Pesto Goat Cheese Pizza

What a really different and tasty pizza! I think I'll wait to make it again until the summer, so I can use garden fresh ingredients, but the store-bought versions sufficed this time and still produced a really yummy pizza.

Ingredients:

• Pizza crust (I used a thawed loaf of frozen whole wheat bread dough)
• 1/4 c pesto
• 1/2 tomato, thinly sliced
• 1 c baby bella mushrooms, quickly sauteed
• 1 poblano pepper, thinly sliced
• 2 oz goat cheese (I used an "herbed tomato" goat cheese I found at the grocery store)
• 2 scallions, sliced

1. Preheat oven to 425 F
2. Spread pizza dough onto a cookie sheet or pizza pan
3. Layer your ingredients: basil (be generous), cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers, green onions

 
4. Bake at 425 for 10-12 minutes, until crust is crispy. Let stand at least 3 minutes before slicing and serving.

Asian Veggie Slaw

There are a lot of ingredients in this dish, but I had most of the sauce ingredients in my pantry already and I found the slaw ingredients mostly pre-chopped and ready to go.

Ingredients:
Sauce

• 1/4 c honey
• 1/4 c veggie oil
• 1/4 c rice vingegar
• 1 T soy sauce
• 1 t sesame oil
• 1 T peanut butter (I used a creamy organic peanut butter and it stirred right in without too much fuss)
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t Sriracha
• 1 T minced ginger

Slaw

• 4 c shredded slaw mix
• 2 c shredded carrots
• 1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
• 1 c cooked/shelled edamame (in with frozen veggies in the grocery store)
• 2 m scallions, sliced
• 1/2 c chopped peanuts
• 1/2 c chopped cilantro

1. Combine all sauce ingredients and whisk vigorously for 1 minute, until sauce is slightly emulsified
2. Combine all slaw ingredients and hand toss
3. Coat veggie slaw in sauce, refridgerate.

I served it with Coconut Shrimp :)

Spicy Thai Noodles

These spicy, nutty noodles are great hot or cold. Tofu takes on the flavor of the sauce really well :)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb linguine
• 6 T honey
• 6 T soy sauce
• 1/4 c vegetable oil
• 1/3 c sesame oil
• 1 T crushed red pepper
• 1-2 c firm tofu cubed
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 4 T cilantro, chopped
• 1/3 c peanuts, chopped
• 1/2 c shredded carrots

1. Cook linguine to al dente.
2. Combine oils over medium heat. Cook red pepper 2-3 minutes in hot oil. Add tofu and let fry 5 minutes, stirring gently occasionally. Spoon out tofu and set aside on paper towel.

3.  Whisk in soy and honey. Cook down 2-3 minutes.
4. Stir in noodles, cook an additional 2-3 minutes.















5. Remove from heat. Add cilantro, scallions, peanuts, carrots and tofu. Toss and serve (or refrigerate and serve cold later).






Easy peasy! Delish!

Grandma's Potato Soup

...with Mom's adaptations, plus some extra Jolene lovin. Let's call this "Third Generation Potato Soup."

Ingredients:

•  3 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 1 lg onion, finely chopped
• 4 lbs of potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 can of evaporated milk
• 1 stick of butter
• 2 Tbsp parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup instant mashed potatoes
• salt and pepper to taste
• (1 can of corn, fried)

1. In a large pot, saute celery and onions with a pad of butter until tender. Then add 4" of water and bring to a boil.
2. Add potatoes, bring back to a boil and cook until potatoes are tender.
3. Add butter, stirring gently until it melts. Add evaporated milk and corn.
4. Remove from heat, stir in instant potatoes and parsley.

Serve with corn bread and hot sauce :)

Spinach Artichoke Lasagna

This is a new recipe to me which I really enjoyed preparing and eating. It was such a gooey, veggie, pasta loving dish! Lots of really good flavors at play here :)

Ingredients:

• 9 lasagna noodles, cooked
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 can veggie stock
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 14-oz can of artichoke hearts, drained
• 1 10-oz package of frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained)
• 1 jar favorite pasta sauce
• 1/2 c feta crumbles
• 3  c shredded mozzarella

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Saute onion and garlic for 5 minutes. Add veggie broth, artichokes, and spinach. Simmer for another 10 minutes.

3. Add red sauce and simmer until warm

4. Splash a bit of sauce in a 9x13 pan, then layer the following: 3 lasagna noodles, 1/3 of the veggie-sauce mixture, 1 c mozzarella cheese. Finish with crumbled feta.


5. Bake covered for 45 minutes. Uncover, bake another 15 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving with your favorite bread or garlic bread.

Black Bean Sweet Potato Burritos

Yum! This is one of our favorites from Taco Tonto's in Kent, OH that I've tried paying homage to at home in Warren.



Ingredients:

• 1 sweet potato, peeled and roasted
• 1 can black beans
• 1/2 c rice (makes 1 1/2 c cooked rice)
• 3 tbsp cilantro
• 1 c mung bean sprouts
• 2 c homemade or favorite salsa
• 6 whole wheat tortilla shells (10")

1. Cut cilantro into cooked rice while still warm.
2. Down the center of a tortilla, layer rice, sweet potato, and black beans. Top with mung bean sprouts and salsa.

