Black Bean Raspberry Dip

I grew up close to Manhattan, Kansas (The Little Apple!). Tucked away in Aggieville is this unassuming restaurant called So Long Saloon and they make this killer black bean dip. It has a layer of spicy raspberry preserves and a layer of savory cream cheese. I've been thinking about this dip for many years (I haven't lived there since 2007, to give you an idea). A few months ago, I figured I'd search online to see if anyone else had experienced this magic appetizer and, to my surprise, one of my favorite food bloggers has, and wrote a recipe up for it. My recipe below is an adaption of hers (the main difference is that I've written out how I create the raspberry layer, because I couldn't find the store-bought version she uses). I also apparently didn't take any photos of my process (which is very unlike me), so I guess I have an excuse to make this again (& then update this post). I hope you enjoy this dip as much as I have!

Kale & Avocado Wrap

Vegetarians sometimes have a harder time putting together simple lunches than meat-eaters, especially when things like lunch meat exist. Charmington's in Baltimore - you know, the awesome café that hosts my favorite monthly lit reading and even welcomed the President of the United States in January (!!) - makes a plethora of amazing meatless lunch options. Their kale and avocado wrap is my favorite and I just had to recreate it. Grab these ingredients from a grocery store and make enough to last for the week. The following recipe makes one kale & avocado wrap.

Chilled Peanut Butter Noodle Salad - "The Mental Salad"

Golden West Cafe in Baltimore has one of my all-time favorite dishes: the vegan Mental Salad. It is essentially a romaine salad topped with cold peanut butter sauce-covered noodles, carrots, scallions & sesame seeds. It is so delicious and I just had to replicate it! I needed a starting place, so I used a Table For Two recipe as a guide. My recipe was enough to feed two people dinner, plus a few days of leftovers (these noodles are perfect for leftovers, since they have to be chilled anyway). Enjoy!

Vegan Chik'n Salad

I recently went to Land of Kush (Baltimore's only Southern-inspired vegan restaurant) for the first time this past month and was completely blown away. They have an amazing chicken salad wrap (in addition to everything else on their menu!) that I absolutely needed to replicate. I came up with something that is a hybrid of Land of Kush's meal and a recipe on FatFree Vegan Kitchen's website. This recipe makes about three cups of chik'n salad.

Best of 90s Food: DIY Lunchables

This year, the Baltimore Sun's Mobbies is asking each blogger to blog about the thing that she would like to bring back from the 90s. Being that this is a food blog, I went straight for everyone's favorite snacks from the 90s. Earlier this week, I posted a recipe for Hot Pockets and Dunkaroos. Today is a "recipe" for DIY Lunchables. Enjoy!

Hearty Veggie and Brown Rice Salad Bowl

I love copycat recipes. I've made a couple before and google them often. One of my current favorite salads is Starbucks' veggies & rice salad bowl, but it costs about $8 each time I buy it (which is very often). I decided to make it for myself and spent about $15 on ingredients that made about five salads! The recipe is below and makes two salads.

Corn Salsa

This is a copycat recipe of Chipotle's corn salsa (one of my favorite toppings to get at Chipotle!). Make a bunch of this and keep it on hand for tacos, salads, or even to snack on by itself with some tortilla chips. This recipe makes a small bowl, but feel free to change what you need to make a batch to fit your needs.

Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole

It's both finals week and holiday party season. Casseroles are, in general, perfect dishes for busy weeks because cooking them doesn't require constant attention, they're filling, and you'll have tons of leftovers! Since they're also great for holiday parties, I figured I'd bring this one to share at work. This hash brown casserole tastes just like the dish at Cracker Barrel (meaning that it is both amazingly delicious & probably not-so-healthy). I actually made this the night before the party & heated it up in the morning.

Feta-Topped Corn on the Cob

This is the easiest thing I've made in a long time, with a lot of flavor payout. I hear that there is a restaurant in Baltimore (Ryleigh's Oyster Bar) that offers feta-topped corn on the cob and, while I haven't tried it there, they did give me the idea. This can definitely be done on a grill, but while I am living sans grill, the oven worked amazingly, and keeping the husks on provides very tender and juicy corn.

Prep Time: 2-3 minutes
Cook Time: 25-30 minutes

Pair with: a light Rosé wine, or a wheat beer (like Boulevard Wheat)

Ingredients
One (1) medium ear of corn
One (1) tablespoon of feta cheese
Butter for topping
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F.
While keeping the husks on, place corn on a baking pan.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, depending on your oven.
Remove from stove and, while being careful (it'll be hot!), remove husks and silk. It should peel away really easily.
Top with butter and let melt.
While butter is melting, sprinkle feta on top of corn. It will lightly melt.
Eat as soon as it's cool enough!

