Heart Beets

St. Valentine's greetings!
 

Like many, I enjoy taking this opportunity to make heart-shaped food, and beets seem especially conducive to this type of thing. Heart-shaped dining commenced early, with a heart beet salad and some pizza with heart-shaped beetaroni :

Beetaroni pizza with mushrooms, red onions, and Daiya vegan cheese

Beetaroni? Yes, it's so cool. I'm sure many of you already know about it, but if you don't, you'll have to check out Ricki Heller's original post about this ingenious idea.  It's basically thinly sliced beets slow baked in a smokey, spicy, garlic-y marinade. The end result really does go well on pizza: lightly smokey, spicy and tender..adds a nice color too. I never ate or liked pepperoni before going vegetarian (seemed suspect to me), but beetaroni...now, that's another story.

I didn't have a cookie cutter, so I made a little stencil to guide the heart-shaped cuts...cutting the raw beets was much easier than cutting the cooked ones in my experience. (I'll use the cut-out scraps in salads throughout the week.)

Here are the beets in the marinade, pre-baking:

And then out of the oven. The marinade bakes into the beets and as the liquid evaporates, the little beets curl up a bit:

Sorry, no heart-shaped dessert, but we did enjoy some raspberry beer: Lindemans Framboise Lambic. It's like raspberry soda, but with a little punch. The apple flavored one is good too. According to barnivore.com, Lindemans' beers are vegan friendly.

Happy Valentine's Day!! 

Roseann Laponte Tobin

It's pizza time!

A couple of evenings ago I went out with some friends and we ate in a very nice Pizzeria in Palermo called "Goodness". I had this pizza with mozzarella cheese, cherry tomatoes, Parma ham, parmisan flakes and fresh basil. It was so tasty and delicious.

On the whole I would say: quick service and lovely food. Besides, price was good as well, so I was very pleased with that and I highly recommend it! ;)

Pizza, and...More Pizza

Who says a good pizza necessarily involves cheese?

Not me. In fact, even before my vegan days, I always preferred pizzas with more sauce than cheese.

Now, don't get me wrong; I love a pizza with some good old vegan cheeze as much as anyone. But sometimes, cheeze-less is fun too. Over the weekend,  I threw together a couple of of those very specimens--it was a pizza-fest; we ate pizza twice!

The first pizza had tomato base with grilled mushrooms, fresh basil, and mustard mizuna:



This combo was based on a pizza I posted about here, and had been wanting to recreate at home ever since. The mushrooms were a little pricey, but I splurged a little and bought a Chef's Sampler from Mycopia.

The sampler contained these tasty varieties:

Buttons and crimini are great, but they don't begin to compare with any of these. Just upon opening the pack, a robust mushroom scent fills your nostrils. The velvet pioppini were very fragile to touch, but had the most full-bodied flavor. They were my favorite and well worth the splurge.

(For some extra browning action before adding them to the pizza, I grilled the mushrooms under the broiler with a little olive oil, black pepper, and a pinch of garlic powder for 1 - 2 minutes.)

Sauce

Normally, I whip up a quick pizza sauce with pureed tomatoes that doesn't involve pre-cooking. This time, I made a cooked version, which added extra flavor and fragrance. The following makes a generous cup/enough for liberally saucing one 14-inch pizza:

2 large garlic cloves, sliced thin

1 large tomato, chopped

red chili flakes to taste

oregano to taste

1.5 cups strained San Marzano tomatoes, or whatever kind you want

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Saute the garlic and chili flakes over medium-low until garlic begins to become fragrant, toss in chopped tomato and oregano, continue to saute for another ~ 5 minutes until the tomato starts to break down. Add the strained tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste and allow to simmer for another 15 - 20 minutes. You can allow it to cool before putting it on the pizza.



Pizza II
The second pizza feast involved spinach-walnut pesto, thinly sliced red potatoes, red onions, and chili flakes topped with fresh walnuts and rosemary:



The key to success in getting the potatoes to cook through in the same time it takes a thin crust pizza to cook is to slice the the tatoes very thin (as with a mandolin) and then soak them in warm, salty water for an hour or two before putting them on the pizza. In this way, the potatoes become softer and cook up more quickly.

