Anyways, long story short, it doesn’t take much perusing on this site to figure out that my diet and bar food don’t generally mix. Same goes for the pitchers of beer that are often free-flowing at these sport bars — the drink of choice for seemingly every patron but myself. I often feel like a fish out of water, desperately searching the menu for one item — any item — I can eat. If nothing else, it’s an attempt to avoid annoying the waiter/waitress by being “that person” at the table, even though whatever I do end up ordering quite possible ends up annoying him/her just as much. Hence, I have developed some distaste for watching games at sports bars.

There is an exception, however, and a big one. “The Wright Salad” at Brother Jimmy’s was so surprisingly fresh, unique and flavorful that it had me actually hoping for more non-locally televised games on the horizon. The lettuce is actually fresh, crisp romaine with possibly even other heirloom varieties thrown in. It’s tossed with fresh toasted pecans, dried cherries, wild rice, roasted sweet potatoes and poblano peppers in an herb vinaigrette. If you read that description out of context, you would probably not believe anyone who tries to tell you that this salad is actually offered at a sports bar, and moreover, that it’s actually good. Surprisingly, now that I’m leaving New York for good, it’s right up there on my list of “New York” food items that I will really, really miss (along with Caracas arepas, Stogo Ice Cream and Viva Herbal Pizza).

Luckily, I’ve created a knock-off. Mine might not be as hearty (I didn’t have wild rice on hand when I was creating this version). And I’ve added kale for an extra nutritional boost (what can I say, that’s kind of how I roll). But for the most part, it captures the complexity of flavors and the excitement of the original that got me hooked on “The Wright Salad” (no idea about the name, really) in the first place. In other words, I think I got it “right.”

This salad takes a bit of work, especially for a salad. There are a few different components, but they are really all important to the overall taste and balance of the dish. Sure, it might be easier to hop on a plane (or bus, or train) and actually eat-in at Brother Jimmy’s. But if you’re going to hop on a plane to New York for food, I’m sure a sports bar is not the first place that comes to mind, let’s be real. Plus, if you make this salad for guests, it usually garners a lot of interest, as it was certainly the first time I had seen sweet potatoes, dried cherries and poblanos in a single salad.

Salad Ingredients:

1 head good, fresh romaine, washed and chopped

1/2 bunch kale, finely chopped

1/3 cup dried fruit-sweetened cranberries or cherries

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 poblano pepper, roasted, peeled and sliced (as described here)

1/3 cup pecans, dry toasted in a pan until lightly browned, cooled

Herb Dressing:

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup grapeseed oil/light olive oil

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 clove garlic, finely minced or pressed

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teasooon dried thyme

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Toss diced sweet potato with oil and a tiny pinch of salt (about 1/8 teaspoon). Lay flat on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned and soft, tossing halfway through. Set aside to cool.

3. Assemble dressing: briskly whisk or shake all ingredients. Set aside.

4. Assemble salad: toss all ingredients in a large salad bowl. Add enough dressing to coat lettuce leaves and toss until coated, adding more if desired. Serve immediately.

Avocado Vinaigrette:

1/2 ripe avocado

3 tablespoons lime juice

3 tablespoons Vegenaise

3-4 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

1 scallion, roughly chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded, roughly chopped

sea salt

Directions:

Blend all igredients except salt in a blender or food processor. Add salt to taste and water until dressing is desired consistency. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Remaining Salad Ingredients:

1 recipe taco filling

romaine lettuce

shredded carrots (optional)

sliced grape tomatoes

tortilla chips (recipe below)

Homemade Baked Tortilla Chips:

Makes about 30 chips — increase amount of tortillas as needed.

5 sprouted corn tortillas (any corn tortilla will do, really)

olive oil for brushing (or olive oil spray)

a pinch of sea salt for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2.  Halve corn tortillas, then cut each half into thirds, making even triangles. Place tortillas on a lightly oiled large baking sheet. Lay side-by-side but do not overlap. Spray or brush the top of each tortilla with oil. Bake in preheated oven for about 12 minutes, or until tortillas are lightly browned and crisp.

3. Immediately after they are removed from the oven, sprinkle with sea salt. Let cool slighly before serving.

Well, today I am the proud new owner of two — make that three, tomorrow (I just can’t stop!) — 9×12″ prints, and I couldn’t be happier. This may seem like a lot of hype over pictures of mere fruit and vegetables. But one of the reasons I love the photos so much is that they are a true testament to the natural beauty that can be found at the Greenmarket throughout the year, which is where all of Ken’s food photos are taken. I’ve often found myself overwhelmed by the variety of beautiful colors — the white, purple and red potatoes; the light and dark purple eggplants of various shapes and sizes — that beckon from each Greenmarket station.