Santa Fe Salad Sandwich

To those in the DC region, you know what I mean when I say that Chop't is probably the #1 thing I miss about living in the District. And if you've never tried Chop't before (or are a displaced Chop't lover like me), this recipe is for you.  The best part of that restaurant is that they take all of your salad ingredients, toss them together and then literally chop them up with a mezzaluna chopper until it is shredded. While I don't have a mezzaluna knife (yet!), I do always ensure that my homemade salad sandwiches are pretty finely chopped.

My favorite thing on the Chop't menu is the Santa Fe salad sandwich with the Tex-Mex ranch. The salad is not difficult to replicate, but I kept running into an issue with the dressing because it's not sold in the stores. I found a vague recipe online, tweaked it and now make the dressing myself. I think you'll enjoy it!

Prep Time: 20-30 minutes
Cook Time: none

Ingredients
for salad sandwich
Two (2) cups of Romaine lettuce
1/2 cup of tomato, chopped -- I have had the most luck with cherry tomatoes
One (1) avocado, sliced into small cubes
1/4 cup of sweet corn kernels
1/4 cup of black beans
1/4 cup of crispy onions
1/4 cup of pepper jack cheese, cubed
Two fajita tortillas
for Tex-Mex ranch dressing
Two (2) tablespoons of ranch dressing
One (1) teaspoon of lime juice
Two (2) teaspoons of paprika
Two (2) teaspoons of cumin
Directions

Once you've prepped everything (pretty much just chopping all of the salad ingredients up), mix them gently.
Warm tortillas on stovetop.
While you are warming the tortillas, mix all of the ingredients for the dressing together in a separate bowl. Taste as you go, so you can get the flavor to exactly how you'd like it.
Lightly toss dressing into the salad mix.
Spoon salad into tortilla and wrap like a burrito.
Enjoy!

Kale & Pistachio Pizza on Cauliflower Dough

Disclaimer: I love pizza. Any and all endorsements in this post will be biased based on this love.

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Finished product (on the right).
Check out the next blog post for the stuffed mushroom recipe.

Technically, I am the surrogate mother of the pizza that Juliet (of The Broken Plate) and Hersh's Pizza unknowingly created. Juliet posted this delicious recipe for cauliflower pizza crust awhile ago, and I tried and loved it. It brings a slight flavor of cauliflower, but not an overpowering amount. Additionally, it is much healthier than eating bread dough. As far as Hersh's, I tried them for the first time last week (and seriously, if you are in Baltimore, it's a must!) and my partner ordered their kale & pistachio pizza. It was amazing.

Note: this recipe makes a pizza the size of a 9" x 13" pan. If you half the recipe, you can make a pizza the size of a pie pan.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients
Crust
Two (2) cups of grated cauliflower
Two (2) eggs, beaten
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated
Toppings
One (1) cup of whole pistachio nuts, shelled and crushed -- the measurement of one cup was taken while they were still shelled
One (1) cup of cooked kale -- about one bushel at the grocery store
One (1) cup of mozzarella cheese
Two (2) cloves of garlic, minced
Two (2) tablespoons of butter

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Grate cauliflower into a large bowl.
Mix beaten eggs and cheese into the cauliflower.
Lay out flat in a greased pan.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Flip and bake for an additional 10 minutes. -- Just make sure it gets nice and brown, possibly crispy at the edges.
Set crust aside once it is done.
Melt the butter and garlic. Spread lightly on top of crust.
Top with mozzarella, pistachio crumbles, and cooked kale.
Put back into the oven for five to ten minutes, depending on how crispy you'd like the toppings.

Let cool & chow down!

Pineapple-Cream Cheese Wontons

These pineapple-cream cheese wontons are inspired by the mouthwatering appetizer at RA Sushi.

Ingredients

One (1) 20oz can of crushed pineapple -- I only used about 1/4 of this can, so you can buy a smaller one.
4oz of cream cheese
Two (2) bulbs of green onion, chopped
1/2 package of wonton wraps (about 25 wraps)-- The amount you use depends on how many you want to make
Cooking oil -- I used Canola

Directions

In mixing bowl, spoon in pineapple, green onion and cream cheese. Mix together.
Take out wonton wraps and spoon about approx. one teaspoon of cream cheese mixture into wrap.
Fold wrap into one half-triangle. Ensure there is no air in the pocket and all sides are sealed.
Dip one end of triangle into egg glaze and connect with other corner and "glue" them together.
Heat oil in pan and drop wontons in until fried. -- In my case, I fried one side & flipped.
Let cool and devour.

Tip
Wrapping wontons isn't that difficult, but it was intimidating to me at first. For some special help, check out this site.