Husbo slept in (he drove us home from a wedding 2.5hrs away… in the rain… at midnight…) I got to work on a red pepper/broccoli frittata, red potato home fries, and homemade pumpkin spice lattes (this one was highly experimental).

I scrubbed up about 5 red potatoes from the CSA, then sliced them.

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Next, I poured some olive oil into the bottom of a round baking dish – roughly a scant 1/4c. This may seem like a lot, but I’m using it so I can toss the potatoes around and coat all of them without having to use a separate bowl. Next, I juiced one lemon into the olive oil. The lemony flavor is really refreshing and cuts some of the starchiness of the spuds. I tossed the potato slices around to coat them in the lemon olive oil, added salt and pepper, and tossed them in the oven at 350.

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The potatoes went in first because they tend to take longer. Once they were in the oven, I got to work on the frittata.

Frittatas are one of my favorite things to make because they are soooo easy, versatile, and seem more impressive than they actually are. I beat 6 eggs in a bowl, then added leftover broccoli and red peppers, diced onion, and some cubed cheddar cheese (and salt and pepper, of course). I whisked it around a bit, then poured it into a pie dish coated in olive oil. Toss it in an oven at 350 for roughly 20-25 minutes – you can pretty much eye-ball it.

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The two were in the oven at the same time. Every ten minutes or so, I’d peek on the potatoes and shake the pan a bit, making sure all of them browned nicely.

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Sorry for the grainy iPhone pic… most ovens have a light in them – my new kitchen’s oven will!

While brunch was baking, I decided to try my hand at crafting a pumpkin spice latte to rival Starby’s. I have professed my love for the pumpkin spice latte – they are sooo fall weather to me, and on this rainy Sunday in New York, they seemed like the perfect brunch beverage.

Pumpkin spices are key here. I was searching around for my nutmeg and cloves, when I found a little container of pumpkin pie spice in the spice drawer. Problem solved. If you’re interested in this shortcut, pumpkin pie spice is readily available in grocery store spice aisles. If you don’t have it, and want to recreate the pumpkin pie spice right now at home, blend cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg – I usually use 1 part cinnamon to 1/2 parts each ginger and nutmeg, and (I like) a little dash of cloves. Of course, though, you can change according to your taste.

Before I brewed the coffee, I added a few shakes of pumpkin pie spice to the coffee grounds, hoping to infuse some of the flavor in the brewed coffee. While the coffee brewed, I prepared the mugs. Since I’ve been eating overnight pumpkin oats all week, I still had some pumpkin in the fridge. To start, I put a teeny dollop of the pumpkin in the bottom of our coffee mugs (maybe a teaspoon). Then I added a splash of vanilla soymilk to the glass. Once the coffee brewed, I filled the mugs. I personally like mine very light so I only used half coffee and topped it off with more soymilk. For husbo, he was coffee-heavy.

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By the time the coffee was finished, the frittata was perfectly done. I took it out of the oven, and left the potatoes in a little longer while I set the table. Soon enough, the potatoes were just crispy enough, and I plated everything.

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I really tried to brunch it up with candle light and classical music – nice change!

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Everything turned out great – it was a really special way to start off our Sunday after a long day on the road yesterday. The biggest surprise was the pumpkin spice latte – while it didn’t taste exactly like Starby’s, we both felt it was definitely just as good. And cheaper to boot.

I’m off to pack for the rest of the day. I’m going to try to enjoy my last few days in my current kitchen before we moved to the new (and MUCH improved) spread this week.

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The Kitchn has mastered the pumpkin spice latte – check it out!

Also, here’s a DIY pumpkin pie spice mix from Recipezaar.

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Leftovers…

By ellen on September 23, 2009

Leftovers referring to both my dinner (awesome) and sort of how I feel after this evening. As I had mentioned earlier, there was a leak in my ceiling and I had to run home to tend… Ahhh! I really can’t get out of this place any more quickly!

While I feel like leftovers… I’m now longer comfortably ‘living’ in my current place, but instead am in some weird limbo. As a result, I don’t have access to all my kitchen goodies – arghhh.

Well, I did manage to dig up some lovely leftovers to put together this delight:

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Well, despite the poor quality of my iphone pics, this was really really awesome. It was like a Farmer’s Market special:

  • ground turkey breast
  • leftover mashed sweet potatoes
  • black beans
  • broccoli and red peppers
  • onions, chives, garlic.

It only took about 10 minutes and fed husbo and I with extras for lunch tomorrow :)

I’m relaxing with a Pilsner Urquell and “He’s Just Not That Into You.” Sometimes leftovers are just the ticket.

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My No-Mayo Chicken Salad

By ellen on August 26, 2009

This is arguably my favorite summer-time meal. I have always hated mayo for some reason, but I loved the flavors and idea of chicken salad – so easy and tasty you just slap it on some bread and done-ski!

My No-Mayo Chicken Salad

This really couldn’t be any easier. I usually use left-over chicken breast or (even faster) the chicken breasts from a store-bought rotisserie chicken. I chop the chicken into small cubes (some people prefer to shred – whatever). I toss them in a bowl, chop some onions (or scallions, what ever you have on hand) for it too. The onions add that necessary crunch. Next, mix a vinaigrette of smooth dijon mustard (like Grey Poupon), red wine vinegar, and olive oil. Toss with the chicken and onions. I top it off with kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, and herbs de provence (you can use what ever spices you like). I toss it again then put it in the fridge. It gets even better the longer it sits melding flavors in the fridge.

I’m kind of a purist (usually just onions and chicken), but you can add lots of stuff: celery, apples, walnuts, raisins, etc… or even switch up the vinaigrette.

Regardless, it’s super-easy and delicious. It’s a great cool sangie for the summer!

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My Favorite Fast Meal

By ellen on July 10, 2009

When I’m in a pinch, or just looking to unload some leftovers, this is the meal I go to. It’s fast, easy, versatile, and delicious (not to mention very good for you). It’s an easy three-step process. It may take a whopping 5 minutes to make. Seriously. 

There you have it. My black bean soup. All you need are black beans, salsa, and chicken broth in its most basic form. Add all three (no need to use more than 1/3 or so of the salsa with a whole can of beans) to a blender, food processor, or Magic Bullet (my tool of choice). Mix it up. You can eyeball it to see if you’d like it more creamy or more soupy (for more soupy just add more chicken broth). Then heat and eat. It is super tasty in this barebones form. Note: This would also work w/ veggie broth for any vegetarians out there. 

On Tuesday I made this for lunch and added chopped onions and leftover shredded chicken on top. Sometimes I add milk to it, a cheddar cheese cube, or a clove of garlic before I toss it in the Bullet. 

I’ve even used other bean combos… like a more Italian-style soup using white beans, garlic, onions, rosemary, and chicken broth. This version is great with some crusty bread. No matter how it’s prepared, it’s always fast tasty, and nutritious. 

Are there any delicious easy combos that you’ve come up with in a pinch?

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