Tag: summer salads

Vegan Recipes

Romaine lettuce, antipasti & chipotle horseradish dressing

Crystal Fleming

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Vegan. Raw. Gluten Free. 

Got the idea of making a creamy, vegan chipotle dressing from a meal I had at the ridiculously amazing Cafe Blossom in Chelsea.  Everything on their menu is fantastic, but the “Crispy cake of yukon gold potato and black eyed peas, topped with chipotle aioli” almost made me lay right down on the floor in the fetal position and writhe with pleasure.  I asked my server how they made that amazing chipotle aioli — and the words “vegan mayo” danced from her lips to my ears.  It so happened that I had a jar at home that I had only used, very unimaginatively, on vegetarian burgers.  When I finally got down to business in the kitchen, I kicked the spicy factor up a notch with a few spoonfuls of horseradish.

For the dressing: combine vegan mayo, horseradish, apple cider vinegar, 1/2 of reconstituted, de-seeded chipotle pepper and freshly ground black pepper in a food processor.  For the croutons: toast 2 slices of gluten free bread in 2 tablespoons of EVOO with nutritional yeast, sea salt and thyme.  For the antipasti: go to the fucking grocery store. You think I marinated those olives myself? Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Kiss me now. Thank me later.

Academic Musings, Vegan Recipes

Black Bean, Melon & Chipotle Salad w/ Quinoa

Crystal Fleming

Trying to remember to eat these days has been challenging. Working ridiculous hours, losing track of time & trying to get tenure.. Writing. Reading. Analyzing data. Trying to remain sane. A familiar story.

Last week, I spent the entire day working only to realize, around 5 pm, that I’d yet to consume a single meal. And I didn’t get that meal until 7.

It is possible that I might have had half a glass of red wine on an empty stomach, nonetheless..

Anyway. It was a big wakeup call that as I try to make headway with my writing, I have to make a concerted effort to reinforce my self care. Take breaks. Drink water. Breathe. Stretch. EAT.

Given that I don’t have much time, or much of an appetite these days, self care takes planning. So this weekend I set aside some of my Sunday afternoon to cook a few meals for noshing during the week

One of the best things I made was this salad. It was super easy and delicious. Chopped up half a red onions and half a melon. Threw into a bowl. Drizzled with apple cider vinegar and added a touch of sea salt. Tossed in some corn, bell pepper, chipotle and cilantro … Voila! An amazing summer salad. Vegan, organic and raw.

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