[1] No matter what cut of steak you’re cooking, a homemade steak sauce adds palate excitement (photo © Tom’s Kitchen Chelsea).

[2] More restaurants are slicing the steak in the kitchen, making it easier for the diner to cut bite-size pieces (photo © Barbacoa | Boise).

[3] How about a sliced porterhouse (photo © The Jones Family Kitchen | Belgravia).

[4] Chimichurri tops a line of sliced steak (photo © Roast Restaurant).

[5] An extra treat: a choice of two ormore steak sauces (photo © The Jones Family Kitchen | Belgravia).

A word about National Steak Day, a new holiday created by a cloaked group of steak restaurants and online sellers of beef*. We can’t find who set up the website, which proclaimed the holiday on April 25th, 2019. It may have originated in the U.K. It may have only been held in 2019.

The timing isn’t great for National Steak Day. April 27th is National Prime Rib Day. And an earlier, risqué holiday, proclaims Steak and a [Sexual Act] Day on March 14th. June is National Steakhouse Month.

Questions notwithstanding, we’re taking the day to present five updated steak sauce concepts from chefs nationwide.

The goal of the chefs was to give the classics some trend-forward flavor. Via Flavor & The Menu, a website for chefs to find inspiration for their recipes, we present, in alphabetical order:
 
 
5 STEAK SAUCE RECIPE UPDATES
 
 
1. CHIMICHURRI SAUCE: The garlic-parsley-vinegar assertiveness of this Argentinian classic cuts through the richness of steak (here’s a recipe). For a contemporary version:

 
 
2. HORSERADISH SAUCE: To the classic, creamy horseradish heat (here’s a recipe), add:

 
 
3. HOLLANDAISE SAUCE: This classic French mother sauce is creamy and unctuous but a bit bland. Bearnaise sauce, a secondary mother sauce, kicks up the flavor by adding tarragon and shallots to a wine reduction.

But hollandaise can be the base for any bold flavor.

 
 
4. BORDELAISE SAUCE: This classic red wine sauce can be tweaked with:

 
 
5. PEPPERCORN SAUCE: This lightly creamed, peppery sauce with brandy accents, can be modernized with the addition of:

 
 
Take the plunge and make a new steak sauce. Creativity is contagious!
 
 
> CHECK OUT THE DIFFERENT CUTS OF BEEF. <
 
 
 
 
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*To take part in National Steak Day your business will need to offer at least one steak at a 25% discount on April 2019, or a special menu/offer with added value for the customer. Your business will have its own dedicated webpage which will showcase your steak offer. Customers will be able to download vouchers to redeem your offer(s).

Every year for Earth Day, April 22nd, we try to implement one small thing to help save the planet. For years, we’ve been carrying empty cans and bottles back home to recycle. We established a “Saturday seek-out” to find leftovers and produce from the past week that is about to expire, and we eat them before they become food waste, a major contributor to climate change.

This year we discovered For Good compostable food wrap and zipper bags. If you’ve been hearing about the dangers of microplastics, the impact of plastic bags on the environment, and some dangers of plastic food wraps, you need to take a look at the products from For Good.

For Good is a family of sustainable, compostable household staples. The brand has wraps and bags that break down into carbon and water, leaving no trace of microplastics. You can get earth-friendly, feel-good:

 
They are as sustainable as they are functional and convenient. They are:

 
One percent of every purchase goes to providing nutritious meals to food-insecure communities.

HEAD TO FOR GOOD AND ORDER SOME BETTER-FOR-THE-EARTH SUPPLIES.

There’s free shipping on your first order

[1] For Good’s compostable food wrap (both photols © For Good).

[2] There are compostable zipper bags in three sizes.

*FSC, the Forest Stewardship Council is an international non-profit, multistakeholder organization established in 1993 that promotes responsible management of the world’s forests.

[1] A toast to Queen Elizabeth (photo © AG Photographer | Canstock Photo).

[2] There are two matcha holidays: February 6th in Japan and May 2nd in the U.S. You can celebrate both (photo © Matcha Co. | Unsplash).

[3] Hibiscus iced tea with blueberries (photo © Blueberry Council).

April 21st is the birthday of England’s Queen Elizabeth, born in 1926. It’s also National Tea Day in the U.K., created in her honor. But there are many more national tea holidays in the U.S., and others to celebrate worldwide.

