Friday, January 31, 2014

Yummus

      I would count myself as one of those people who is more than a little bit obsessed with hummus. It’s the absolute best. And, as a vegetarian, it is a godsend.
#mylife 
So in addition to Moosewood’s hummus, I made tabouli, a bulgur cold salad that is exceptionally simple but completely delicious. I also made white bean salad topped with pickled red onions. All together, this comprised of a meal called Mezza, which Moosewood describes as a Greek meal made up of a combination of smaller dishes (of which you can pick and choose).
            Now, the great part about all of these dishes is that they require zero actual cooking—except boiling water for the bulgur. But unfortunately, they all require chilling time, which is not great when you’re hungry and want to eat ASAP.
            Another major difficulty is not being able to open your jar of garlic (which is required in every single recipe). Seriously, it was impossible. After trying for literally 20 minutes to open this jar—hot water, rubber band, and duct tape were all to no avail—I went in search of some men in my building to help me out. It took three of them, and the one who finally got it open had to use his football gloves. All I can say is, I need to get me some football gloves.
            The hummus was really good; I added a couple sprinkles of cayenne to give it a little kick. My only critique is that it should be creamier. According to the Internet you have to peel the chickpeas, which is absolutely never gonna happen. It’s still really delicious anyway, and I wouldn’t describe it as gritty or coarse. It’s just not purely smooth. I’m wondering if boiling the chickpeas a bit before blending them would help. I did use canned peas, which were already cooked, but maybe blending them while tender would help accentuate the creaminess. I also added in some olive oil against Moosewood’s recipe because I thought it would help, which I think it did. It definitely helped the texture become smoother, but I didn’t want to add too much oil.
            Tabouli is quickly becoming one of my favorite things. It’s amazing how basic it is: bulgur, lemon juice, a few spices, chopped tomatoes, and green onions. But it’s so yummy!! And another vegetarian dream food. It also keeps well, which means I can keep on eating it all week!
            Obviously, I have been a bit neglectful of this project in the past couple weeks. I’m not too far behind schedule, but I have not been cooking nearly as much as I would like to; I’m sick of eating from the dining hall. But it’s just so comforting and easy to eat there instead of cook. I’ve done so many fewer dishes than usual this week! I am trying to get back to cooking more regularly as January turns to February. Tonight’s meal was a great way to knock out a bunch of recipes! Also, because of my schedule, I have a few days a week where I have to eat away from my apartment, which means brown bag meals or buying food. So I’m trying to find some things that I can transport easily and eat cold; another positive from tonight’s meal.
            The white bean salad and pickled onions is very similar to the recipe my sister made when we all had Spanakopita. It might actually be adapted from Moosewood but I’m not sure. It’s another simple recipe, which like revenge, is best served cold. The pickled onions make a really yummy topping on the salad, and the cider vinegar used gives a nice little tang to the whole dish.
            And addition to all these dishes, I complemented the Mezza with carrot sticks, slices of cucumber, and pita chips. It was a great dinner that I can’t wait to eat as leftovers for the rest of the week! 

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