Vegetarians at the playoffs!

Reaching into my invaluable GRIT cookbook, Athens' finest restaurant, to share some vegetarian recipes for this round of playoff fever. (Still waiting for the restaurant-owner to show up on the premises!)

For those of you looking for some decent football-fan eats, try this recipe for hummus... I love hummus with pretzels and/or wheat crackers, but anything is good to dip!

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HUMMUS FROM THE GRIT!


2 cans (15.5 oz) chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) -- drained, save liquid
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 scant teaspoons powdered cumin
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
1/3 cup tahini (sesame seed butter/paste)

Puree all ingredients except chickpea liquid in food processor or blender. Gradually add the minimum amount of chickpea liquid required to give the mixture a thick, creamy, smooth consistency. Blend/mix until all graininess is gone. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour. Serve cool in pitas sliced in half with shredded cabbage, cucumbers and carrots.

Yields approx 4 cups, or enough for 6 pita sandwiches (or an afternoon of 2-4 football fans idly dipping over the course of several hours... depending on appetite-levels, of course).

Keeps about 3 days refrigerated.

More summer vegetarian recipes

Creamy Walnut-Mushroom Soup with Thyme


Mushroom soup in summer? Try this recipe and you'll be sold on the concept.

Ground walnuts provide a creamy, filling soup base that compliments the flavors of a marinated mushroom topping. This recipe, from Vegetarian Times, calls for easy-to-find cremeni mushrooms, but feel free to make the recipe with wild mushroom varieties from your local farmers market.


Topping

10 cremeni mushrooms, sliced 1/8 inch thick (2 cups)
1 Tbs Braggs Liquid Aminos
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, plus more for garnish


Soup

1 cup raw walnuts (4 oz)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced (1 tsp)


1) To make topping, toss together all ingredients in bowl. Marinate 15 minutes, or up to 12 hrs.

2) To make soup, blend walnuts, oil, garlic and 2 3/4 cup water in blender until creamy. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

3) Ladle soup into bowls and garnish each serving with topping and thyme leaves.


Serves 4, Vegan, Gluten-Free, 30 minutes or less.

per 1-cup serving:

294 calories
5g protein
30g fat (3g saturated fat)
5g carb
0mg cholesterol
168mg sodium
2g fiber
1g sugars

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From the cookbook of Athens' most fabulous restaurant, The GRIT, comes this gem. (No nutritional information available for this one.)


Tabouli

While this classic grain dish is traditionally made with #1-or-#2-size bulgur wheat, The Grit uses #3, a much larger grain. This makes for a distinctive version of tabouli, unusual but very enjoyable. Finely shredded ingredients in this recipe are best prepared with a shredding plate or blade in the food processor.

At The Grit, this salad is served on a bed of greens with their wonderful Lemon Tahini Dressing. (But any tahini-based dressing is fine and will work; I've also used miso-based dressings.)

2 cups (#3) bulgur wheat
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup finely shredded seedless cucumber
1/4 cup finely shredded red radish
1/4 cup finely shredded carrot
1 large punch fresh parsley, stems removed, finely minced
2 green onions (dark green parts only), finely minced
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp granulated garlic

In large bowl, combine bulgur wheat, lemon juice and vinegar. Add boiling water until just covered and let sit until water is fully absorbed and bulgur is tender to the bite (approx 30-45 minutes). Cool completely.

Add remaining ingredients and toss together until thoroughly mixed. Cover and refrigerate--chill well. Serve alone or over salad greens (my favorite way!).

6 servings. Vegan.

Q-and-A with Daisy - Volume One

Answering some of my mail, which has accumulated.

Q: When you went to The Grit, did you meet anyone from Widespread Panic or REM? What's the best thing to order?

No, I didn't. I did see people talking about Bonnaroo and one kept saying "My band at Bonnaroo--" so people kept looking at him as if he was important and whispering, "Who is that?" but I don't think he was a star or anything. (Admittedly, if any of the WP guys cut their hair, I'd be easily fooled.)

The grilled vegetarian Reuben sandwich is to die for!!!!

Q: Which of JG Ballard's novels is your favorite? Which do you think would make the best movie?

I am passionate about Cocaine Nights, Hello America, Rushing to Paradise, High Rise and Super-Cannes.

Concrete Island would make a fantastic movie, but not over, say, 80 minutes. Optimally, it should be done swiftly, like an early-60s Twilight Zone episode, not a lot of introspection and talk. Done well, it could kick serious ass.

Ditto Running Wild, which needs to be carefully crafted to keep the very-obvious ending from being so very obvious. Whoever successfully does that?--could make a blockbuster, classic movie. Because the plot is just too fabulous.

Q: Which of PKD's novels-into-movies have you liked best?

I really liked Minority Report, although the ending turned all touchy-feely and was nothing like Phil. Yech. However, the mutants are portrayed perfectly; the whole plot is true to the novella up to the Dr Feelgood-lets-all-hug finale. Also, the subplot about Tom Cruise's son dying was an unnecessary addition, part of the touchy-feely thing. Blech. The F/X were fantastic!

The short story Second Variety was molded into a well-done fantasy/horror movie, titled Screamers. Again, they had to prettify the ending (which is right out of left-field and really makes no sense), but until then, good stuff. If you enjoy sci-fi/horror, look it up.

I loved Richard Linklater's animated version of A Scanner Darkly, but I don't know how enjoyable it is for folks who don't already know the story. I think it may well be hard to follow or understand. And I realize: animation isn't for everyone. The casting of Keanu disturbed me at first, but I now see the choice of NEO as nothing less than mythic. Keanu Reeves looks GREAT animated! (See photo, left.) Robert Downey Jr. is a genius, as we all know, and Rory Cochrane is a real gem. As usual, Woody Harrelson gives us another truly funny, inspired doper. However, Winona Ryder was ALL WRONG for her role as Donna, which demanded a more duplicitous, stab-you-in-the-back Brittany Murphy-type character. Moviemakers once again hedged and prettified a bit, turning mean Donna into a somewhat more sympathetic person... Cmon, we all know that there is NO SUCH THING as a sympathetic female character in a Philip K Dick novel.

To Linklater's credit, he left the novel's ending intact... pure magic!

Aside: I hate how they enforce happy endings in Hollywood, because my guys often don't do happy endings.

Keep those cards and letters coming in.

Edit #1: I did not mention Blade Runner in my above reply, because I think it's as much a creation of Ridley Scott as it is PKD, but let me assure everyone that yes, I adore it! (Once again, we see Sean Young's sociopathic character was considerably softened, although at least they left Daryl Hannah's killer female android alone.)

Edit #2: The female character of Angel Archer, in The Transmigration of Timothy Archer, is a wonderfully, painfully three-dimensional and sympathetic character... so there IS such a thing as a sympathetic female character in a PKD novel. However, that IS the only one I can think of, the exception that proves the rule.

And to be fair, his male characters aren't bastions of decency either, but usually more hapless than malicious.

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Listening to: Lou Reed - I'll Be Your Mirror
via FoxyTunes