So, fellow tea lovers: get ready to celebrate year-round. There’s at least one holiday in every month except July.

(July is National July Belongs to Blueberries Month, so perhaps some blueberry iced tea—photo #3?)

The holidays originated in the U.S., except as noted.

But no matter what country or people established the holiday, you can celebrate alongside them.

For National Caffeine Awareness Month (March), celebrate with decaffeinated tea or herbal tea.
 
 
WORLD TEA HOLIDAYS & RELATED DAYS

 
 
> The history of tea.
 
 
> The history of iced tea.
 
 
> The history of tea bags.
 
 
> The history of afternoon tea.
 
 
> The different types of tea.

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*The Nibble created this holiday in honor of Anna, Duchess of Bedford, who created the custom of afternoon tea. She was born on September 3, 1783. Here’s the story of afternoon tea.

†There are two Japanese Tea Days celebrated in Japan, plus other tea days.

‡The world’s tea-producing countries established International Tea Day in 2004, to draw attention to the impact that the tea trade has on workers and growers. Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, and Vietnam.

Here’s a quick-and-easy chickpea salad for National Chickpea Day, April 21st (photo #1). You may know today’s legume honoree by one of its other names: ceci or cece (Italian), chana or Kabuli chana (Northern India), Egyptian pea, garbanzo (Spanish), gram or Bengal gram (British India).

By any name, chickpeas are protein-packed with protein and a rich source of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Here are 10 science-backed health benefits of chickpeas.

Spell them chickpeas or chick peas, serve them as a side, enjoy them as a snack, and add them to soup.

Chickpeas can be mashed into dip (like hummus), tossed into a salad, made into falafel, and served with everything from breakfast eggs to dinner pasta.

Today’s recipe serves chickpeas Italian-style, with tomato sauce and salame (the correct spelling for what Americans chose to write as “salami”).

Thanks to Veroni for the recipe, which uses the company’s Salame Milano in the salad. The style of salame is an ancient one, characterized by an intense red color and a flavor that’s delicate and sweet, rather than spicy.

Here are Veroni’s other salame styles.

If you don’t eat pork, substitute meat of choice, including vegan, wheat-based seitan. Shrimp works nicely.

The recipe begins below, after we answer the question: Why is it called a salad if there are no raw vegetables?

> There are more delicious chickpea recipes below.

> The history of chickpeas.

> Is the chickpea a pea or a bean?

> The different types of beans and legumes.
 
 
WHY IS IT CALLED “SALAD” IF THERE ARE NO GREENS?

Think chicken salad, egg salad, potato salad, pasta salad, Waldorf salad, and so on: No greens here! What “binds” them together is a dressing, with salt.

“Salad” derives from the Latin word for salt, sal. “Salad” has nothing to do with vegetables and everything to do with the salt that enhances the flavor of the dish.

A salad can refer to any number of ingredients—fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins, and other ingredients that can be mixed or topped with dressings that contain salt. (Yes, even a sweet dressing contains a pinch or more of salt.)

Where did the greens come into the picture?

What we now think of as the classic dinner salad of greens and other raw vegetables has its roots in the first century C.E., in Greek and Roman cuisine.

The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (460 B.C.E. to 370 B.C.E.) believed that vegetables were easily digested (not true—they can be hard to digest). He taught his patients to eat a salad before the main course.

The salads were made with seasonal, chopped raw vegetables, dressed with oil, vinegar, and salt. They were nearly identical to the raw vegetable salads served today [source].

Here’s more of the history of salad.
 
 
RECIPE: CHICKPEA SALAD WITH SALAME & GREEK YOGURT

This chickpea salad is served with sliced bread (toasted country bread is best!), but it’s not a spread per se: It’s spoonable, not spreadable!

It’s also served with a side of Greek yogurt, in the manner of the sour cream garnish for chili.
 
Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
Preparation

1. HEAT the oil in a saucepan, and add the chopped onion and the salami.

2. SAUTÉ, stirring often. When the onion becomes transparent, add the chickpeas and onion mix, and simmer for another 5 minutes.

3. ADD the tomato purée, salt, pepper, and oregano. Continue cooking, covered, for another 15 minutes or until the sauce has reduced.

