Please welcome a brand new guest blogger to VBU! Her name is Izzy and she’s been kind enough to share a delicious recipe with us.
Here’s a little more about her: Izzy Darby is the vegan wizard behind Veganizzm, cooking up vegan noms since 2010. Her motto is “laugh with your mouth full.” Follow Izzy on: Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Welcome Izzy!
When I was in high school, four of my friends and I started Sweadnesday. The premise was simple: every week wear a sweater on Wednesday (sweater vests okay too). When a founding Sweadnesday member, Reed, was elected freshman class president and I was elected class treasurer we made Sweadnesday such a big thing that all the cool cats were doing it by mid-2006. Argyle, cable knit, Bill Cosby, you name it; when Wednesday rolled around you were wearing a goddamn sweater or you were just embarrassing yourself.
When I came to college in Wisconsin I was determined to make Sweadnesday a thing. In my high school of 500 in Massachusetts I was pretty well-established as a funny person (Izzy Darby Class Clown class of 2009, [taking that one to my grave whatup]), or at least *I* thought I was hilarious. But at the University of Wisconsin Izzy Darby was an unknown, uncool, friendless freshman in a school of almost 30,000. Negative people were impressed with my sweater-wearing sensibilities and nobody was donning anything warm or cuddly on my behalf. Basically no one was into it except Haya Bashir. Haya enthusiastically wore sweaters with me and called me out when I wasn’t wearing one every hump day.
Last week (five years later) she called me out for forgetting. Twin fans of the under-appreciated funny things in the world, Haya and I can still sit around for hours giggling together about stuff like poopwine (which, in case you were wondering, is a thing). This weekend Haya moved to Murderapolis, Money$ota, a city so lucky to have her they don’t even know. As a last cooking hurrah for a little while Haya and I made this deconstructed falafel pizza, inspired by one of my favorite Cambridge, MA spots, Veggie Planet. Crispy falafely goodness, tangy hummus, salty olives, and creamy tahini all on a soft pizza crust. Each bit feels like you’re wrapping your taste buds up in a huge hug (while wearing a big, fuzzy sweater).
- 1 12-ounce pizza dough, ready to use dough (buy pre-made or use THIS recipe)
- 4-5 falafel balls (see below)
- 1/2 cup hummus
- 1/4 to 1/2 red onion, sliced thinly
- 1/2 cup spinach
- 1/4 cup fresh or canned tomatoes
- handful of olives, sliced in half
- handful of parsley, chopped
- 1/4 cup tahini
- olive oil
Falafel
- about 2 cups chickpeas
- 1 small onion, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1-2 cloves garlic
- 1 1/2 Tablespoon flour
- 1 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- a pinch of ground cardamom
- vegetable or other oil (for frying)
This recipe will make several extra falafel, so halve the recipe if you don’t want leftovers 1. Start by making the falafel. Combine all the falafel ingredients in a food processor and pulse together until a rough, coarse meal forms. Scrape the sides down and incorporate into the frequently. Process until you have a loose meal but before it is paste-like. You want the mixture to hold together, but you don’t want it to turn into hummus. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. 2. Heat a skillet with enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Form falafel mixture into balls or patties and fry until golden on both sides. Fry in batches of 4-5 until the batter is gone. 3. Preheat the oven to 375*. Roll out the pizza dough and brush lightly with olive oil. Pop the crust in the oven for 4-5 minutes, or just long enough for it to start to get slightly golden. Remove and let it cool for a moment. Begin by spreading a layer of hummus over the whole pizza. Next, crumble falafel over the hummus with as much or as little as you’d like. Spread the tomatoes, red onions, spinach, olives and parsley liberally over the crust. Finish with a drizzle of tahini and pop it in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the veggies are cooked through. Serve warm!
Drizzle on some extra tahini et voilà!
