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| The Pizza House Chipati, an Ann Arbor tradition, vegan & gluten-free style. |
If you are a current University of Michigan student or alumnus (after 1986), and somebody says the word “Chipati”, chances are your mouth will begin to water.
Chipati: A fresh-baked, homemade, whole wheat pita stuffed with fresh-cut veggies, salad greens, mozzarella cheese and romaine lettuce served with Chipati sauce.
Pizza House, is the home of this “World Famous” salad in a pita, but it’s not about the salad and it’s not about the pita…it’s ALL ABOUT the sauce, my friends.
My KKG sistas and I kept Pizza House in business during the first few years of their existence. In fact, I am certain that the Kappas alone funded the transformation of Pizza House from a rickety old, hot, fly-filled, pizza joint with a broken screen door that could easily dismember your foot, to the beautiful brick and carpeted (with cozy fireplaces and comfortable air conditioning) restaurant that it is today.
We would eat them while the bread was warm, with a plastic fork (gasp) and a Diet Coke (gasp gasp). Sauce was always on the side, of course because, you know…we were watching our weight (thus the Diet Coke). Little did we know, or care to think about the fact that we were eating an ENTIRE pizza crust along with our salad.
It also never occurred to me that this rickety old, fly-filled, pizza place on a side street of U of M’s campus, staffed entirely with pot-heads would NOT have a REALLY complicated sauce recipe. What was in that sauce? It was always such a mystery!
Until now…
Chipati Sauce:
Ranch Dressing + Frank’s Red Hot Original Sauce
(Yep, I know…Dahhhhh.
Those pot-heads are laughing all the way to the bank.)
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| Ingredients: (Clockwise from top) Tomatoes, green peppers, red peppers, mushrooms, veggie mozzarella cheese, salad greens (Center) Chipati Sauce=HEAVEN! |
Thank you to my FABULOUS husband, Steve, for surprising me on New Year’s Eve by doing the research to uncover the Chipati Sauce recipe AND for adjusting all of the ingredients so I could enjoy each and every bite. Following is the recipe that he made for me:
Chipati Salad
(Vegan & Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
Salad
Salad Greens, chopped
Tomatoes, diced
Green Peppers, diced
Red Peppers, diced
Mushrooms, sliced
Mozzarella Cheese, Veggie
Directions
Prepare all vegetables and set aside.
Sauce
1 C Vegan Mayonnaise
1/4 C Plant-based milk
1 T Cider vinegar
1 Garlic, clove
1 T Onion, chopped
1 T Parsley, chopped
1 t Dill, chopped
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
*above should taste like a great ranch dressing
1/3-1/2 C Frank’s Red Hot Original Sauce
*Yes, I know it sounds like a lot but you’ll see.
Directions
Place all ingredients except for the Frank’s Red Hot Original Sauce in a Vita-Mix (or high-speed blender) and blend until creamy. Taste and adjust ingredients until a great ranch dressing is achieved. Add 1/3 C of the hot sauce, blend and taste. Keep adding until it tastes like you remember:) It may take up to a 1/2 C of hot sauce. Set aside.
Bread
2 T Flax Seed, ground
6 T Water
Directions
Follow package ingredients and directions, substituting the flax seed paste for the eggs. To make the flax seed paste, mix the water into the ground flax seed until a paste consistency is achieved and add to the rest of the ingredients immediately. Bake, remove from oven and place on plate. Assemble salad on top of crust and then fold over. (*Hold the fungus for me.) Serve warm with sauce on the side.
Please let me know how it goes. And, send pictures!!!
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| Chipati L.O.V.E. It’s All About the Sauce! |
Anonymous
I used to work at Pizza House… that’s not the recipe. I’ve watched them make it before and the three main ingredients are yellow mustard, mayo, and french dressing (the orange kind). Then they add a secret blend of spices. Hot sauce makes sense because when you look closely at the dressing there are tiny red dots, but I’m not positive on that one.