This morning I woke up a little hazy from last night’s escapades, but made do with a strong pot of coffee and a good breakfast. I ate in parts: Peach Chobani Greek yogurt, sweet potato cranberry coconut muffin, Honeybell orange.
After taking my sweet time getting ready and lazing around, I met Caitlin for lunch at Sacred Chow, an organic vegan (and Kosher) cafe downton.
We both got the Souper Hero Combo (soup + 1/2 sandwich); I got a bowl of Sweet Potato and Cassava Soup with dill and Orange Blackstrap Seitan (orange-molasses seitan w/ red-hot onions and Thai ginger bbq sauce on a whole wheat baguette).
This was so good. My babysitter used to use cassava in her soups and I forgot how much I love it! The sandwich was quite hearty as well, and left my mouth burning (in a good way!).
We also hit up the In God We Trust sample sale, where I fell in love with this beret. I’ve never been a “beret person”, but this was too cute to pass up!
Caitlin and I parted ways, and I met my friend Levi to see the new Mel Gibson movie, Edge of Darkness. I really liked it! It reminded me a lot of Michael Clayton, with more blood. We snacked on gummies in the theater.
I had big plans to do some work while using the bike at the gym, but it was 7:15 by the time I got home and I was just ready to wind down the day. No biggie, but I really need to start being smarter about cross and strength training… I feel like I’ve taken a sort of lackadaisical approach to this half-marathon I’m supposedly training for. I have a 7 mile run scheduled for tomorrow but my knee still hurts from Thursday’s… if it gives me trouble in the morning, I’m just going to run myself over to the gym and get on that bike instead.
So, in place of gym tales, I present you with a tasty treat:
Sweet Potato Falafel Salad
I’ve been thinking of ways to recreated One Lucky Duck’s Falafel Salad at home without a dehydrator or pricey ingredients. I’d planned on making a sweet potato version of baked falafel with chickpeas, but lo and behold: no chickpeas in the pantry! I made do with black beans instead, and it turned out mighty fine if I do say so myself.
Sweet Potato “Falafel”
Inspired by this recipe
- 1 handful parsley or cilantro, chopped
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 sweet potato baked or microwaved until fully cooked, mashed
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1/2 cup cooked black beans
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- salt
- garnishes: paprika, sesame seeds
Preheat oven to 375. Mix first 6 ingredients together, gently mashing beans with a fork. Season with salt, to taste.
Coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Form balls out of 1 tbsp worth of sweet potato mixture and sprinkle with sesame seeds and paprika. Bake for 30 minutes, turning once.
Makes about 12 balls.
Tahini Sauce
- 1/2 cup sesame tahini
- 1/2 cup water
- juice of 1/4 lemon
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp agave nectar
- salt to taste
Mix ingredients together in a bowl. Lick spoon.
Raw “Tabouli”
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1/3 head of cauliflower (about 2 handfuls)
- 1 handful parsley/cilantro
Pulse cauliflower in food processor until finely chopped. Pulse in red pepper. Pulse in parsley until the mixture resembles confetti.
Not a bad alternative, I’d say! My version is on the left… and doesn’t cost $17.
For dessert, I made strawberry banana soft serve with chocolate chips. However, I got a little impatient and didn’t wait for the fruit to fully freeze; it ended up being more of a smoothie!
It’s 10:30, but I really want to get some work done before I go to bed, so I’m going to shower, make the bed, and read 100 pages or so. Big plans for a Saturday night at home!
wow girl that looks great! AND your lunch date!
I’m not a “hat” person at all, but that one is adorable!
<3 <3
Your salad looks far better than the $17 one – I think the sesame tahini really makes it!
I’m having a Saturday night at home too!!! I love your new hat! It’s so cute on you! Your hair is really getting long!
Yum for falafel, I’m going to have to try your recipe. And I love how your gunny candy says “Extra Sauer!” I love fun foreign things!!!
Wow, Sacred Chow sounds incredible! I’m putting it on my list
What a cute hat! Red is totally your color.
I can’t wait to try the falafel. I love falafel!
I’m going to chime in with everyone else and just say, I love your hat
The falafel looks delish and I like that it’s baked instead of fried
this Levi guy sounds awesome.
Cute hat! Sacred Chow is on my list of places to go next time I am in the city
Have a great Sunday!
Great recipe here, the muffins in the last post = awesome looking. And the beret..you’re rockin it sassy chica style and i love it!
It’s funny that you are anti-beret, because that hat is so YOU. Adorable!
sacred chow is on my list of places to try- glad to hear you liked it!
I was thinking of going to Sacred Chow last weekend after seeing it on Yelp. I’ll have to try it out next time!
Falfel and sweet potatoes are my two favorite foods. I don’t see where it could go wrong combined together!
Good luck with your half marathon training, it’s easy to get side tracked in the winter. Hopefully you can train today!
That hat is so cute!!! Tres mignon!
Your eats always look so good!
Your hat is killer–so cute!!
And I’m lovin the salad as well. I love recreating special or expensive dishes at home. Not only is it cheaper, it usually ends up tasting better, too!
It was a sweet-potato themed day, apparently! Smoothie looks great (I wouldn’t have waited for it to freeze fully, either).
That’s so weird, I saw Edge of Darkness last night as well! I really liked it, though I kept jumping onto my friend whenever people got shot haha.
Your buret is so adorabe, what a great find!
I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend:)
Your recipe looks fantastic! I’ll certainly have to give it a try! I’m glad you had such a wonderful kick-off to the weekend! What’s your favorite Haribo flavor?
i die for that hat.
also, those haribo pasta remind me SO MUCH of studying abroad in europe! i haven’t seen them stateside yet (i’m jealous of yours).
The Sacred Cow sounds amazing. I’m jealous of all the delicious restaurants you have in NYC!!
Your recipe for sweet potato falafel looks as good as, if not better than the One Lucky Duck version.
A totally fabulous day! Coffee always makes everything better <3! The beret is so cute on you- an awesome buy. Great falafel too- yum! I love sweet potato anything. Hope you got your worky done
sacred chow- 100% hardcore. hahah i love it
i could never pull off a beret but you look adorable!
have a great rest of the weekend girly!
oh ma gawd. a mediterranean meal? YES PLEASE!
i love love love that beret on you
hope you wear it a lot girl!
your falafel recipe sounds amazing! i can’t wait to try it
cauliflower is the best rice substitute
check your mail tomorrow! the roons should be there!
have a great night <3
Wow, orange blackstrap seitan sounds amazing!
PS Supah-cute hat, girl:)
Your new hat is so cute! You are very stylish =)
I wish I could go to that resturant too Im so jealous of all your fabulous eats.
GENIUS RECIPE. its already bookmarked
[...] weekend I tested Lilveggiepatch’s sweet potato falfel and raw tabouli (I don’t think this is on your recipe page, Katie, definitely add [...]
[...] stashed our bags and coats and headed to the starting line (where we bumped into Caitlin, who was right next to [...]
[...] realized I had all of the ingredients for Katie’s sweet potato falafel, which I’d bookmarked a couple of days ago. I used garbanzos instead of black beans and [...]
Awesome job on this post.