My no-longer-bare kitchen wall

The beckoning was precisely why I found myself in the position of having to figure out what sort of dish I could make with green beans, red potatoes, and poblano peppers last week. Sure, I could have made several dishes with my options. But I was tired. And that wouldn’t be much fun, anyways, would it? I liked the Iron Chef-meets-Chopped type challenge I had presented myself with. Well, it wasn’t that much of a challenge. I recalled an old Giada episode where she made a warm vegetable salad with green beans, potatoes and roasted red peppers. This salad is a version of that. It’s simple, seasonal, delicious, and keeps well in the refrigerator. Confession: I ate some for breakfast the next day. I know that’s wierd.

Warm Green Bean and Potato Salad:

Adapted from Giada’s Warm Vegetable Salad

2 lbs. red new potatoes (or a mix of red, white or purple)

4 cups green beans, halved

2 poblano peppers

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon oregano

4 scallions, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450. Wash poblanos and rub with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Lay flat on a baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for about 10 minutes, turning once, until outsides are evenly blistered and charred. Using tongs, remove peppers to a glass bowl and cover with a lid or plasti wrap to steam. Set aside.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a generous pinch of salt. Add green beans and blanch for 1-2 minutes. Use a strainer to remove green beens to salad bowl. Add potatoes to hot water and boil for 12-15 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked through (halve one to test for doneness). When potatoes are cooked, drain and remove to a cutting board. Halve potatoes (quarter if they are especially large) and add to bowl with green beans.

3. Whisk together remaining olive oil, lemon juice, cider vinegar, garlic and salt. Set aside.

4. Uncover peppers and remove from bowl. Pull off stems and make a slit lengthwise down the pepper. Use knife to scrape out seeds and slice peppers into long strips. Halve strips if they are really long. Add to salad bowl. Pour dressing over vegetables, add oregano and scallions and toss until coated. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Despite this, I have to say that I’m not usually one to oggle my dishes. This is in large part because I’m usually so hungry and impatient by the time it’s ready that I tend to dig in the moment I get a chance, not allowing myself to take it all in. It’s only until I’m uploading my photos hours later that I appreciate the aesthetic aspects — or lack thereof — of a particular dish. But tonight was different. As I tossed the speckled red-pink pomagranates with the vibrant green parsley against a backdrop of fluffy quinoa, I was sort of mesmerized by the beauty of it all. So I took a moment just to stare.

Of course, it’s especially nice knowing that “beauty” here might as well be synonymous with “healthy.” With each contrast of color is a different vitamin, nutrient and disease-fighting property. Pomagranates are said to be the highest in antioxidants of all natural foods. They are also believed to prevent plaque buildup in the arteries. Cranberries are rich with antioxidants as well — even more so in dried form, as antioxidants are more concentrated in dried fruit. Then there’s parsley. It’s one of my favorite all-around ingredients, and boasts a laundry list of health properties. It can boost immunity, cleanse the kidneys, is a great source of iron and vitamin C, and can even be used as a digestive aid. And of course, it’s high in antioxidants. Add vitamin and antioxidant-rich bell pepper and the protein and fiber of quinoa, and this is one healthy salad.

Since quinoa is a “whole” protein, I like to eat this as a meal, but this would also make a great side dish or light lunch option with soup. I think you’ll really enjoy this salad. Feel free to experiment with your own antioxidant-rich additions as well.

Antioxidant Quinoa Salad:

Serves: 2-3 as a main course, 4-6 as a side

Look for pomegranates that are red on the outside and which feel heavy for their size. These will yield the best seeds. This salad can be served either warm, room temperature or chilled — all good! I like beige quinoa for this dish, as red tends to have a more prominent, nuttier flavor which I thought would overpower the other ingredients.

1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed well and drained

1/2 cup pomagranate seeds

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup red onion, finely diced

1/2 large green bell pepper, diced (about 1/2 cup)

1 cup curly parsely, finely chopped

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup fresh lime juice (from about 1 1/2 limes)

generous pinch of salt, plus more to taste

Directions:

1. Cook quinoa according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, whisk together olive oil and lime juice. When quinoa has cooked, toss with remaining ingredients. Add dressing and salt and toss until dressing is absorbed. Taste and add additional salt to taste.

In full disclosure, whenever someone clicks on a link on the side and buys something based on it, I get, like, a nickel or something. While I may be an unemployed former law student with impending loans to pay off, and living in the most expensive city in the world (ugh), I’m not so desperate that I need the rare nickel deposited in my account. I just figured it was a good, efficient way to share those products and books that have helped me thrive as a gluten-free, (mostly) vegan, sugar-free food lover.

