Hasperat
I have been so, so, SO sick ever since I returned from NYC. I caught the nastiest cold I’ve had in a long while. When I’m sick, I hardly eat. Once I start to get my appetite back, the last thing I want to do is cook. In fact, sitting on the couch and watching Star Trek (more on that in a moment) with my husband is about all I’m up to. That means the food I make needs to be easy, fast, light, and healthy.
Enter hasperat. My new favorite sandwich.
The Star Trek fans among you will recognize the dish. Hasperat is a spicy wrap, made with brine, that’s often talked about and enjoyed by inhabitants of the planet Bajor. That’s about all the information given about it. I’m sure you all think I’m crazy right about now. Who makes imaginary food from Sci-Fi television shows?
I guess I do?
I’ve only recently become a Star Trek fan, and ever since my husband and I started watching it, I thought it’d be really fun (if not hopelessly nerdy) to create some alien food. I’ve considered Vulcan Plomeek Soup, Klingon Gagh, and Cardassian Yamok Sauce over asparagus. When my husband came home from the store today with some tortillas, I knew that Bajoran Hasperat was the way to go.
Are you all still there, or have I… uh… alienated you?
Oh boy.
Better get on with the recipe, huh. I promise you’ll like this sandwich regardless of your feelings about space travel, dilithium crystals, warp core breeches, holosuites, phasers, or the Dominion.
Hasperat is supposed to be really spicy and salty. Those of you who don’t like eye-watering food can easily make the mild version of this (I just had it, and it was delicious), but the addition of horseradish flavored hummus, or tabasco sauce, would make a more authentic dish. Well, if a recipe I made up to resemble imaginary food eaten by imaginary aliens on an imaginary planet can be called “authentic”.
Hasperat
For Two
2 10″ Wheat Tortillas
1/2 Cup Hummus (Any flavor, plain or horseradish is nice)
1 Small Cucumber, sliced very thin (about 1/2 cup)
1 Carrot, shredded (about 1/3 cup)
1 1/2 Tbs Tamari (or regular soy sauce)
1 1/2 Tbs Rice Vinegar
Black Pepper
2 Small Handfuls Baby Spinach
Hot Chili Sauce/Tabasco, optional
Using a mandoline, or your food processor, or a sharp knife, slice the cucumber very thinly and place in a large bowl. Add the carrot. Add tamari and rice vinegar and toss. Let marinate 5-10 minutes (or longer, if desired).
Warm your tortillas so they’re pliable. You can microwave them for a few seconds with a damp paper towel, heat them in a dry skillet, or (my favorite) hold them directly over the flame of your gas burning stove.
Spread the tortillas with hummus, 3-4 Tbs each, making sure you cover the entire surface. This will help the sandwich stick together. Arrange the cucumber slices in one layer, slightly overlapping. Add carrot, and sprinkle some fresh pepper over the top. Add a layer of baby spinach.
Roll up the wrap, tucking in the ends, and place on a hot grill pan to slightly warm and create pretty grill marks. You can do this in a regular pan if you don’t have a grill pan. Slice and eat immediately.
End transmission.
Holy crap, you are awesome!
dear lolo, please never make gagh. please? watching that stuff gave me nightmares as a kid that i’ve not fully recovered from. this wrap looks delicious though, and i’m battling a serious cold at the moment, so we’ll probably make it for dinner.
well it certainly looks cute on the plate.
My boyfriend and I have been obsessed with Star Trek ever since we found out that Vulcans are essentially vegan.
This looks delicious.
Holy Moly, that looks fantastic!!! Hope you make a full recovery soon!
hopelessly nerdy dishes trump elegant or exotic ones everyday in my book
That is the most clever thing ever.
Cute :-) and looks tasty, too!
Oh my god, Lolo, how much do I have a girlcrush on you? You made Bajoran food? That is SO AWESOME (in the nerdiest way possible but I like it). I can’t wait to see if you continue and make any other Star Trek influenced foods. :) Can’t wait to try it.
oh, my.
yuuummm.
Wow. You actually out-Star-Trek-geeked me.
This looks sooo good! My step-dad always calls me a Vulcan instead of Vegan. He’ll love it if i made this for him!!! He definitely think i’ve lost my non-meat eating mind!! LOL
Well, that’s amazing, and now I have “White and Nerdy” by Weird Al in my head. ;)
I wonder how a chili hummus would go with it. Oooo the possibilities.
I don’t know the first thing about sci-fi, but this looks great and I know some Trekkies I can feed it to :)
Wow! That is dedication to the sci-fi cause. And I was struggling with what to have for lunch today – I wanted something light and healthly – and you’ve solved it for me.
Can wait to show my Dad (we’re sci-fi geeks together – my little sister dispairs of us).
