tb-two* staff

If hipsters can’t be trendy (because then they wouldn’t be hipsters) and some hipsters are vegans (which makes them trendy, doesn’t it?), the tumblr blog hipsterfood sets the confusion straight. Good food is good food, no matter what you call it. The blog’s authors, Cara and Bob, say on their blog’s “about” page that hipsterfood is “a vegan food blog (to show you that vegan food isn’t just for hipsters!)”

On their blog (hipsterfood.tumblr.com), Bob (a software engineer and student) and Cara (an artist in Upstate New York who also writes the Sew Indie blog and started Chickpea magazine with Bob last year) write that “this blog is named 'hipsterfood’ because we thought it was sort of laughable that people call vegan food 'hipster,’ the same way that if you wear too much eyeliner you’re called 'emo.’ It’s very silly, so we thought we’d go along with it. We plan to make stereotypically hipster food in the future, but the majority of our posts are just regular, awesome food.”

What is “stereotypically hipster” food? In an interview with ieatgrass.com, Bob and Cara say they “like to think hipster food is a mixture of stale pizza, obscure vegan delicacies, exotic-sounding spreads and drinks, and microbrews. Forever. Hipsterfood was really just a joke about how everyone identifies vegan food as some unattainable rich hip kid food, which it totally isn’t! Hipsterfood’s whole purpose is to show that veganism is affordable, simple, and fun—not exclusive, expensive and limiting. Anyone can do it.” (Gabrielle Dalip, Tarpon Springs High, contributed to this story.)

So, anyone, here are some yummy recipes from hipsterfood.tumblr.com:

Chickpea Burger
• 5 cups chickpeas
• ¾ cup rolled oats
• ½ cup ground rolled oats
• 2 tbsp ground flax seed
• ¼ cup water, ¾ cup oil
• spices
• Cook chickpeas. Working with them while still warm is a good idea; it makes them easier to break down.
• Place them in a bowl with rolled oats, ground rolled oats (I do that in my coffee/nut grinder), ground flax seed, water, oil (I used olive), heaping amounts of spices like oregano/thyme/sage/tarragon/parsley/etc., freshly ground pepper and a couple heaping pinches of sea salt. (Obviously you’ll want to taste the mixture once you’ve beaten it together, and add spices as needed. If you’re storing them for the week, keep in mind that the flavors intensify as they “age.”)
• Using a handheld or standing mixer, beat together the ingredients until well combined. (I like my burgers to be consistently textured but have a little bit of whole veggies/beans, so that’s what I shoot for.) Add water and/or oil as necessary (I had to, but not too much.) The mixture should start easily sticking together by itself; if not, add a little more ground rolled oats and/or oil, depending on if it’s too dry or moist. These burgers held together better than any I’ve made so far, so if you have any issues let me know and i can probably troubleshoot it.
• From there, form the mixture into patties about the size of your palm. I’ve found that bigger veggie burgers fall apart very easily, especially when flipping. This recipe makes 10 to 12 patties, so you could simply layer them with parchment paper in a sealable fridge container for later cooking.
• When cooking, there’s no real need to fry them in any extra oil, because of the oil content in the original mixture. Just place the burger on a high-heated flat pan and let each side crisp up on its own.
• Use bread of your choice and add yogurt sauce or mayo!

Watermelon Slushy
• Scoop out half a watermelon.
• Blend in a blender until it’s all liquid.
• Pour into ice cube trays, let freeze.
• Put the ice cubes back into the blender, add in juice from ½ a lemon and the zest of ½ an orange. Blend with water/watermelon juice to keep things moving.
• Blend until everything is smooth. Enjoy!

Apple Walnut Pancakes
• 1 cup flour            
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• a heaping pinch of salt        
• 1 cup soy milk (or almond)
• 2 tablespoon canola (or vegetable) oil    
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar (or any other sweet liquid, apple juice would be good with this recipe)
• ¼ cup chopped walnuts, crushed into smaller pieces
• ¼ cup chopped apple, into pieces about the width of a dime )
• Gently fold everything together until it comes to a consistent, chunky liquid. Lumps in the batter are a good sign — you don’t want to overmix it.
• Dollop each out, making them 3 to 4 tablespoon in size. Keep on low heat, to ensure even heating and no burning. (A pan that’s too hot will burn the outsides and keep the insides mushy — gross!)