VEGAN BLACK BEAN SWEET POTATO QUESADILLAS

I successfully made it through 5 years of living in New York without a mouse problem. Sure, there were the pantry moths and that teeny-tiny roach infestation in my building and a rogue “what the FUCK IS THAT” every once in a while, but as far as I knew, I had gone through my life here without a single Mickey or Minnie in sight.

Until last week.

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SPICY POMEGRANATE GUACAMOLE

As I sit at my desk on this blustery afternoon, my mind naturally turns to what I'm going to eat for dinner. Do I want to spend a couple hours at the grocery store, stirring and measuring and roasting after a long day?

Fuck no. I want a bowl the size of my head filled with guacamole. With some crunchy things to dip thrown in for balance. A reasonable request, I would say.

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VEGAN NACHOS WITH ROASTED CORN GUACAMOLE + SALSA VERDE

Here at Gateau | Gato, we love nachos. LOVE them. When we're together, if we aren't cooking, photographing, writing or editing, there's a pretty good chance we're drinking beer and wine, respectively, eating nachos and talking about the scorched dessert that is the New York dating scene. What is it about nachos that makes them such happy food? How did we get so lucky, to have this amazing dish on offer at most bars with a happy hour? Do they come from the heavens with the angels and scary babies and whatnot?

Not exactly, but their history is still pretty cool!

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CUCUMBER WATERMELON FETA SALAD

So, apparently the watermelon - that round bastion of summer, picnics and ingenious bongs - has a long, murky history. No one actually knows how the watermelon we know and love came to be, and while there are quite a few candidates for its predecessor, horticulturists are pretty damn confused. One such horticulturist, Harry Paris, blames taxonomists from the 18th century (those tricky bastards), who messed up their melon classifications. Also, fun fact, the name for our modern watermelon - Citrullus lanatus - is wrong. Lanatus means "hairy" (um, ew) and is supposed to be the name for a different, fuzzier melon.

National Geographic wrote all about this here, and it's a super interesting read. I recommend tucking into it when you have a party to go to and want to bring along some cool science facts, or if you're feeling down on yourself. At least you aren't the person who misclassified a watermelon.

Watermelon might have a confusing backstory, but that makes it all the more interesting! Not only is it refreshing and the most beautiful color, but it's mysterious and maybe it rides a motorcycle that your parents would HATE.

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SPICY CHERRY SALSA

There is a magical place in Michigan called Traverse City, and it's kind of like the Emerald City of Oz, only instead of everything being green, everything is cherry. There's a huge cherry festival during the summer, when the trees are blooming and the weather isn't truly heinous. Cherries are in everything, and that isn't an exaggeration. With the cherry boom, cherries work their way into anything remotely edible. This is proof that God/Gods/higher powers/divine felines exist, and that they are good.

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