3. Fold the two ends over the edges of the ingredients, then roll into a tightly formed burrito.
4. Grill on a flat top until tortilla is crispy. Serve with additional salsa for dipping.

Indian Samosas

Talk about comfort food. I may be half Indian, but I know which side my stomach pledges allegiance to...

Ingredients:
For the pastry dough-

• 1 1/2 c all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp salt
• ~2/3 c cold water

For the potato filling-

• 2 med gold potatoes
• 1/2 c green peas (frozen are preferred to canned)
• 1 c spanish or sweet onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Preparing the dough-
  1. Combine flour and salt. Mix in oil by rubbing the flour between your hands. Slowly add water in small portions and mix with your hands until a dough forms, then continue working dough for 2-3 minutes.
2. Cover the dough in plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes.
3. Roll a ball of dough (slightly bigger than a golf ball) into a circle to be about 5 inches in diameter. Do this with all of the dough.
4. Cut all dough circles in half, into two semi-circles.

Preparing the filling-
1. Boil, cool then slightly mash potatoes. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds, and once seeds start to dance around in the oil, add onion. Cook onion 5-10 minutes until the onion turns almost clear.
3. Add peas and turmeric. Once peas are cooked, add coriander powder.
4. Fold in potatoes. Let cool before stuffing samosas.

Making Samosas-
1. Preheat a deep fryer to 360 degrees.
2. Wet a q-tip or your finger and moisten the straight edge of a dough semi-circle. Make an "O" with your hand (thumb meets 4 fingers) and create a cone in the hole of your hand. Slightly overlap moist edge of dough with dry edge and press together.
3. Add ~2 tsp potato filling to the cone.
4. With the seam you created facing forward, seal the top of the cone using a bit of water to moisten the dough. You should have a triangle with the seam in the front. Repeat until dough/filling are gone.
5. Fry for 5-6 minutes, until a dark golden brown.
6. Serve with a favorite sauce or Indian chutney.

Hummus Pita Pizzas

This is a very refreshing pizza that could be served as an hors d'oeurve  or a light dinner.

Ingredients:

• 4 whole wheat pitas
• 16 oz garlic or herbed hummus
• 4 red radishes, sliced and chopped
• 1 c mung bean sprouts, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 c cilantro, coarsely chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• a drizzle of herbed olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Spread hummus liberally over pitas. Top with veggies, bean sprouts and cilantro.
3. Drizzle with olive oil.
4. Bake on a tray at 425 for 15 minutes, until pitas begin to crisp.

Summer Squash Soup, Roasted Tomato and Cipollini

I think that dinner tonight may have been the highlight of my Goodies and Grub experience thus far. I'm so happy to have been blogging for a couple months because it's been opening so many doors (or cupboards) in the kitchen! 

Both of these recipes come from The Smitten Kitchen; they were such a perfect compliment to one another. I'm calling the combination of bold tomatoes and onions with subtle, comforting summer squash soup "Summer Lovin'." What an essential summer garden supper!

I'll stop with the veggie love story and get on to the how-to's...

Veggie mania

Squash Soup Ingredients:

• 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 lb yellow summer squash, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced
• 1 yellow-fleshed potato (1/2 pound), peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
• 4 cups chicken stock or reduced-sodium chicken broth

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a 6- to 8-quart wide heavy pot over moderate heat, then cook onion with salt, stirring, until softened, about 8 minutes. 

2. Add squash, carrots, potato, and stock and bring to a boil. 

3. Reduce heat, then simmer, partially covered, until vegetables are very tender, about 20 minutes. 

4. Remove from heat and cool soup, uncovered, 10 minutes.

5. Working in batches, puree; soup in a blender until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids) and transfer to a bowl. 

6. Return purée to cleaned pot and thin with water if desired; simmer 3 minutes. Season with salt.  

___________________________________________

Roasted Tomato and Cipollini Ingredients:

• 1 pound cipollini onions
• 1 pound small Roma or large cherry tomatoes1/4 cup olive oil
• Coarse salt
• 4 slices of country or ciabatta bread, one-inch thick
• Garlic clove (optional)
• Few fresh basil leaves, slivered 
• 1/2 c ricotta cheese/spinach mixture (optional)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Directions: 
  1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Boil a small pot of water and blanche the cipollini for 10 seconds, then plunge them into cold water. Use a paring knife to make a small slit in each, and slide them out of their skins and outer layer. 
  
  
  
  2. Spread peeled onions and tomatoes in a roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil and a few good pinches of coarse salt. Toss everything together until well-coated and roast in preheated oven for about 45 minutes, reaching in every 15 minutes with a spatula to roll the tomatoes and onions around to ensure all sides get blistered. 
  
  
  
  

  

  Fuhgetaboutit!

  3. Just before you take the tomatoes and onions out, place your bread slices on the oven rack and let them toast lightly. You can rub the toasts with a halved garlic clove while still hot.   
  
  
  
  
  4. Use tongs to arrange toasts in one layer on a serving platter.
  
  
  
  
   
  5. I had some leftover spinach/ricotta mixture from stuffed chicken earlier in the week, so I spread some of that onto the toast. Then top the toast with tomato and onions, don't hesitate to pour some of the hard work of the tomato and onion onto the toast. 
  
  
  6. Sprinkle the dish with the basil and eat at once.