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Vegan Greek Salad

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Vegan Greek Salad // The Pancake Princess

Reasons why business school is awesome:

learning (like about how compliments can help achieve world domination)
free roll-your-own burrito dinners, professionally-boxed lunches, bad (but free) wine
you get to cut the leash to your 8-5 office desk
i.e: midday swims and lunching on the sunny patio
a rare combination of humble but brilliant AND funny teachers
an atmosphere of smart people. genius is contagious, right?
you get to attend TA sessions and stare at your cute boyfriend at the same time because he is the TA.

Vegan Greek Salad // The Pancake Princess

Reasons why business school is not awesome:

negative paychecks and the constant forgetting of that fact
omg MATH! No.
having to find a job.

Vegan Greek Salad // The Pancake Princess
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Vegan Greek Salad // The Pancake PrincessBasically, business school is the bee’s knees. I’m enjoying it a lot even though I feel like I’m drowning sometimes. It’s an enjoyable kind of drowning.

Vegan Greek Salad // The Pancake Princess

Vegan Greek Salad // The Pancake Princess

On a completely different note, after a jam–packed summer of traveling, I finally reunited with one of my favorite people over dinner a few months ago. She good-naturedly came over to my apartment for the zillionth so I could feed her my latest experiment, and, in typical Amanda fashion, contributed an amazingly delicious salad. It was so simple–just chopped romaine, tomatoes and cucumber, drowned in a zippy, acidic dressing buoyed with fat chunks of salty feta. Though Greek salads (at least the Americanized kind) typically include generous slices of red onion, Amanda grates onion into the dressing instead because she doesn’t like biting into big chunks of onion–genius! Okay, not only that–she also puts DILL in the dressing which makes it so incredibly fragrant and extra delicious.

So, like any self-respecting food blogger, I stole her recipe and am now posting it with just the slightest variations. Instead of feta, I used homemade vegan almond feta which may sound horrible, but I promise–like business school–it’s actually wonderful. It’s just a slight variation on the cheese in this tart, and takes a tiny bit of extra prep time. You can bake the “cheese” in little chunks to mimic chunks of feta, which will yield little salty, slightly chewy, savory nuggets, or you can bake it in a ramekin, which will yield a softer cheese more akin to goat cheese which you can gently blob over the top of your salad. I liked it both ways, but would probably go the crumbled route for salad if I had to choose.

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Vegan Greek Salad

Ingredients

  • For the vegan feta:
  • 1 cup almonds
  • ½ cup water
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2.5 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt

  • For the dressing:
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • ½ tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2-3 tablespoons grated red onion
  • ½ teaspoon dried dill
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • sea salt and pepper to taste

  • For the salad:
  • 1 head romaine lettuce rinsed and torn into bite-sized pieces
  • ½ large cucumber diced
  • 2-3 roma tomatoes diced

Instructions

  • Soak the almonds in very hot water for about an hour. Once the skins are wrinkly and loose, remove the skins by pinching one end and popping the almond loose. Blend the skinned almonds with the water, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and salt until smooth. Line a small bowl with cheesecloth and scoop almond mixture into cheesecloth. Place in a strainer and drain for up to 12 hours, if time permits. If not, simply squeeze as much water out as possible.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Crumble the almond mixture into pebble-sized clumps (resembling feta) onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Alternatively, divide cheese mixture between two greased standard ramekins and bake for about 40 minutes, or until browned around the edges.
  • Whisk all dressing ingredients together, seasoning to taste. Pour dressing over lettuce, cucumber and tomato in a large bowl; toss to coat. Finish with a sprinkling of almond feta!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. laurasmess

    This looks absolutely delicious Erika! I’ve never thought of almond feta (prior to today, ahem… as I just read your other Ottolenghi-esque post) but this looks divine. As for business school? Argh. I don’t think I could survive the math element and… well, being broke (I’m going to be broke when I get home from holidays and I am not looking forward to it). It will be worth it in the end though!!! And at least you get to see Erik in his element, haha (although I have no idea what a TA is, what is that?!). Anyway, yum. I want to make this. Like, now. Wait, I’m in Scotland with no kitchen… *sob sob sob*

    • erika

      Awww thanks Laura!!! Ahaha I laughed so much through your comment. Thank you for breaking up the monotony of studying! A TA is a teaching assistant…so he runs review sessions and sits in on class and it’s just hilarious having him be around all my classmates.

      Also SCOTLAND! How exciting!!!!!! Hope you’re having a WONDERFUL time and can’t wait to read all about it :)))

  2. Shikha @ Shikha la mode

    Can you stop reuniting with everyone except me??! And Erik is the TA – that’s hilarious, and definitely a plus 1 for business school! I want to hear more about what all you are learning so we can open our business together (not joking)!!

    • erika

      Haha yes we must get together soon!! Come to Houston!

      I’ve been pondering turning this into a food/twenty-something-lost-in-career-space blog, so don’t worry–plentyyy of b-school insights coming your way 😉

  3. Alana | Fix Feast Flair

    Vegan feta is brilliant as is adding onions to the dressing because I’m also not a fan of the raw chunks all up in my salad. As for business school. I’m all kinds of jealous. I am in that “I miss school” space and so wish I could go back–maybe I might just have to! You’ve inspired me.