Ok, onto this salad. I am a Greek salad FREAK. I mean, I think a good Greek salad is heavenly. And yet, I’ve had plenty bad. So by now I’ve assembled a pretty good formula for failure and success. Success: good romaine lettuce. Failure: iceberg. Success: Fresh cooked beets. Failure: the canned stuff. Success: good, kalamata olives. Failure: bad kalamata olives (um, duh) — or worse, no olives! Success: a good, creamy-yet-not-too-thick-dressing. Failure: Too-thick-dressing. Success: good quality feta…

…and that’s where a great vegan Greek salad has eluded me until now. The feta. With a little help from the internet, I learned that some tofu drizzled with red wine vinegar and some other flavorings could be masqueraded as the real deal. Still, I was skeptical. Very skeptical. It took my own series of experiments with this idea before I considered it a satisfying — if not exact — substitute. Hey, I didn’t say that for a good Greek salad the feta portion had to actually be feta, I just said it had to be good. This savory, briney tofu creation is quite good. My secret is to use a really good, raw fermented red wine vinegar for the marinating. It’s better for you, and I think it tastes better as well. Eden makes a very good one (actually, the it’s the only raw red wine vinegar I’ve seen).

I hope you enjoy this healthy, crunchy, salty Greek salad as much as I did! I listed the recipes for the various components separately below.

Tofu Feta:

1 package firm tofu, drained (extra firm will work, though I prefer firm for this recipe)

1/3 cup raw fermented red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon sea salt

3 tablespoons nutritional yeast, divided

Directions:

1. Crumble tofu into a medium-sized, shallow glass dish. Whisk together red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt in a separate bowl and pour over tofu. Add two tablespoons of nutritional yeast and let sit for about 15 minutes. When ready to serve, stir in the remaining nutritional yeast. Taste for salt.

Greek Dressing:

1/2 cup grapeseed oil vegenaise

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon dried oregano

salt to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon)

Directions:

1. Whisk all ingredients well until smooth or add to a jar and shake vigorously.

Other Salad Ingredients:

Romaine lettuce, chopped

Beets, cooked and chopped

Kirby or Persian cucumber, chopped

Red onion, thinly sliced

Kalamata Olives (pitted preferably), drained

We did get in a few moment of relaxation while my mom was here visiting. Last night, we saw Next to Normal, which was pretty awesome. I would recommend it for anyone looking to see a good Broadway show, whether you’re visiting or live in New York. I was either crying, laughing or grinning from ear-to-ear at any given moment during the two-and-a-half hour runtime. My mom loved the show as well, having already fallen in love with the music after hearing it on her Sirius Broadway station.

Before the show, we did dinner at Saravanaas. I’ve wanted to go there for the past three years, though I somehow never got around to it until last night. That’s one of the many nice things about having visitors (or your mom) coming into town: you have an excuse to get out of your apartment and actually enjoy the city around you.

Saravanaas was just as good as expected. The paper masala dosa was delicious with two different kinds of chutney, curry and sambar, as was the idli. For $23.00 we had those two dishes and a vegetable curry dish, plus tea. Not a bad price for NYC…

Today, we stayed in and I made this roasted carrot salad. I didn’t write down the recipe, but the ingredients and process is simple enough that I figured it might be nice to post a no-recipe “recipe” here. This is where your inner chef takes over…Heck, you don’t even need an inner chef. Just use this recipe as a base and let your taste buds guide you from there.

Roasted Carrot Salad:

Serves: 4-5 as a side dish

Preheat oven to 425. Toss strips of  fresh carrot (about 6-8) in a little bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and just a drizzle of agave nectar.  Lay flat on a baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, tossing halway through. Add chopped, flat-leaf Italian parsley, drained and sliced kalamata olives and capers. If desired, add crumbled feta cheese (goat-milk based is easier to digest), garbanzo beans, or drained and chopped artichoke hearts. Toss with a little squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil.

This creamy, vegan dressing is a somewhat lighter version of a traditional green goddess, which is made with buttermilk. I’m usually not a big fan of salads that consist of just lettuce and tomato (I’m an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink kind of girl when it comes to my salads), but I enjoyed this salad plenty with the flavorful addition of this creamy, zesty dressing.

This dressing stores well in refrigerator, just be sure to shake well before using.

Vegan Green Goddess Dressing:

1/4 cup chopped chives

15 large basil leaves

2 scallions, chopped

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 cup unsweetened soy milk

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup vegenaise

1/3 cup firm tofu, diced

1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste

Directions:

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Add a tablespoon or so of water if dressing is too thick for your taste, or a bit more tofu if it’s too thin. Adjust salt to taste.

Cirtus Jicama Salad:

1 jicama, peeled and diced

1 grapefruit, segmented (membranes removed using hands)

1/4 cup fresh mint, chiffoned or minced

Dressing:

juice of 1/2 lemon

juice of 1/2 lime

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon agave nectar

1/4 teaspoon sea salt (plus more to taste)

Directions:

Combine jicama, grapefruit and mint in a salad bowl. Toss with enough dressing to coat.