4. SERVE with Greek yogurt and sliced bread as desired.
 
 
MORE CHICKPEA RECIPES

In addition to falafel and hummus—two chickpea-based Middle Eastern staples that have been embraced by Americans, try:

 
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*Veroni Salame Milano is made from lean portions of Italian pork, which is finely minced and flavored with a blend of sea salt, black pepper, spices, and natural flavors. After seasoning, the sausage mass is placed into a special cotton bag and matured in a natural micro-climate.

Quality meat is used: the shoulder, the loin, and the trimmings of all of the most prized cuts. The quality of the fat is of equal importance.

The fat used is obtained from the guanciale, the jowls, which is the most valuable fat from the pig. It is combined with subcutaneous fat to give the product the right softness [source].

[1] Chickpea salad with salame. The recipe is below (photo © Veroni).

[2] Dried chickpeas (photo © Polina Tankilevitch | Pexels).

[3] Freshly-harvested chickpeas, before they’re dried. You can use them raw or cooked in a variety of dishes (photo © Hannah Kaminsky | Bittersweet Blog).

[4] Toss steamed (canned) or roasted chickpeas into any green salad; here, it’s kale (photo © Saffron Road).

[5] Or, toss them into any protein salad: chicken, egg, shrimp, tuna, etc. Here’s the recipe for this tuna-and-chickpea salad (photo © DeLallo).

[6] Pasta e Ceci is a famous Italian chickpea soup. Here’s the recipe Here’s the recipe (photo © DeLallo).

[7] Hummus, the most common use of chickpeas in the U.S. (photo © Monika Grabkowska | Unsplash).

[1] Stellar Braids, vegan butter braids in four flavors (photos #1 and #2 © Stellar Snacks).

[2] Crunchy pretzel braids with a side of crudités.

[3] Monk fruit melons growing on a vine (photo © Clean Plates).

[4] Vegan butter from Miyoko’s. Miyoko’s vegan cheese and butter were a Nibble Top Pick Of The Week (photo © Miyoko’s Creamery).

We have a new pretzel passion: Stellar Braids from Stellar Snacks. Unveiled to the trade earlier this year, Stellar Braids are a line of flavor-forward, vegan*, non-GMO, no MSG, kosher (certified by OU) pretzels.

Founded by a mother-daughter team in Carson City, Nevada, the pretzels have made their way to stores nationwide—and online, of course.

We like pretzels, and the flavored versions of Stellar Braids have a little something extra: monk fruit.

Monk fruit, called luo han guo in its native China, is a herbaceous perennial vine bearing small, round, melons.

Monk fruit has long been used in China as a zero-calorie sweetener, as well as in traditional Chinese medicine.

In Stellar’s pretzel dough, it adds a bit of sweetness as a counterpoint to savory flavors:

 
Note that there’s a small bit of raw cane sugar in the first three flavors, which contributes 1g of added sugar per serving. There is no zero added sugar in Simply Stellar.

Next, you might ask, what’s vegan butter?

Vegan butter is a plant-based, nondairy butter that’s typically made by blending water with one or more plant oil, such as avocado, coconut, olive, or palm kernel oil.

These products often contain additional ingredients to emulate the flavor, and texture of real butter, such as colorings, emulsifiers, salt, and other natural or artificial flavors. Here are 10 well-regarded vegan butter brands.

For Stellar Braids, the vegan butter adds a subtle but delicious butter flavor.

Baked from scratch daily in Carson City, Nevada, special attention is paid to the quality of the ingredients. No less than imported sea salt from Italy is used, and the company is dedicated to sustainable manufacturing practices.

And one more nice thing: The package designs showcase budding artists, making them a canvas for something truly Stellar.

Emerging illustrators and designers are given a platform to showcase their talents and you get a work of art on every bag.
 
 
GET YOUR STELLAR BUTTER BRAIDS

Look for them at specialty food stores, including Central Market, Holiday Market, Mariano’s, Ralph’s, Surfas, and World Market.

And of course, they’re online at StellarSnacks.com.

We were pleased to find our favorite flavor, Bold & Herby, on Instacart.
 
 
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*Pretzels typically are vegan products. The ingredients are flour, water, yeast, vegetable shortening, and sugar. Here’s how each ingredient contributes to the pretzel.