    • erika

      Thanks so much Alana! Seriously, raw chunks of onion in salad are the worst. You should go back to school!!!!!!!!!! It really is so much fun and you appreciate it SOOOO much more after being in the working world, let me tell you 😉 What kind of school are you thinking of going back to?

      • Alana | Fix Feast Flair

        I would LOVE to go back and do something more design oriented. I went to school for Political Science and while it was lovely, I am not using my degree at all and it would be great to learn how to design my own stuff versus giving creative art direction to my boyfriend!! Again, so lucky that you’re back in school. I totally get how it’s a lot easier to appreciate it the second time around.

      • erika

        Wait–are we soul mates?! If I hadn’t chosen business school, I would have loved to pursue a degree in graphic design or some other awesome type of design that I probably don’t know about. Working at IDEO is my dream!! And I majored in English which is basically probably as useful as majoring in Poly Sci, but equally lovely 😉 You must keep me updated on your school thoughts–you gotta live the dream for both of us! 🙂

        Also, just read on your about page that you’re from Maui! What part of Maui? I’m currently in business school with a guy who I thiiink is from Maui…unless it’s Honolulu. Ha now I’m not sure I’ll have to double check!

  4. Ala

    Erik is TAing your class?! Giiiirl you make this business school stuff out to be a lot more exciting than I’d ever imagine. Yeah lit people doing great things in the world!! Hope you’re enjoying this crazy exciting time served with this killer salad!

  5. The Vegan 8

    This salad looks heavenly Erika!!! I laughed out loud too at your comment “an enjoyable kind of drowning”….hahaha, I didn’t know that was such a thing! But, I’m glad you are enjoying business school, that is so awesome.
    I am loving this dressing with the added dill….I’m soooo in love with dill. It smells and tastes so awesome in dressings. I agree too, that is an amazing idea to shred the onion instead of chop, wow!

    • erika

      Thanks Brandi 😉 Dill really IS the most awesome, fragrant ingredient! It’s probably my second or third favorite next to basil and rosemary–I just always forget about it!

  6. Sophie

    Wow, yum! I love this salad with the almond-cheese and delightfully onion-spiked dressing! Glad you are having…. “fun”….? at business school 😉 😉 At least the TA is easy on the eyes, like you said! Go girl!

  7. Melissa

    Hehe Oh Erika, you make me smile… ” It’s an enjoyable kind of drowning.” I love it! So good to hear school is going well. Also, fresh dill is on the top of my list! If there’s a fresh bundle of dill around, I’m all over it! Excited to try this salad recipe.. yum!

    • erika

      OH HI MELISSA!!!! I feel like it’s been so long!!! Thanks for your sweet words, as always 🙂 I actually used dried dill in this recipe but I bet it would be so amazing with fresh dill! Is it shameful that I don’t think I’ve ever had fresh dill? Must get on that–thanks for the inspo 🙂 Hope all is well with you in lovely Austin! It’s starting to cool down in Houston! <3

  8. Choc Chip Uru

    A BF TA? Not the worst position, not at all 😛
    Lovely looking Greek salad, it looks so addictive! I know once I start I don’t stop with most lovely dishes 😉

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

    • erika

      Oh my GOSH Shelly thanks so much!!! I’ve been such a fan of your gorgeous blog for ages–I’m so honored to have you visit my teensy space :))) I hope you do get a chance to try this feta out because it’s basically my new favorite thing. Hope you love!! <333

    • erika

      Haha yes! I can’t even tell you how many times he’s saved my butt by explaining finance concepts to me. So so helpful. And you’re right–can’t complain about free wine! 😉

  11. Nancy @ gottagetbaked

    What, free wine?! Free burritos?! Erik is your TA?! That all sounds awesome! Yeah, the working hard, studying and worrying about work sucks. MATH is the bane of my existence. I purposely majored in the arts so that I could avoid it (yet still was forced into taking a statistics class which I sucked royally in but whatevs). Why can’t life be perfect? Girl, I hate feta but your almond feta sounds delicious! You’re blowing my mind here. And dill in the dressing is an amazing idea. I luvs it.

    • erika

      Okay so we are basically twins. I did not take a single math class in college, though now I WISH I had taken statistics! Would have been SO helpful. Ah well, I’d say you still made it as a fancy lawyer 😉

  12. Nora

    This cheese recipe is awesome!!! I never thought to bake it. You are blowing my mind!

    PS: Glad you are enjoying school, for the most part! Math never gets more fun, but it does get more manageable as you go on 🙂

    • erika

      Thanks Nora!!! Keep sending those nuggets of encouraging wisdom my way–I’ll need it in a few weeks when I’m in the middle of midterms. Ahh!!!

  16. Katie (The Muffin Myth)

    Your boyfriend is your TA? That is awesome. I love the idea of grating the onion into the dressing as I too detest biting into a hunk of onion. My trick is to marinate the onions in the dressing to reduce their bite, but I think this is gonna change my Greek salad game. And that almond feta, dang girl. Gotta try it out!

    • erika

      Haha yes!!! It’s ridiculously convenient considering Finance is one of my worst subjects. So glad you’re into onion-grating idea too–marinating the onions is an AWESOME idea. That would have helped me through so many salads with giant chunks of onion in the past…I think you’ll love the almond feta, so hope you get a chance to try it! 🙂