This is unbelievable awesome. I’m making it for lunch tomorrow.
Do Plomeek soup next!
duuuuuude! that’s genius! I tip my geek hat to you.
lol. It appears you have many nerdy fans (I feel proud to count myself as one of them). So yes, I was thrilled to see the Star Trek-inspired dish. I think gagh would be fun, as long as it’s in vegan form (like, seitan or tofu gagh… or something). Or, blood pie ;)
WOW… those look amazing! You really got perfect grill marks on those guys.
Haha, oh wow. You win.
Hey, would strong horseradish be gross in that? It’d be awesome if it could turn out to be really strong in some way, since by all accounts authentic hasperat is powerful stuff.
Found your site through the Tastespotting link–I loved this post. I must think of more clever things to do with food!
oh man! this is so awesome. i was a trek fan when i was younger, so this made me wrack my brain for all that fannish knowledge.
this looks darn tasty! :D
Your pictures amaze me!
A Star Trek cook book is available for purchase, that has recipes from many different alien cultures all throughout 4 of the different series. I don’t remember the title, but it is “written” by Neelix from Voyager. I know there is a recipe for Plomeek soup, Gagh, and Rokegh Blood Pie in it!!!
Anyway, your hasparet looks yummy!!
These look delicious and fresh. They remind me of summer….
Aaaah, this is incredible!! I am going to score episodes of Battlestar Galactica for more alien-inspired food possibilities… love your site, by the way!
I LOVE YOU. Seriously. Every time I watched “Preemptive Strike” I wanted to make hasperat, but didn’t have enough imagination to go that one step farther. And you did! I’m so happy! Everyone should watch more Next Gen– in this era of violence solves everything, it’s nice to see a tv show solve problems by working together. And in mauve Office Depot furniture, no less. :-D
I’m going to try this either tomorrow night or sometime this week, with chili oil instead of soy sauce (we’re a low-salt household and my normal soy sauce substitution might be too sweet here) and with roasted red pepper hummus. Maybe some julienned tofu? As my girlfriend says, hasperat is a regional dish.
Take care, and hope you’re recovering nicely.
Someone linked me to this blog for the first time today, and imagine my surprise when the most amazingly brilliant and nerdy dish ever was at the top of the page! This is fantastic and I’m totally going to try it out.
If you’re taking votes, I’d love a recipe for Yamok sauce :p
This is the best post I’ve read in a long time, you are a genious!
Do I sense a Star Trek-inspired cookbook coming along soon?!?!
Yeah, a Star Trek-inspired cookbook would be awesome! In all of the years that I’ve watched many, many Star Trek shows, I’ve never once thought to make any of the dishes. Truly a great post!
my husband is a huge star trek nerd & therefore i am kinda one too. those wraps look delicious!
Even when you are sick, you are adventurous, surprisingly creative, and wonderfully artistic with your recipes. I am so very delighted to see this dish; your senior nerd dad is speechless in his admiration. Nice job!
Wooo thanks for designing the perfect lunch for tomorrow!
Haha, yes I love it when I see intersections between subcultures. Sci-fi + vegan= love. I’ll have to try this.
yr funny
Although I am not a vegan- nowhere near in fact- I love your blog! It has some of the best-looking recipes that I have seen online! By the way, LOVE the Star Trek inspired food! I love finding recipes to recreate from TV!
YUM!!! perfect for lunches to take to work!!!
really good!!! 10x for all your great posts!
Oh it looks great – I will have to make it! I think I might try using umeboshi plum vinegar (which has a nice salty kick) instead of the regular rice vinegar. Thanks!
oooohhhhh! these are so tasty. i made them for my dinner last night, and i added some sliced avacado. my grill marks weren’t as pretty, but that’s cool…! i packed one in my lunch for today and my stomach is already growling…thanks for the recipe
loooove the post – very funny for an ex-star trek fan! i used to watch the next generation in bed way back when i lived in the dorms (and now i feel old). your version of Hasperat looks very yummy. every time you do a new post i end up at the grocery store on the way home to try your new creations. guess what i’m trying tonight?!
I enjoyed your blog before, but you have stolen my heart with Bajoran Hasperat!
Totally awesome! I’m definitely printing this one out.
I love it! Your blog always enchants. I’m not a Trekkie, but I can’t help trying out alien food. ;-)
As a Sci-fi freak, Star Trek fan and hopeless foodie, I was so freakin’ excited to StumbleUpon your blog! I go back and forth between being Vegan and the Dark Side all the time. I’m definitely adding your blog to my blogroll! Thanks again for a much needed sci-fi fix.
who beautiful!
how beautiful, is what i meant to say ;)
What they all said, I am in awe of your disclosure of Star Trek addiction, something I only reveal to very close friends :)
But don’t bother with the Gagh, promise?