Turning Gross into Dip
80P and I attended a latke themed Chanukah party this weekend. Like most Saturdays, we were still hungover well after the sun set and therefore arrived at the open house party in its last hour. We were starving. In the car ride over I lusted after the idea of greasy potatoes. When we got to the party there was ONE latke left. Sure, I’ll take that as a Chanukah miracle, but one just wasn’t going to cut it.
80 and I stayed at the party for a while, chatting with old coworkers about lobbying for the banking industry, receiving health insurance through organized labor, and gushing over Annise Parker‘s pending victory as Houston’s mayor. Yes, I know. It’s so very DC.
The party landed 80 and I in the unfamiliar chain-filled land of Northern Virginia. We asked for a dinner recommendation and settled on Silver Diner. Obviously I chose breakfast for dinner in the form of pancakes, scrambled eggs and a biscuit (which was a sub for bacon/sausage.) 80 ordered a meat-heavy sandwich on buttered sourdough featuring chicken, ham and bacon. The sandwich came with fries and this eerily green-tinted cole slaw. I stole a few fries from 80 but we both refused to try the cole slaw, citing our mutual dislike for the side, especially a green tinted one.
The next morning 80 woke up dedicating his stomach to vegetables. I obliged.
Cole Slaw Dip
I know. We both hate cole slaw. While I’m not sure exactly what goes into cole slaw, I know it’s kinda creamy and has vegetables. Here’s a more dip-like mixture.
In a food processor, finely grate a carrot and 2 or 3 stalks of celery. Remove the veggies and add in a spoonful of cream cheese and juice of half a lime. Mix that into the carrot and celery and pour in yogurt (3:1 yogurt to cream cheese.) Season with a few springs of fresh thyme, celery salt, cumin, cayenne, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Serve with extra celery, carrots and chips.
LOL. I love the idea of this dip. Coleslaw isn’t so bad, once you get away from the thousands of interpretations on it.
I’ve been reading your blog for a while and I must say I’m disappointed at the criticism of NoVA as “chain-filled”. It’s very typical of DC-elitists and transplants and is so unoriginal. NoVA inside the Beltway has some of the best ethnic and excellent non-chain American restaurants in the DC area. And yes, there are lots of chains, but I’ve never seen so many elitist/yuppie/hipsters line up to get all materialistic as when I visited the chain-filled DC-USA shopping center. Turns out all those hill staffers and bearded fixie riders like to buy their TP in bulk, just like us!
Silver Diner? You just happened to choose one of the worst over-priced chains in ALL of DC. Let’s see what you could have had if you had only expanded your hung-over mind:
Silver Diner Merrifield – right across the street from this joint is Four Sisters, one of the best Vietnamese restaurants in the whole metro area, just ask NPR, WaPo, and the City Paper. Craving greasy food? Grevey’s a few blocks south is a Fairfax institution and is cheaper with comparable food quality than Silver Diner.
Silver Diner Clarendon – within a few blocks you could have eaten at Liberty Tavern, Mexicali Blues, Hunan One, Eventide, etc. etc. etc. All are locally owned, all have amazing food, all are about as expensive as that overpriced diner you suffered through.
Silver Diner Tysons – well, you got me here, because this area is rife with chains. BUT! you’re less than 10 miles from DC, so suck it up and wait until you get back to your side of the river.
interesting do keep an open mind about all dinner, drive-ins and dives oh that’s guy F show
and make sure you thank 80p for sharing
@Plethora – I have at best luke warm feelings toward VA, and I’m a local gal. I do have to say the silver diner is not the best VA has to offer, but surely you recognize that from an urban planning stand point NoVa is a damned mess of strip malls and poorly planned roads. NoVa is indeed benefiting from a culinary renaissance due to growing immigrant communities, and yet the old Dixie guard is busily stigmatizing and isolating these communities, passing crazy anti-immigrant ordinances by referendum, because they’d rather keep VA bland, uninteresting, mediocre diner country.
@gansie – can’t believe you linked to David Brooks’ piece on Hanukkah!
Gotta agree with Plethora, although he/she was a bit rude about it. And Maids, please relax, not everyone from Virginia is racist. I promise. Please, please, please stop stereotyping and insulting my home. It isn’t perfect, but if you focus on the food, it’s hard to not be excited about it. <3
Ohh, geez, I think my comment sounds way too harsh! I didn’t mean it that way. Love you both! 😉