If the potatoes are nice and thin and the pesto is rich and tasty, this pizza is not "too starchy" in the least...though it may sound like it would be.  This is the kind of pizza you take in your hands, fold in half, and eat like a sandwich:

Spinach-Walnut Pesto
(makes about 1 cup)

Blend in food processor:

2 cups fresh spinach, rinsed
handful of fresh basil ~ 1/2 cup ( or more to taste...I would have used a little more, but that's all I had)
1/2 cup raw walnuts (or other nut of choice)
1 garlic clove
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (optional)
1 generous tablespoon nutritional yeast
olive oil, water or veggie broth to bring up to desired consistency

The Dough
Last week, I found some Tipo "00" (zero zero) pizza flour in the store, which is what put pizza in my head in the first place. I had never used it before, so it was kind of exciting. This is a soft, finely milled flour containing very little gluten that is traditionally used in Neapolitan-style pizzas. From what I understand, a Neapolitan pizza crust should be made with "00" flour, fresh yeast (not the granules) and fired in a wood oven...Well, I got one out of three.

When elaborated according pizza-purist guidelines, a "pizza napoletana" crust is meant to have a soft edge with a very thin layer of crunch. I seriously doubt mine would be up to snuff for the pizza police, but it did come out with a nice crispy finish.

Here were the rough measurements I used for this dough:

~ 4 cups flour

1 1/3 cup water

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

2  1/2 teaspoons yeast
cornmeal or semolina for dusting pizza pan

I always use a wooden spoon for making bread--not sure whether it make a difference, it's just the way I was taught--: Dissolve the yeast in 1/3 cup of the water, warmed to just above body temperature, it should feel quite warm to the touch but not hot. Stir in the sugar and allow to sit for 10 minutes or until you can see the yeast reacting and foam develops on the top.

Toss about half the flour in a large bowl, add the salt, then pour in the yeast/water mixture and the remaining cup of water. Stir it up into a shaggy mass. Add in more flour in 1/4 - 1/2 cup increments until you can bring the dough up into a ball and it is no longer sticky.

Turn dough out onto a floured board, and knead the dough for a a few minutes, adding in more flour as you go to take up any stickiness. With plain white pizza dough, I usually don't bother kneading for more than 2 or 3 minutes, but it's up yourself.The end result should be an elastic texture that is not at all sticky.

Form a dough ball and place it in a lightly greased bowl (w/ olive oil) brush the top of the dough with a very light coating of olive oil, place bowl in a warm place and cover with a cloth or some plastic wrap. Allow dough to rise until it's doubled in size.

At this point, you can punch the dough down and let it rise again, or shape it onto your cornmeal dusted pizza pan, add your ingredients and bake. This makes roughly enough for two *thin* 14-inch pizzas.

Carmelita and Huge Dandelion Things

Grilled white and green asparagus, pistacio-tarragon emulsion, miners lettuce and hearts of palm salad -vegan 

We had a (mostly) smashing dinner at our neighborhood veggie restaurant last night. I say mostly because this place, Carmelita, can be hit or miss. Their seasonal menu always sounds fabulous, and you can get a great meal there...but sometimes not so great. Last night was definitely a hit...with only one little miss. For starters we had grilled asparagus (above) in a pistacio-tarragon sauce...hit! (Sorry about the dark shots)

We also had this deliciously moist foccacia with a tangy and citrusy sun-dried tomato pesto...hit!

Homemade foccacia, truffled artichoke-sun dried tomato spread -vegan

PizzaFor mains, I ordered this foraged mushroom and nettle/spinach pesto pizza, topped with mizuna rabe. The crust was absolutely perfect and very tasty, and the mushrooms were tender, grilled to perfection and drizzled with balsamic vinegar. The nettle-spinach pesto was earthy, rich, and full of flavor, and the raw rabe on the top added a fresh and peppery finish...definitely a hit and the star of the evening!

Nettle-spinach pesto, grilled spring onion, foraged mushrooms, seasonal greens, balsamic -vegan option 

Now for the miss part...this would have been a perfect dish as well if the linguine weren't overcooked. Such a basic mistake...not sure how a place that makes the rest of the food so delicious and beautiful can screw up on pasta..but it appeared that they cooked the fresh pasta like you would have done dry pasta, and as I said, the result was not good...would have been lovely otherwise as all the other flavors and ingredients were well-conceived and very good. I loved the little chive flower garnishes.

Housemade linguine, snap peas, morels, chive-pistacio pesto - vegan

We took a bit of a walk around the neighborhood afterwards and cut through the food co-op parking lot...they really have lovely gardens surrounding their lot. You'll find all sorts of wonderful aromatic shrubs, herbs, and vegetables growing there. Last night, I was struck (not literally...the dandelions were very peaceful) by these extra large dandelions. They are growing about 5 -6 feet high! I think these are wild variety...not sure whether they are technically called dandelion, but I'm sure they are in the same family at any rate.

