Three Things

Easy vegetarian dinners, a welcome-to-the-neighborhood gift, a playlist on repeat

Credit: David Lei

Greetings eaters and readers! Hope you had a nice weekend. Not gonna lie, we ate well — Friday was Gabrielle Hamilton’s Cider-Braised Chicken with polenta, and Saturday was a delicate snapper with coconut-curry sauce from Eric Ripert’s Seafood Simple that I would’ve had zero problem paying big bucks for in a restaurant. In other news, I joined New York in mourning Flaco, the rare Eurasian Eagle-Owl who had been released from zoo captivity under mysterious circumstances over a year ago and then, much to the delight of his cosmopolitan neighbors, made quite a life for himself in Central Park and the Upper West Side. Small communities sprung up near his favorite roosts, birders and wildlife photographers chronicled his every move, zoo workers tried to lure him into traps but he was too smart for them. The city was captivated. “Flaco became a symbol of hope for many of the people who followed his story and recognized parts of themselves in him” wrote Carl Safina in this beautiful essay. “How many of us, our circumstances familiar and safe, are too timid to seek our more fully realized selves? How many of us, viewing our confinements as nothing out of the ordinary, have long stopped wondering what our wings are for…Have we not all yearned for a life beyond the scope of the one we lead?” R.I.P. Flaco.

And now, your Three Things…

---

1. Start with Hummus

You know what feels really good? Having a batch of homemade hummus in the refrigerator ready for deployment all day long, but especially for lunch or a solo dinner. I hadn’t made my own hummus in so long, even though bags of Rancho Gordo garbanzo beans have been piling up in the pantry ever since moving in September. I think maybe this is what living in New York does to you — or at least has done to me — i.e. when an authentic option of everything is all seemingly within a 10-minute walk, you start wondering Why do I even bother cooking? (Of course, it doesn’t take long for me to come up with the answer. Besides saving money and knowing exactly what’s going into my food, there’s that not-so-small reason that cooking still brings me joy on the daily.) I’ve had hummus plates recently at Balaboosta and Brooklyn’s Miss Ada, piled high with dinner-y toppings like spicy lamb and chicken, but these days I’m more interested in the vegetarian versions, which are usually easy to scrounge together based on the odds and ends in the fridge. (Though I do have my eye on that tofu shawarma.) The hummus recipe below is from Volume 1 of The Weekday Vegetarians, and gets its green color (and slight chunk) from the addition of spinach and peas. You can skip that part if it feels too extra.

Green Hummus Plate
Makes about 3 loaded plates like the one shown above

3 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 (15-ounce) cans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup tahini
1 large garlic clove, smashed and roughly chopped
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 medium lemon)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup ice-cold water, plus more as needed

For green hummus (optional)
1/2 cup thawed frozen spinach, squeezed of excess liquid (or more — the more spinach, the more green it gets)
handful thawed frozen peas
additional tablespoon of lemon juice

Serving
Feta, crumbled
Frozen peas, thawed
Pickled onions
Radishes, sliced paper thin
Fresh dill
Extra-virgin olive oil
Flaky sea salt
Chili flakes
Warmed pita or crackers

Pulse the chickpeas 8 to 10 times in a food processor until rough and pasty. Add the tahini, garlic, lemon juice, kosher salt, and ice water. Process until smooth, adding more ice water as needed until it reaches your desired consistency. I like it smooth so I usually end up adding up to another 1/2 cup water. If you’d like to make green hummus, add spinach and peas, and lemon juice and pulse until it comes together. (It will be a little chunkier if you use the peas.) Spread about 3/4 cup on a plate (watch this video to learn a mesmerizing technique) and top with peas, chickpeas, feta, pickled onions, radishes, dill, salt, chili flakes, and a generous drizzle of olive oil. Serves with pita or crackers. Store any leftover hummus in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Other suggested toppings: Toasted pine nuts, olives, sweet paprika, parsley; chopped tomato, cucumber and red onion salad; quinoa, barley, tabbouleh, herby dressing (made with parsley, capers, dill, lemon juice, olive oil), shredded lettuce or kale, tzatziki.

P.S. Other easy vegetarian dinner ideas for you this week: Cabbage Carbonara-ish (above), Tofu-Mushroom Curry, Tacos with Refried Beans, Crispy Mushrooms and Kale.

2. Welcome to the Neighborhood

I had breakfast at Barney Greengrass with my old coworker and friend (and new neighbor) Elizabeth Mayhew last week — whose name you might recognize from her hand-piped charm cakes that have gained a cult following, or from her DALS-famous banana bread. She is an idea machine, and I always have the instinct to just press record on my phone when I’m hanging out with her, lest I miss a book rec (This is Happiness, by Niall Williams) or her favorite local spot to score a last-minute seat at the bar for dinner (Bar Boulud, “Get the trout!”) or a baking cookbook she is enamored with (Bake it Better, by Matt Adlard), which is saying something because, again, have you seen her confections? She’s a pro! No scratch that, an artist. She also never arrives empty-handed, and at breakfast, showed up with a Ted Lasso-esque box of shortbread as a welcome-to-the-neighbohood gift. I immediately went home and tracked down the recipe and ordered a few packs of those sweet pink boxes so I can do the same for someone else some day. (Her shortbread recipe is proprietary, or I’d link to it.) P.S. Cherry Bombe Radio actually did press record with Elizabeth — she was on their baking podcast “She’s My Cherry Pie” last week talking about her business, her designs, and her go-to chocolate cake recipe.

3. A Playlist On Repeat

Last week, I binge-watched One Day, the Netflix show based on the popular 2010 David Nicholl’s novel, which follows a couple’s relationship on the same July day over the course of two decades. I completely fell for Ambika Mod and Leo Woodall, who play the two protagonists Emma and Dexter, but I think my favorite part was the music. Since Emma and Dexter’s twenty-something years took place during exactly the same time period as mine, it felt as if someone found my dusty box of old mixed tapes to compile the soundtrack — which of course conjured up all the heartache and heaviness of being a recent college grad trying to figure out who exactly I was and how on earth I was going to find my way in the real world. The Verve, Radiohead, The The, The Stone Roses — 90s nostalgics and everyone else: give it a listen.

P.S. Thanks for all the book love last week — as always continue to follow me here and on instagram for more of the fun stuff.

Pre-order The Weekday Vegetarians: Get Simple wherever books are sold!

Penguin Random House | Amazon | Bookshop | Barnes & Noble |
Hudson Booksellers | Books A Million | Powell’s | Target | Walmart |