Update From the Comments: Apparently, these plants are most likely salsify...and they are in the same family as dandelions: Asteraceae.

mammoth dandelion-type plants (salsify), worthy of prehistoric times

Romaine w/ Lemon-Date Dressing & Pizza

This salad is from The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen cookbook by Donna Klein. It is very simple, but surprisingly delicious. I have a lot of cookbooks, which I'm ashamed to say, I rarely consult. But, every now and again, I like to peruse them for ideas; this recipe reminds me that I should do that more often.

I don't feel like I can give a proper review of this book, because I've only used it once or twice. And, I'm sure a lot of you are like me; you already have too many cookbooks that you don't use very much. But I will say this,  the book provides a broad range of recipes with simple, yet becoming combinations of ingredients and flavors, and she provides the nutrition information for all the recipes. Here's a review I found online that I think sums it up nicely.

Now, back to the salad. The dressing is simple: olive oil and lemon juice, add in a pinch of cinnamon and some crushed coriander seed...it all pairs deliciously with the romaine and the chopped dates. The recipe calls for sugar, but I left it out...who needs sugar when you've got the sweetness of the dates? The cinnamon and coriander really make this salad a treat. (I snuck in a bit of flax oil  for nutrition's sake...if you're not a fan, leave it out and enjoy the simple flavors unadulterated.)  I can't publish the exact recipe...but combining the simple ingredients to your taste would probably do the trick.

Tip: the dates tend to get a sticky when chopped, so mix up the olive oil and lemon juice in bowl, then toss the chopped dates in and give it a good stir...the oil in the dressing separates the date peices nicely.

Then,  I was channeling Alicia of Vegan Epicurean  when I made this healthy spinaccoli pizza:

It's a whole wheat pizza with lightly cooked broccoli, garlic slivers, and chili pepper, topped with fresh spinach, walnuts and pinenuts. I put the spinach and nuts on at the very end of baking and let them heat up a little so they weren't cooked, but just warmed.

For the sauce, I made a batch of VE's Sundried Tomato Marinara, and it is delicious...it went perfectly with the broccoli and spinach. The marinara is meant to be a raw recipe, but it I baked it with the pizza crust, so became unraw...but really yummy just the same. We ate the pizza slices topped with nutritional yeast.

 

Happy Saturday All!

Pizza and Cat-ions

We're studying cation exchange in my Soils Science class at the moment. For those of you who are chemistry-savvy (probably most people), you'll laugh when I say that I thought the word 'cation' was pronounced with a soft 't' like this 'kay-shun'. After demonstrating my ignorance many times, someone kindly informed me that this word 'cation' is pronounced like two separate words: cat-ion.

How cute is that? It makes me think of kitty cats--I want to use this word all the time now. So, that's why I had to work it into this post. I've also learned that cat-ions are positively charged, kind of like all the cool, positively charged vegans out there in the blogosphere. I was thinking of changing my blog title to something like Cat-ion Vegan: Positively Charged and Positively Vegan. But, maybe that's going a bit too far, especially considering that it might lead people to think that I actually know something about chemistry, which I don't.

So anyway, now for something completely different: pizza, of course.

This was a delicata squash and cherry tomato pizza with slivered garlic, olive oil, and fresh rosemary.

Below, is a sweetcorn, mushroom, and red onion pizza with tomato sauce and some green olive tapenade on top. I wanted to do this pizza with pesto instead of tomato sauce. I took some pesto out of the freezer and defrosted it, but it tasted awful. It must have gotten freezer burn or something. I'm glad I tasted it before spreading it on the dough.

Apologies for the eerie photos; it's always dark by the time we make dinner and the indoor lights cast a yellow hue. I'm crap at photos anyway;)

Ciao for now.

Homemade Vegan Mozzarella

I've never been a big fan of vegan cheeses...although I do buy them occasionally. And I have never found a store-bought vegan mozzarella that I like. So, finally, ( I don't know what took me so long) I got around to making some at home.

I used this vegan mozzarella recipe from Veganize It...Don't Criticize It. Here's how it turned out:


This cheese did not disappoint! It shreds well, melts well, and the flavor is good. It actually adds to the quality of the pizza, rather than detracts from it, which is what most of the store-bought stuff does in my opinion.

Pizza Margherita before:




Pizza Margherita after:


See how well it melts? And, it was yummy. I definitely recommend this recipe.

I also made a cheeze-free pizza with lots of veggies and some tempeh that I marinated in Bragg's Liquid Aminos, then crumbled and sauteed with red pepper flakes, fennel, and garlic:


I think my next few posts will be about some of the other good home-made cheese recipes that I've found in the blogosphere. Bye for now. :)